E’ry day this month, Philly’s 7th Ward, in partnership with the Center for Black Educator Development, will highlight a “Black Educator Hall of Famer.“ But, don’t forget, e’ry month is Black History Month. February is just the Blackest. Every day is an ongoing opportunity to learn and teach the colossal impact Black educators have had on society.
Enolia Pettigen McMillan.
Enolia Pettigen McMillan was born in Willow Grove, PA, on October 20, 1904. At age 3, her family moved to Maryland in search of better educational opportunities, where her father purchased a small farm to support the family. A formerly enslaved individual, McMillan’s father—John Pettigen—as well as McMillan’s mother (Elizabeth Fortune Pettigen), believed in the transformative power of education and hard work. That ethic would drive McMillan throughout her life.
McMillan attended and graduated from Frederick Douglass High School in Baltimore. After high school, she attended Howard University on an Alpha Kappa Alpha scholarship. She graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Education in 1926, began her teaching career at Denton High School in Caroline County, Maryland, in 1927, and became a principal in Charles County in 1928.
McMillan, who spent much of her life in Baltimore City as an educator, became president of the Maryland State Colored Teachers Association and assumed an active role in desegregating Maryland schools. In the wake of the Brown decision, she was one of the first Black teachers to teach at a white school. As a teacher, McMillan sought further education to advance her career. Unfortunately, racism prevented her from accessing local institutions. She began her graduate studies at Columbia University, commuting from Baltimore to New York and back. McMillan earned her master’s degree in 1933.
Her experiences with inequity as a Black educator inspired her graduate thesis, “Factors Affecting Secondary Education in the Counties in Maryland,” where she crafted legitimate attacks on Maryland’s racist dual school system with its unequal school terms, salary scales, curricula, etc. That work came with rewards and repercussions. The reward was recognition as a leader among Black educators in Maryland and leadership roles in Black teacher organizations. The repercussions included being denied promotions within Baltimore City Schools.
However, her civil rights work granted the promotion necessary for McMillan to keep fighting for Black people. She retired in 1968. She then became president of the NAACP’s Baltimore branch. Through her efforts at her branch, McMillan’s fundraising ability is credited with saving the NAACP from bankruptcy following a 1976 lawsuit. In 1984, she became the first elected woman to serve as national president of the NAACP. McMillan said the following regarding the NAACP’s role in remaining relevant:
“The NAACP must appeal to the young people of today and make them aware of what young people were able to do before, and show them exactly how much of what has been done is being undone.”
McMillan died October 24, 2006, in Stevenson, Maryland, from heart failure four days after celebrating her 102nd birthday.
For more information on Enolia Pettigen McMillan, visit the following site.
