Lucinda Todd
Lucinda Todd (1903 – July 17, 1996) was an African-American teacher and education activist.
Biography
Todd was born in 1903 in Litchfield, Kansas, a small coal mining town near Pittsburg, Kansas. She was one of 13 children born to Charles Wilson and his wife Estelle Slaughter Wilson. Lucinda started her teaching career in 1928 after graduating from what is now Pittsburg State University with a degree in education. She married Alvin Todd in 1935 and they moved to Topeka, Kansas. As a married woman, she was not permitted to teach so she was forced to quit her job. While raising her daughter, Nancy, she became active in the local chapter of the NAACP and was elected Secretary in 1948. When Nancy entered grade school, Lucinda wanted her to have music lessons, but she later learned that music was only taught at the white schools. When she asked the school board why, they told her that colored children weren't interested in learning music and couldn't afford the instruments. She spoke out against this policy and the next year, there was music in the black schools.
As Lucinda became more outspoken about the conditions of the schools for African-American children, other teachers grew afraid of losing their jobs because of their association with Lucinda. Whenever some of her teacher friends visited her home, she had to pull the shades down. At the time,
Todd died on July 17, 1996, in Topeka.[5]
References
- ^ "Lucinda Todd - Kansas Historical Society". Kshs.org. Retrieved 2016-01-17.
- ^ "Topeka, Kansas - Separate Is Not Equal". Americanhistory.si.edu. 2012-12-17. Retrieved 2016-01-17.
- ^ "Lucinda Todd - Kansapedia - Kansas Historical Society". Kshs.org. Retrieved 2016-01-17.
- ISBN 9781400030613. Retrieved 2016-01-17.
- ^ "Lucinda Todd". Kansaspedia. Retrieved 16 January 2016.