1905-1999
Tina Bohannon was 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”.
Tina hosted Opportunities Unlimited her own weekly radio program that aired on WNJR for 16 years. She had local politicians, artists and activists as guests. Mrs. Campbell said, “She was a person who kept history alive.”
Tina graduated Howard and Columbia Universities. She also taught in Trenton and North Carolina and was a curriculum specialist in Washington DC.
Tina was a charter member of the National Urban League and a VP of the Newark NAACP, as well as a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha and an elder of Elmwood Presbyterian Church. 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.
In 1981, Tina was honored by the North Jersey Howard Alumni for her work.
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
Photo from Arts High Yearbook, 1966
Newark Library Digital Collection 1, 2
“Jersey Happenings” Baltimore Afro American Nov 21, 1981