“School Board Receives Protest: Petition Presented Claiming Racial Discrimination at Centennial School”
On November 5, 1940, the Oberlin News-Tribune published an article titled, “School Board Receives Protest: Petition Presented Claiming Racial Discrimination at Centennial School.” Though the article describes Oberlin as “the classical home of freedom and justice irrespective of race,” the school board meeting was held to address racial discrimination charges related to Thomas teaching at Centennial School by herself. There was dispute within the community about the School Board’s intentions with placing Thomas at Centennial. Did it count as a segregated school if white students were technically allowed to attend? The 230 people who signed a petition in support of Thomas argued that the School Board had “shoved” Thomas off by herself into a segregated school, but Superintendent Wigton argued that “there are different ideas of segregation.” The tumultuous nature of Thomas’ career speaks to the importance of Black teachers in general, and the support she received from members of the community and organizations demonstrates how she was valued as an educator. At the same time, the controversy demonstrates the dehumanization of Thomas; she was not afforded agency, but rather only thought of as the first Black teacher in Oberlin who belonged in different places according to different people. According to the article, it was Reverend Tucker of Mt. Zion Church who encouraged the School Board to hire a Black teacher in the face of numerous teacher vacancies. Reverend Tucker felt that a Black teacher could “motivate colored learning and provide an incentive for colored children to continue with their education.” The representatives of the 230 petition signers are also quoted in the article stating that, “If it is not possible to put the Negro teacher on an equality with the white teacher as far as having white children under her is concerned, then [we] would prefer to wait until the white people of Oberlin are willing to accept a Negro teacher for their children, before having a Negro teacher employed in the Oberlin schools.” But where did Thomas see herself in all of this and how did she view herself as a contributor to the Oberlin community?
Thomas demonstrated a level of respectability during the controversy and throughout her life in Oberlin. This is not to suggest that Thomas tried to distance herself from the Black community and “fit in” amongst the white community, but that Thomas commanded respect from the town through her many different achievements. Scholar Brittney C. Cooper writes, “The call for dignity and the call for respectability are not the same, though they are frequently conflated. Demands for dignity are demands for a fundamental recognition of one’s inherent humanity” (Cooper 5). Though Thomas did not engage in racial politics in Oberlin in any sort of explicit way, she entered many different areas of Oberlin with authority. Toss explained how she viewed Thomas, “She always took the attitude that...you rise above [segregation] and you move on to where you are, and who you are. I got the feeling that she was always a person who set the example by being the example. And truly being the example, not just looking like it didn’t matter to her” (Toss 15). Thomas did not just set an example for her students in the classroom, but also demonstrated a dedication to the Oberlin community through her many different levels of community engagement.
Participation in organizations was a constant form of intellectual work and sacrifice of time for Black women, and Thomas received several awards for her civic engagement. The Oberlin Branch of the American Association of University Women wrote in their 1989 newsletter that Thomas’s life “was dedicated to serving others” (Oberlin AAUW). Thomas volunteered at the Allen Memorial Hospital Gift Shop, Meals on Wheels, and the Oberlin Community Services Council. She was a member of Friends of the Oberlin Public Library, the Historic Preservation Commission, the Oral History Committee, the Women’s Progressive Club, Beta Gamma Chapter of Delta Kappa, and the National Association of Negro and Professional Women’s Clubs, in addition to the Oberlin Branch of the American Association of University Women. She served in various leadership positions in the Mt. Zion Baptist Church and was a member of the Oberlin-Wellington Area Board of Church Women United.
Thomas explained in her oral history interview that she joined both the AAUW and the League of Women Voters out of obligation; both organizations had written letters to the School Board in support of her getting tenure. Thomas explained that she joined the Progressive Club, “one of the most well-known black organizations,” because she had many friends in the organization. Thomas said, “I really enjoyed being a member with the group” (Schlesinger 3).
Thomas did not describe the Progressive Club as “issue-oriented,” but instead a civic group. Through the club, though, Thomas helped fund various organizations in town, gave scholarships to seniors, and established a Negro and Professional Women’s Club. It’s almost as if Thomas was averse to the idea of being seen as issue-oriented or political because of the implications that would have on her life, but she continued to dedicate herself to helping others throughout the Oberlin community. Thomas approached her involvement with these organizations as a duty she had to her community in the same way that she had a duty to her students to direct her energy and attention towards them rather than the political debates surrounding her. By framing her contributions this way, she could continue to engage with communities across town and racial lines. Thomas was able to engage in politics “in the cracks among and between multiple political terrains” (May 51).
Robinson also recalled in her oral history that Thomas had very fair skin. Robinson said, “I don’t think Oberlin would have been ready for a brown, kingy-haired woman to teach their children. I just don’t think Oberlin would have been ready for it. That’s why Betty was more accepted into the Oberlin community where she was able to walk into the east side of town, the west side of town” (Rohde 6). Thomas capitalized on the respect she had from both the white and Black communities of Oberlin, and with this respect she was able to do important work in the town. In this way, Thomas’ white passing can be understood as a form of protest that Mary Church Terrell also distinguished for herself as a prominent Black woman and graduate of Oberlin College. Terrell “viewed her moments of passing not as deliberate attempts to misrepresent herself, but rather as opportunities to capitalize upon the prejudices of others who were ‘obsessed with race prejudice’” (Cooper 82). Thomas may not have considered herself political, but her role in the schools and different organizations forever shaped the racial politics of the town of Oberlin.
Works Cited:
Betty Thomas Oral History for the Oberlin Oral History Project, interviewed by Eva Shlesinger, April 25th, 1985, transcript, located in the Oberlin Heritage Center Archives.
Cooper, Brittney C., 2017. Beyond Respectability: The Intellectual Thought of Race Women. Board of Trustees of University of Illinois.
Francine Toss Oral History for the Betty Glenn Thomas Project, interviewed by Avery Grace, April 8th, 2019, transcript, located in the Oberlin Heritage Center Archives.
Maggie Robinson Oral History for the Betty Glenn Thomas Project, interviewed by Julia Rohde, April 4th, 2019, transcript, located in the Oberlin Heritage Center Archives.
May, Vivian M.. 2007. Anna Julia Cooper, Visionary Black Feminist: A Critical Introduction. New York: Routledge Taylor & Francis Group.
Oberlin Branch American Association of University Women Newsletter Volume 3, No. 1, November, 1989, located in the Betty Glenn Thomas file in the Oberlin College Archives.
“School Board Receives Protest: Petition Presented Claiming Racial Discrimination at Centennial School,” Oberlin News-Tribune, November 5, 1940, scan, located in the Betty Glenn Thomas file in the Oberlin Heritage Center Archives.