Willie Lee D. Campbell Glass | |
|---|---|
| Born | Willie Lee Dorothy Campbell (1910-08-24)August 24, 1910 Nacogdoches, Texas, U.S. |
| Died | May 2, 1999(1999-05-02) (aged 88) Tyler, Texas, U.S. |
| Resting place | Cleaver Cemetery, Nacogdoches, Texas, U.S. |
| Spouse | |
| Awards | See list |
| Academic background | |
| Education | Prairie View State Normal and Industrial College (BS) Iowa State College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts (MS) |
| Thesis | Training, Experience and Salary of Negro Home Economics Teachers in Secondary Schools in Texas (1933) |
| Academic work | |
| Discipline | Home economics |
| Institutions | Virginia State College Nacogdoches High School Texas College Tyler Junior College Prairie View A&M College of Texas |
Willie Lee Dorothy Campbell Glass (August 24, 1910 – May 2, 1999) was an African-American academic, consultant, and educator. She was the youngest graduate and first black woman to receive a master’s degree inhome economics at Iowa State College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts, now known asIowa State University.[1] The city ofTyler, Texas, named a day in her honor.[2]
Willie Lee Dorothy Campbell was born on August 24, 1910 inNacogdoches, Texas, to Edward John and Mary Gertrude Kennedy Campbell.[3][4] Her father, Edward John Campbell, was the head of the "colored" schools in Nacogdoches.[5]
She graduated from E. J. Campbell High School, named after her father, as class valedictorian in 1927. She attendedPrairie View State Normal & Industrial College. After receiving a Bachelor of Science degree in home economics at Prairie View in 1931, she became the first African-American woman to earn a master's degree in home economics at Iowa State College, receiving a Master of Science degree with honors in 1933. Her thesis was titled "Training, Experience and Salary of Negro Home Economics Teachers in Secondary Schools in Texas". In 1936, she marriedDominion Robert Glass, president ofTexas College.[6] Texas College is ahistorically black college in Tyler, Texas.[7]
Soon after graduating from Iowa State College, she began teaching atVirginia State College, where she was the head of the department of food and nutrition. After teaching at the college for around a year, she returned to Nacogdoches to teach atNacogdoches High School for a short time.In 1950, Glass became the first black woman appointed to theTexas Education Agency. She held the position from 1950 to 1974.[8] In 1981, GovernorBill Clements appointed her to the Texas Board on Aging.[6]She was also a co-founder of theTop Ladies of Distinction, Inc.[8]
In a country devoted to the young, grande dames still manage to hold their own, whether it be through the political and financial clout of Lady Bird Johnson; the social preeminence of Nancy Hamon, a lavish Dallas party queen who once chartered a yacht for a Mediterranean cruise with a group of her friends; or the leadership of 79-year-old Willie Lee D. Glass, the black home-economics teacher who broke through Tyler's color barrier to sit upon numerous civic boards and committees—Tyler even named a day in her honor.