Bennetta Bullock Washington Explained

Bennetta Bullock Washington
Birth Name:Bennetta Camille Bullock
Birth Date:May 1, 1918
Birth Place:Winston-Salem, North Carolina
Death Place:Washington, D.C.
Occupation:educator, director of federal employment program

Bennetta Bullock Washington (May 1, 1918 – May 28, 1991) was an American educator and community leader, founder and director of Job Corps for Women, a program of the United States Department of Labor.

Early life

Bennetta Camille Bullock was born in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, one of the eight children of Rev. George Oliver Bullock and Rebecca Bullock. Her father was a prominent Baptist minister.[1] [2] The Bullock family moved to Washington, D.C. when Bennetta was young, and there she attended Dunbar High School and Howard University[3] before she earned a Ph.D. in counseling psychology[4] from Catholic University of America.[5] Her dissertation title was "Background factors and adjustment: A study of the socio-economic and personal factors in the school and subsequent adjustment of a selected group of high school students".[6]

Career

Washington taught in Baltimore and Washington before she moved into school administration. She served as principal of Cardozo High School from 1961 to 1964. She was director of the Cardozo Project in Urban Education, and served on the President's Commission on Juvenile Delinquency. From this work came her book, Youth in Conflict: Helping Behavior-Problem Youth in a School Setting (1963).[7] Of her work with troubled students, she commented, "You have to learn how to handle hostility. You don't handle hostility with hostility. It takes receptivity and empathy — don't say sympathy; that's maudlin and doesn't help at all."[8]

As an education specialist, she was a member of John Lindsay's Advisory Panel on Decentralization of New York City Public Schools, in 1967,[9] and was a professor of education at the City College of New York.[10] She was Martin Luther King Scholar in Residence at Rutgers University in 1969.[11]

Beginning in 1964,[12] Bennetta Washington was founder and director[13] of the Job Corps for Women,[14] a program of the U. S. Department of Labor, and in that role oversaw the creation of job training centers for young women throughout the United States.[15] From 1970 to 1973 she was associate director, Women's Programs and Education, in the Manpower Administration of the Department of Labor.[16] She retired from the Department of Labor in 1981.[17]

Washington's husband was Mayor-Commissioner of Washington, D.C. from 1967 to 1975, and mayor from 1975 to 1979. Bennetta Washington was considered the first lady of the District of Columbia during her husband's terms in office,[18] and was a trusted adviser to the mayor.[19] In 1968, she was invited to one of Lady Bird Johnson's lunch meetings of "Women Doers", joining singer Eartha Kitt and others to discuss juvenile delinquency and the Vietnam War.[20] In 1969, she was honored by Wilson College with an honorary doctorate.[21] In 1971, she was honored by the National Council of Negro Women, at the same ceremony honoring Shirley Chisholm, Barbara Watson, and Elizabeth Duncan Koontz.[22] In 1975, Washington hosted a luncheon in honor of visiting first lady of Zambia, Betty Kaunda, at the Museum of African Art, attended by Cecilia Suyat Marshall, Roselyn P. Epps, Dorothy Height, Helen Elsie Austin, and other noted women in Washington.[23]

Washington was one of the participants in a recorded symposium, Kin & Communities, at the Smithsonian Institution in 1977, alongside Rosalynn Carter, Alex Haley, Hubert Humphrey, Margaret Mead, and Sidney Dillon Ripley.

Personal life

Bennetta Bullock married Walter Washington in 1941. They had a daughter, Bennetta Jules-Rosette, who became a sociology professor[24] and a biographer of Josephine Baker.[25] Bennetta Bullock Washington died from cardiac arrest in 1991, aged 73 years, in Washington, D.C. The District of Columbia State Board of Education (DCSBOE) offers a Bennetta Bullock Washington Scholarship, named in her memory.[26] [27]

External links

Notes and References

  1. June 24, 1991. Bennetta Washington, Wife of Ex-D.C. Mayor Walter Washington, Dies in D.C.. Jet. 53.
  2. Book: Birmingham, Stephen. Certain People: America's Black Elite. 2016-09-27. Open Road Media. 9781504041027. en.
  3. Book: Washington on Foot, Fifth Edition: 24 Walking Tours and Maps of Washington, DC, Old Town Alexandria, and Takoma Park. Protopappas. John J.. Mcneal. Alvin R.. 2012-03-27. Smithsonian Institution. 9781588343215. en.
  4. News: Bennetta Washington, Ph.D., Equals Her Husband's Success. Christy. Marian. June 6, 1969. Lancaster New Era. June 20, 2019. 13. Newspapers.com.
  5. News: Dr. Washington Likes To Work. Schuman. Kandy. April 30, 1968. Women's Wear Daily. 10. ProQuest.
  6. Web site: Background factors and adjustment; a study of the socio-economic and personal factors in the school and subsequent adjustment of a selected group of high school students.. Bullock Washington. Bennetta. ResearchGate. en. 2019-06-21.
  7. Web site: Washington, Bennetta Bullock, 1917-. The Online Books Page. 2019-06-21.
  8. News: She Has Little Time for Small Talk. MacPherson. Myra. September 18, 1967. The New York Times. 78. ProQuest.
  9. News: Mayor's Wife Addresses Luncheon Honoring Carver. October 23, 1968. Oakland Post. 15. ProQuest.
  10. News: Job Corps Aide to Stay. September 13, 1967. New York Times. 37. ProQuest.
  11. News: D.C. Educator To Aid Manpower Secretary. May 29, 1974. Sacramento Observer. C-7. ProQuest.
  12. News: Dr. Bennetta Washington In San Francisco. McGriff. Sharon. November 8, 1975. Sun Reporter. 15. ProQuest.
  13. News: Educator, Women's Job Corps Director. June 1, 1991. Chicago Tribune. June 21, 2019. 17. Newspapers.com.
  14. News: A Tell-It-Like-It-Is Woman Heads Women's Job Corps. Ochman. Laurie. October 28, 1968. Courier-Post. June 20, 2019. 26. Newspapers.com.
  15. News: Women's Unit Seeks Recruits for Jobs Center. Lewine. Frances. February 16, 1965. Star-Gazette. June 21, 2019. 4. Newspapers.com.
  16. Washington. Bennetta B.. 1971. The View from Inside. The Journal of Applied Behavioral Science. en-US. 7. 5. 608–611. 10.1177/002188637100700509. 147652922. 0021-8863.
  17. News: Bennetta Washington Dies at 73; Started the Job Corps for Women. Cook. Joan. 1991-05-31. The New York Times. 2019-06-21. 8. en-US. 0362-4331.
  18. News: DC's First 1st Lady Dies. Murphy. Frances. June 1, 1991. Afro-American Red Star. A1. ProQuest.
  19. Book: Walker, J. Samuel. Most of 14th Street Is Gone: The Washington, DC Riots of 1968. 2018-03-01. Oxford University Press. 9780190844806. 59. en.
  20. Book: Murphy, David. A Texas Bluebonnet: Lady Bird Johnson. 2006. Nova Publishers. 9781600212598. 88. en.
  21. Web site: Emergence (1968 - 1969) · "Friendship and Sisterhood": The History and Impact of Wilson's Black Student Union · Hankey Center & C. Elizabeth Boyd '33 Archives. Wilson College. 2019-06-21.
  22. News: National Women Honored. February 18, 1971. Sacramento Observer. C1. ProQuest.
  23. May 8, 1975. The Washington Scene. Jet. 39.
  24. Web site: Bennetta Jules-Rosette. Sociology Department, UC San Diego. 2019-06-21.
  25. Book: Josephine Baker in Art and Life: The Icon and the Image. registration. Bennetta Bullock.. Jules-Rosette. Bennetta. Simon. Njami. 2007. University of Illinois Press. 9780252074127. en.
  26. Web site: Bennetta Bullock Washington Scholarship. EDU in Review. 2019-06-21.
  27. News: Former Mayor Establishes Fund In Wife's Honor. Peabody. Alvin. January 29, 1992. Washington Informer. 2. ProQuest.

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