Educators

The Wilmington, N.C. educators depicted in this project all worked during the 20th century, spanning more than eight decades beginning in 1915. See the artwork by Alexandria P. Clay and learn more about these educators below.

  • Lethia Sherman Hankins

    Ms. Hankins (1934 - 2014) graduated from Williston Industrial High School in 1951 and joined the faculty at Williston Senior High in 1958. She taught English and Drama, working in the county school system for 36 years. After retiring in 1994, Hankins served on the Wilmington City Council from 2003 to 2007 and was a co-chair of the 1898 Foundation in 2008.

  • Dorothy Bailey Jackson Johnson

    Ms. Johnson (1914 - 1984) graduated from Williston Industrial High School in 1931 and later taught Science at Williston Senior High. She also taught at Virgo Junior High and was elected president of the North Carolina Association of Classroom Teachers in 1966. She was elected to the New Hanover County School Board in 1976 and reelected in 1980. Johnson is a member of the North Carolina Education Hall of Fame.

  • William Grady Lowe

    Mr. Lowe (1925 - 1981) graduated from Williston Industrial High School in 1942 and taught Social Studies at the school starting in 1950. Lowe was often "under scrutiny" for what he taught. Joseph McNeil, one of the participants in the 1960 Greensboro sit-ins, said his activism was in part due to the lessons Lowe taught his students.

  • B. Constance O'Dell

    Ms. O'Dell (1918 - 2015) taught Music and was the choral instructor at Williston Senior High School. From 1949 to 1968, O'Dell directed the Williston Glee Club and Concert Choir. The glee club "achieved fame resulting from concert travel across the Atlantic seaboard," and O'Dell "became a celebrated figure." After desegregation, she was a school counselor at Hoggard High School

  • Fred J. Rogers

    A Raleigh native and graduate of Shaw University, Mr. Rogers (1888 - 1974) served as principal at Williston Industrial from 1929 to 1951 and then became head of the Williston College Program. He founded the B.B. Leonard Hi-Y Club in 1937. The Class of 1946 described him as a "guiding light" through their time at Williston.

  • Ernest Adison Swain

    Mr. Swain (1915 - 2007) served in Brunswick and New Hanover County Schools, working in the latter as principal at James B. Dudley, Peabody, and William H. Hooper Elementary Schools. Swain felt he should be a role model and was careful about how he dressed. He wore a suit and tie every day because "...little boys, little children like to see you like that." He was a member of the Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, and the local chapter organized a merit scholarship in his name at UNCW in 2005.

  • Bertha Boykin Todd

    Ms. Todd (DOB: 1929) arrived in Wilmington in the fall of 1952 and was named one of two librarians at Williston Industrial High School. Todd moved to the new Williston Senior High School the next year, working as the librarian until 1968. She created the first county-wide book fair in 1960 and served New Hanover County Schools in several capacities, retiring in 1992. Todd is the author of several books and was a co-chair of the 1898 Foundation from 1995-1999.

  • David Clarke Virgo

    Mr. Virgo (1880 - 1955) served New Hanover County students for nearly 40 years, becoming the first principal of Williston Primary and Industrial schools when he arrived in 1915. Virgo walked "door-to-door" pleading with parents to allow children to continue their education. He enrolled the first Williston Industrial High School students in 1919, and in 1924 asserted Wilmington provided opportunities in Black education "comparable with any other city in the state and indeed she stands foremost in many particulars."

  • Booker Tecumseh Washington

    Mr. Washington (1903 - 1990) was principal at Williston Industrial and Senior High Schools starting in 1951 for roughly a decade and a half. Washington came to Williston Industrial School to teach Biology and Chemistry in 1929 and worked at Williston Primary in the mid 1930s. The Class of 1960 dedicated the Willistonian to him, writing that he took pride in their "sorrows and success" and "dedicated himself to [their] advancement."

  • Lucille Simon Williams

    Ms. Williams (1907 - 2000) was a Wilmington native first educated at Peabody Elementary. She was the Valedictorian at Williston Industrial in 1926 and wanted to be a teacher her entire life. Williams returned to Williston to teach English in the 1930s. She also taught Latin and Sociology. The 1958 Willistonian was dedicated to her with the class writing she "endeavored to help every boy and girl whom she has taught to grow into responsible adulthood."

Note: Most of the images are from issues of the Willistonian, the yearbook for Williston Senior High School first published in 1946. The yearbooks and images are courtesy of the Cape Fear Museum of History and Science. The image of Ernest A. Swain is not from the Willistonian but is courtesy of the Cape Fear Museum of History and Science. The image of David Clarke Virgo is from The Pen, a publication from Saint Augustine’s University, courtesy of Saint Augustine's University and DigitalNC.