Every day this month, the Center for Black Educator Development, in partnership with Education Post and Philly’s 7th Ward, will highlight a Black Educator Hall of Famer.
But, don’t forget, e’ry month is Black History Month and February is just the Blackest. All year are ongoing opportunities to learn and teach and the colossal impact Black educators have had on society.
Today, our featured Black educator is John Henry Stanford.
John Henry Stanford was born on September 14, 1938, in Darby, Pennsylvania. Stanford served much of his career in the United States military. But that career took him on an interesting path to education. He graduated from Penn State University with a bachelor’s degree in Political Science and soon after joined the US Army.
While in the US Army Stanford earned a master’s degree from Central Michigan University, and personnel management and administration. Thirty years after joining the army in 1961, Stanford retired. He retired with the rank of major general. While serving as county manager for Fulton County Georgia, Stanford was recruited by the Seattle public schools to serve as its superintendent. In 1995 he accepted the job and became the first Black superintendent in the history of Seattle, WA.
He would revamp the 47,000+ student district to emphasize neighborhood schools and institute a financing formula based on enrollment and student demographics. Stanford instituted unconventional yet purposeful initiatives, including mandating central office staff to spend one day a week volunteering within the school district and also making poor customer service a fireable offense. His work as superintendent also led to the donation of thousands of school books to libraries and imposing tougher academic standards, and while his initiatives were criticized, they led to educational improvement.
During Stanford’s tenure, dropout rates declined, SAT scores rose in school busing was desegregated. Sadly, after numerous rounds of chemotherapy, Stanford died on November 28, 1998, of leukemia at age 60. Nevertheless, his impact was monumental and remembered. He was memorialized with the establishment of the John Stanford International School, one of the programs he founded.
John Stanford is an example of the power of dedicating oneself to a cause. Whether it be to one’s country or the children of one’s countrymen, Stanford embodied dedication, innovation, accountability, and care for his fellow man. His example is one of tenacity and resilience. That is the spirit he transferred to his students and it’s a spirit that is transferred to us as we journey in this work of educating Black children.
John Henry Stanford; a member of the Black Educator Hall of Fame.
For more information on John Henry Stanford, visit the following site.
