Edwina Kruse Explained

Edwina Kruse
Birth Date:February 22, 1848
Birth Place:San Juan, Puerto Rico
Death Date:June 23, 1930
Death Place:Wilmington, Delaware
Occupation:Educator, school administrator

Edwina Kruse (February 22, 1848 – June 23, 1930) was an American educator, born in Puerto Rico. She was principal of Howard High School in Wilmington, Delaware for almost 40 years, and a close associate of Alice Dunbar-Nelson, who taught at Howard.

Early life

Edwina B. Kruse was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico; one of her parents was German, the other Puerto Rican or Cuban.[1] [2] [3] She moved to the United States as a small child, and both of her parents died when she was young. She was educated in Connecticut and Massachusetts, and at Hampton Institute in Virginia.[4]

Career

Kruse taught at Black schools in Delaware.[5] In 1881, Kruse became the principal of Howard High School in Wilmington, Delaware.[6] She often spoke to community groups about her work at the school, which was for a time the state's only public high school for Black students.[7] Her tenure as the school's head covered a time of expansion and improved quality of the school, and the students held an annual celebration on her birthday (she liked to point out that she share a birthday with George Washington).[8] [9] [10] Among the Howard students during her time as principal were civil rights lawyer Louis L. Redding and teacher and activist Pauline A. Young. When Booker T. Washington visited Wilmington in 1900, he stayed with Kruse.[11]

She retired as principal in 1920.[12] [13] She helped establish the state's Industrial School for Colored Girls, which was renamed for Kruse in 1943;[14] it was later merged with a white girls' reformatory, before being absorbed in a co-educational state program in the 1980s.[15] She also helped create the Sarah Ann White Home for the Aged in Wilmington. She was one of the organizers of Wilmington's branch of the NAACP in 1914,[16] and hosted an early meeting of the group in her home.[17]

Personal life

Kruse had a longtime personal relationship with writer Alice Dunbar-Nelson,[18] [19] who taught at Howard High School.[20] [21] [22] Dunbar-Nelson left an unpublished novel in manuscript,This Mighty Oak, based on Kruse's life. Kruse mentored a girl from Trinidad, Etta A. Woodlen, who became a music teacher at Howard High School.[23] Kruse died in 1930, aged 82 years.[24] A public pool in Wilmington was named for Kruse.[25] [26] In 1948, her former home was sold to raise funds for a scholarship at Howard High School.[27]

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: A Love Deeper Than Friendship. 2021-02-22. The Authorship and Activism of Alice Dunbar Nelson. en-US.
  2. News: 1930-06-24. Edwina B. Kruse Dies at 82 Years. 12. The Morning News. 2021-02-23. Newspapers.com.
  3. News: 1975-02-19. Howard High Plans Best Yearbook. 10. The Morning News. 2021-02-23. Newspapers.com.
  4. Web site: Gibson. Judith Y.. 1997. Mighty Oaks: Five Black Educators. 2021-02-22. A History of African Americans of Delaware and Maryland's Eastern Shore.
  5. News: 1883-03-05. Getting at the Truth About Miss Kruse's Salary. 2. The Morning News. 2021-02-23. Newspapers.com.
  6. News: 1900-06-13. Howard School. 5. The Morning News. 2021-02-23. Newspapers.com.
  7. News: 1909-04-07. Women Hear Fine Address. 9. The Morning News. 2021-02-23. Newspapers.com.
  8. News: 1918-02-22. Gift of a Portrait to Miss E. B. Kruse. 8. The Morning News. 2021-02-23. Newspapers.com.
  9. News: 1929-02-23. Honor Former Howard High School Head. 18. The News Journal. 2021-02-23. Newspapers.com.
  10. News: 1931-02-28. Honor Memory of Veteran Educator. 22. The News Journal. 2021-02-23. Newspapers.com.
  11. News: 1900-06-28. Not a Candidate. 1. The Sun. 2021-02-23. Newspapers.com.
  12. November 1920. Men of the Month. The Crisis. 21. 32.
  13. News: Frank. Bill. 1983-09-16. Educator Edwina Kruse's Trial and Triumph. 13. The Morning News. 2021-02-22. Newspapers.com.
  14. News: 1943-06-11. Exercises to Honor Miss Edwina B. Kruse. 7. The Morning News. 2021-02-23. Newspapers.com.
  15. News: Frank. Bill. 1981-11-10. Boys and Girls Together at Last. 14. The Morning News. 2021-02-23. Newspapers.com.
  16. Web site: Boylan. Anne M.. Biography of Mary J. Johnson Woodlen, 1870-1933. 2021-02-22. Alexander Street, Biographical Database of African American Suffragists.
  17. News: 1914-12-16. Colored Society Talks Segregation. 11. The Evening Journal. 2021-02-23. Newspapers.com.
  18. Book: Hull. Gloria T.. Color, Sex & Poetry: Three Women Writers of the Harlem Renaissance. Hull. Akasha Gloria. 1987. Indiana University Press. 978-0-253-20430-1. 60–63. en.
  19. Web site: 2019-03-01 . 19 Game-Changing Queer Women to Celebrate LGBTQ+ History Month . 2022-04-04 . www.advocate.com . en.
  20. Web site: Timmons. Monet. April 6, 2019. Recovering Black Women in the Archive. live. 2021-02-22. Black Women's Studies Association. en-US. https://web.archive.org/web/20210212140856/https://www.blackwomensstudies.com/blog/2019/4/6/recovering-black-women-in-the-archive . 2021-02-12 .
  21. Web site: Lee. Hellen. Alice Dunbar-Nelson. live. 2021-02-22. 64 Parishes. en. https://web.archive.org/web/20200130160744/https://64parishes.org/entry/alice-dunbar-nelson-2 . 2020-01-30 .
  22. Web site: Forsythe. Pamela J.. February 18, 2021. The Rosenbach Museum presents 'I Am an American!'. 2021-02-22. Broad Street Review.
  23. News: 1965-06-28. Mrs. John H. Woodlen, 71, City Music Teacher, Dies. 32. The News Journal. 2021-02-23. Newspapers.com.
  24. News: 1930-06-27. Many at Funeral of Miss E. B. Kruse. 5. The Morning News. 2021-02-23. Newspapers.com.
  25. Web site: 2014-05-14. Wilmington's Poplar Street Pool. 2021-02-22. Delaware Today. en-US.
  26. News: 1930-10-11. Tribute is Paid Negro Educator. 2. The Morning News. 2021-02-23. Newspapers.com.
  27. News: 1948-03-15. Court Files Opinion on Fund to Howard. 4. The News Journal. 2021-02-23. Newspapers.com.

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