Donated by Ernestine S. Mitchell, March 2011
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Permission to publish or reproduce materials from the Ernestine Mitchell Collection must be obtained from African American Library at the Gregory School or the appropriate copyright holder. Please ask reference staff for information and assistance on the possibility of photo duplication and any associated fees. The library reserves the right to restrict duplication.
Erin Norris, August 2011
Ernestine Stewart Mitchell was born October 3, 1928, to Reverend Timothy and Mrs. Malinda McBeth Stewart; the fifth of eight children, she graduated valedictorian from Marshall High School in Angleton, Texas, in 1946.
Ernestine Mitchell's teaching career began in Houston in 1957, when she was assigned to teach first grade at the Old Gregory School in Freedmen's Town, Fourth Ward. She remained in this position for ten years. In 1967, as a participant in HISD's desegregation efforts, Mrs. Mitchell was asked to become a Crossover teacher. She was transferred to Kolter Elementary School in Southwest Houston, which was populated mostly with the children of prominent Jewish families in the area. Because of her position as Crossover teacher during HISD's desegregation period, Mrs. Mitchell was transferred rapidly from school to school as teacher and assistant principal as part of the school system's desegregation plan. She simultaneously returned to college and earned a Master of Education degree as well as an administrative certification. In 1973, she was assigned to Allen Elementary School as principal and, after three years of concerted efforts, had one of the most productive schools in the district. Mrs. Mitchell retired in 1988, after 36 years in education.
The Ernestine Mitchell Collection contains letters, certificates, and newsclippings that chronicle her career in education and of her family history in her hometown of Angleton, Texas.
Much of the materials within the collection reflect a period in Houston’s educational history in which schools were desegregated by federal law. What followed were “Crossover Teachers”, African American teachers who had initially taught in segregated African American elementary schools who were brought in to teach at predominately white schools. This is the story of that period.
The collection is arranged by subject and material type.