1905-1999
Photo from Arts High Yearbook, 1966
An early Black teacher in Newark, hired before 1945, firstly as a “permanent sub” at Cleveland Junior High, because Black teachers could not be officially hired above primary level. Afterward she taught at 7th Avenue School and Robert Treat Elementary School, and finally became Guidance Chairman at Arts High for 13 years. She mainly taught English but also intro courses in Latin and Greek. “She was there for black kids, white kids everybody’s kids” said friend Georgetta Campbell. She would stop children on the street asking them what they wanted to be, “a doctor, a lawyer or a teacher”.
She hosted Opportunities Unlimited her own weekly radio program that aired on WNJR for 16 years. She had local politicians, artists and activists as guests.
She graduated Howard and Columbia Universities. She also taught in Trenton and North Carolina and was a curriculum specialist in Washington DC. She was a charter member of the National Urban League and a VP of the Newark NAACP. She organized dramatic and musical productions, including once getting Sammy Davis Jr. to perform for the Urban League. She would teach workshops on black history around the community.
Bibliography
New Jersey Herald News, Apr 14, 1945
“Tina E Bohannon, 94, a Dedicated Educator” Star Ledger Jul 19, 1999
Arts High School Yearbooks npl.org/yearbooks
Cummings Knowing Newark Feb 20, 2003 and Feb 21, 2002