I was 21 when I began my first teaching position at Keifer Junior High.  One of the staff members that welcomed me and mentored me was math teacher Ernestine Lucas. (Though I didn’t know her, I did know her son, who was in my high school graduating class.) Her caring and practical advice made that year much easier and I treasure her for the mentoring and support she gave me.

     What I didn’t know was her history and the obstacles she overcame in her life.

She passed in 2005 at the age of 90 and much of my information comes from her obituary–and it is awe inspiring.

     Ernestine was born and raised in Richmond, Indiana, and attended Fisk University in Nashville, TN, earning both a BA in Mathematics and Physics, Cum Laude, in 1935, and an MA in Education in 1937.  Her first teaching positions were at the Tennessee State School for Delinquent Girls, the Sleighten Farm School in Pennsylvania and the Ohio Department of Vocational Rehabilitation.

     As a teacher, Mrs. Lucas was highly respected not only for her exemplary instructional skills but equally for the care she had for each of her students throughout her long career.

After retiring from teaching, Ernestine spent countless hours researching the genealogy of an early Afro-American family in Springfield, as well as her own and her husband’s lineage.  She taught genealogy and was a charter member of the National Afro-American Museum and Cultural Center in Wilberforce, Ohio.

     Mrs. Lucas published two books:  From Paris to Springfield: The Slave Connection and Wider Windows to the Past: African American History from a Family Perspective

Yes, Ernestine Lucas persisted.  Throughout her life, she used her intelligence, drive and strength to make our community a better place