Katherine Bell Banks

Oct 17, 2022

in 1910-1929 (Born), African Americans, Born or raised in Newark (high school or before), Education, Museums and Libraries

1912-2008

Katherine Bell Banks was born in Tennessee. The Banks family shared a home with the WEB Dubois family in New York before moving to Newark in 1922.

Katherine graduated Barringer in 1929 and was one of the first African Americans to graduate Montclair State Teacher’s College. She then received a Masters from Columbvia University.

Katherine was an early Black teacher in Newark, hired before 1945. She was first hired as a “permanent sub” at the “Senior High School” which was Barringer, because Black teachers could not be officially hired above primary level. The Newark News lists her appointment as a substitute in 1944.

She was still at Barringer in 1952-1953, when she received a Fulbright Scholarship to study in France as a Fulbright Exchange teacher.

In 1960, she was teaching French at West Side. Later, Katherine taught French at Vailsburg High School and became the Chairperson of its Language Department in 1966 before retiring in 1980.

Katherine also taught at Spelman College. She had done graduate work at several other colleges.

Katherine was a member of the International Cosmopolitan Club and the Alliance Francaise. She was a docent at the Newark Museum. She married Burnwell Banks in 1960.