Statesmen, Scoundrels, and Eccentrics: A Gallery of Amazing Arkansans

Anna P. Strong

Anna P. Strong Mrs. Anna P. Strong of Marianna, Lee County, was one of those black teachers who accomplished amazing feats in educating the masses of black children during the era of Jim Crow segregation. Working with only a fraction of the resources available to the segregated white schools, Strong and her colleagues managed to keep the school doors open and brought literacy to the children of former slaves. Born Anna M. Pascal in  in Phillips County, she received a good education at a school operated by Quakers near Lexa in her home county. Originally begun by the Society of Friends at the request of the Union army commander in Helena, at first the school was a home for orphaned black children. After operating several years as an elementary and secondary school, it added college level instruction and became known as Southland College. The major focus of Southland became teacher training,an important quest given the need to educate more than , suddenly freed former slaves. Anna received her diploma from Southland in . The school functioned until . Strong was destined for the classroom. She took her first teaching job at Trenton, near Marvell, at the age of fourteen, an early age even for the nineteenth century, when children often entered the workforce at a tender age. Fortunately, she continued to study at Southland during these early teaching stints. Later, she furthered her education at Tuskegee Institute and Columbia University. For many years she was principal of Robert F. Moton High School in Marianna. She received honorary degrees from Arkansas Agricultural,Mechanical and Normal College in Pine Bluff and Bishop College in Texas. Strong was known as a strict disciplinarian and a strong leader.Two teachers who taught at Moton High School while Strong was principal recalled that “she emphasized the need for self-esteem and self-control and through this she gained the respect and confidence of those whom she led.” These teachers also recalled that “the rapid clap of her hands meant that something was in disorder” and must be corrected.  During her long tenure as a school principal,Strong brought many black leaders and professionals to speak to the student body,including Oscar DePriest of Chicago, the first black congressman of the twentieth century, and the famed Olympic gold medal runner Jesse Owens. Strong’s leadership at Moton High School helped propel her to the presidency of the Arkansas Teachers Association in ,the second female to hold that post. In her inaugural address, Strong urged black teachers to become active in the National Congress of Colored Parents and Teachers—a group she helped establish in . She also urged teachers to give more attention to the health of each child in the classroom . Stressing the need to make more educational progress, she urged teachers to take college extension courses. Later Strong served as vice president of the American Teachers Association,the black equivalent of the National EducationAssociation. She also served as president of the National Congress of Colored Parents and Teachers in –. Strong was a generally optimistic, forward-looking leader who usually put a positive face on most situations. However, her tenure as president of the , member National Congress of Colored Parents and Teachers occurred during World War II, when many black leaders were complaining about being expected to fight for a country that did not recognize their rights. In one address, Strong acknowledged that young black men were presenting some “challenging articulations.” Strong proposed, “We must tell them that liberty and justice and equal opportunity are still worth fighting for.We must show them that ignorance, prejudice, and greed are problems of our democracy and the tool of a destructive minority. We must call on all that we have of strength. We must unite all our forces of faith and hope and love to help our youth save itself in this greatest of world crises.” Anna P. Strong was the first president of the National Congress of Parents and Teachers to address the National Parent-Teacher Association . In  she shared the platform with Mrs. Franklin D. Roosevelt. After twenty-five years at Moton High School,Strong won a scholarship to Columbia University in New York City. She then joined the staff of the Arkansas State Department of Education, where her specialty was improving rural black schools.After eight years,she returned Anna P. Strong  to Marianna and resumed her work as a principal.Moton High School was...