Meet Hattie Mae White
Not long till school starts in this election year, so I'd like to introduce y'all to Hattie Mae White, a woman who achieved much in both politics and education.
Born in Huntsville in 1916, White moved to Houston when she was a young girl. She attended Booker T. Washington High School and graduated as valedictorian of her class. She went on to Houston Junior College and Prairie View A&M, graduating with high honors. She spent several years teaching school in different places, then moved back to Houston to marry Charles White.
White was deeply involved in her community. She served for six years on the YWCA Metropolitan Board of Directors, the first African-American woman to do so. She served on many other local committees and boards, including the Race Relations Committee of the Council of Churches of Greater Houston and the Administration Committee at the Blue Triangle Branch of the YMCA. She was also program director of Jack and Jill of America, Inc., and a member of the Board of Directors of the Houston Association for Better Schools.
In 1958, White become the first African-American woman to win election to countywide office and the first person of color on the Houston school board since Reconstruction. Though Brown v. Board of Education had outlawed school segregation in 1954, Houston schools still separated students by race. White and other local Black activists, many of whom were involved with the NAACP, worked to change that. Vandals shot air pellets through the windshield of her car and burned a cross on her lawn, but White remained undaunted. In her nine years on the school board, she continued to work for desegregation. She was instrumental in US Department of Justice investigation of racial injustice in the district. According to her obituary in the Houston Chronicle:
White had to fight through the attitudes and barriers of discrimination of that day to give Houston's African-American community a voice on the school board. She did so ably, serving as an HISD trustee for nine years. White's stewardship covered the critical years when the district was moving from segregation to integration. Her leadership contributed to making that a relatively trouble-free process.
She was often the only school board member advocating desegregation and racial equality, but she used the power of her office to change hearts and minds. School board meetings were televised, and she became known for her powerful speeches. Local activist Bille Carr said, "She made people realize there was no such thing as separate but equal." Gertrude Barnstone, who served on the school board with White, called her "... an extraordinary person... She put the spotlight on the evils of segregation and opened a lot of people's eyes. ''
Carr also noted that White's groundbreaking election paved the way for other African-Americans to hold elected office in the area, stating that "(t)he Barbara Jordans and Mickey Lelands of Houston owe her a debt of gratitude."
Oh, and somewhere in there, she and her husband managed to raise five children.
In 1970, the Houston ISD named the administration building after White in recognition of her long history of service to the community and her passionate commitment to educating all children equally. White died in 1993, not long after the Houston YWCA gave her its Lifetime Achievement Award. Rest in peace, brave lady. Our thanks for making the Houston schools a better place for every child to learn.