Justine Wilkinson Washington Explained

Justine Wilkinson Washington
Birth Name:Justine Wilkinson
Birth Date:May 8, 1908
Birth Place:Atlanta, Georgia
Death Date:November 20, 2004 (age 96)
Death Place:Augusta, Georgia
Occupation:Educator

Justine Wilkinson Washington (May 8, 1908 – November 20, 2004) was an American educator based in Augusta, Georgia. She was on the faculty of Paine College, was the first Black woman elected to the Richmond County Board of Education, and was appointed to the Georgia Human Relations Commission.

Early life and education

Justine E. Wilkinson was born in Atlanta and raised in Athens, Georgia, the daughter of Charles Wilkinson and Julia Foster Wilkinson. Her father was a clergyman. Her first cousin, Marcus A. Foster, was a school superintendent in Oakland, California, where he was killed by the Symbionese Liberation Army in 1973.[1]

Wilkinson earned a bachelor's degree from Spelman College in 1930; at Spelman, she was in the glee club,[2] and was social editor of the campus newspaper.[3] She earned a master's degree in 1948 from Atlanta University with a master's thesis titled "A Study of Some Personality Traits, Adjustments, and Educational Aptitudes of 168 Negro Teachers in Aiken County, South Carolina".[4] In 1965, she completed a D.Ed. degree at the University of Oklahoma.[5] Her dissertation was titled "Self-concepts and socio-economic status of Negroes enrolled in grade six in public schools of Richmond County, Georgia".[6]

Career

Wilkinson taught school and conducted choirs in her hometown, at Union Institute, after college. She also taught in Belton, South Carolina and Pendleton, South Carolina, and at summer institutes for teachers. She was appointed a Jeanes Supervisor of Teachers in Aiken County, in charge of 84 segregated rural schools.[7] [8] She encouraged teachers to become involved in improving the communities where they taught, and to keep their classrooms orderly as an example to their students. [9]

She taught education and psychology courses at Paine College in Augusta, Georgia, from 1961 to 1963, and from 1965 until her retirement in 1981.[10] [11] In 1972, after an unsuccessful campaign in 1964,[12] Washington became the first Black woman elected to the Richmond County Board of Education,[13] and she remained a board member for 21 years, and served as the board's president. In 1986 she was appointed to Georgia's State Job Training Coordinating Council.[14] She also served on the Georgia Human Relations Commission from 1992 to 1994. In 1995, she was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award in Education by the Metro Augusta Chamber of Commerce.[15]

Personal life

Wilkinson married fellow educator Isaiah Edward "Ike" Washington on Christmas Day in 1940; as they later explained, for two teachers, Christmas Day was their best chance for a day off work.[16] The Washingtons were executors of the estate of their friend, actress Butterfly McQueen, when she died in 1995.[17] Ike Washington died in 2000,[18] [19] and she died in 2004, at the age of 96, in Augusta. Washington Hall at Augusta University was named for her and her husband in 1997.[20]

External links

Notes and References

  1. News: November 21, 1973 . Laney Principal Took Slain Black School Superintendent on 'Sentimental Journey' . 1 . The Augusta News-Review . April 24, 2023 . Georgia Historic Newspapers.
  2. https://gahistoricnewspapers.galileo.usg.edu/lccn/sn38019897/1928-02-15/ed-1/seq-1/#date1=01%2F01%2F1763&nottext=&date2=12%2F31%2F2023&words=Justine+Wilkinson&searchType=advanced&sequence=0&index=0&proxdistance=2&rows=12&ortext=&proxtext=Justine+Wilkinson&andtext=&page=1 "Spelman College Glee Club"
  3. Masthead, The Campus Mirror (April 15, 1929): 2. via Georgia Historic Newspapers.
  4. Washington, Justine Wilkinson. "A Study of Some Personality Traits, Adjustments, and Educational Aptitudes of 168 Negro Teachers in Aiken County, South Carolina" (M.A. thesis, Atlanta University 1948).
  5. Web site: November 25, 2004 . Justine Washington Obituary . 2023-04-24 . Augusta Chronicle, via Legacy.com.
  6. Washington, Justine Wilkinson. "Self-concepts and socio-economic status of Negroes enrolled in grade six in public schools of Richmond County, Georgia" (D.Ed. dissertation, University of Oklahoma, 1965).
  7. News: 1936-11-10 . Colored Fair is Very Successful; History in Making as First Fair is Held . 8 . Aiken Standard . 2023-04-24 . Newspapers.com.
  8. News: 1939-04-07 . Field Day Exercises for Negro Schools . 2 . Aiken Standard . 2023-04-24 . Newspapers.com.
  9. News: 1937-11-12 . Colored Teachers Meet in Aiken . 8 . Aiken Standard . 2023-04-24 . Newspapers.com.
  10. News: October 31, 1974 . Faculty Women Honored . 5 . Augusta News-Review . April 24, 2023 . Georgia Historic Newspapers.
  11. News: April 10, 1975 . Paine Professors Meet with NCATE Evaluation Board . 2 . The Augusta News-Review . April 24, 2023 . Georgia Historic Newspapers.
  12. News: 1965-02-05 . Suits Attacking Countywide Elections are Dismissed . 17 . Ledger-Enquirer . 2023-04-24 . Newspapers.com.
  13. Web site: Black History Month Dr. Isaiah "Ike" and Dr. Justine Washington . 2023-04-24 . Richmond County Board of Education . en.
  14. News: 1983-02-24 . Newsmakers . 78 . The Atlanta Constitution . 2023-04-24 . Newspapers.com.
  15. News: December 7, 1995 . A Lifetime of Achievement . 4 . Augusta Focus . April 24, 2023 . Georgia Historic Newspapers.
  16. Web site: Rhodes . Don . 2022-10-12 . In A Class of Their Own . 2023-04-24 . Augusta Magazine . en-US.
  17. Web site: McCarthy . Rebecca . 1996-12-26 . Actress's Treasures 'Gone with the Wind' . 2023-04-24 . Deseret News . en.
  18. Web site: Kirby . Bill . December 24, 2017 . Way We Were: Ike and Justine and Christmas . 2023-04-24 . The Augusta Chronicle . en-US.
  19. News: May 4, 2000 . City Mourns Death of I. E. Washington . 1 . Augusta Focus . April 24, 2023 . Georgia Historic Newspapers.
  20. News: May 29, 1997 . ASU Names Hall after Two Living Legends . 4 . Augusta Focus . April 24, 2023 . Georgia Historic Newspapers.

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