By Dr. Carl Mack
Roberta Spencer was born on January 4, 1919, in Tacoma, Washington. A graduate of Lincoln High School in Tacoma, she attended Wilberforce University in Ohio. After marrying and having two sons, she returned to the Pacific Northwest in 1959. Byrd earned a B.A. in Sociology and Elementary Education, and a M.A. in Librarianship from the University of Washington. She worked as a teacher at Jefferson Elementary and later served as a librarian at John Muir Elementary School.
On May 17, 1954, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled segregation in public education unconstitutional. Yet, the self-described liberal city of Seattle, Washington, as far as the Black Community was concerned, ignored the ruling. Barr participated in meetings with local civil rights groups and church leaders to challenge the Seattle Public School District’s slow move to racial equality in public education. Between March 31 and April 1, 1966, the Black Community boycotted the district, and nearly 4,000 children attended 11 Freedom Schools located throughout the city. Of all the certified Black teachers in the district, Barr was one of three that supported the boycott and participated by heading up a Freedom School at the East Madison YMCA.
Remarried that same year, she was appointed by Washington State Governor Dan Evans to the State Board Against Discrimination. Although progress was made, racial tensions remained high. In 1968, Black female students were expelled from Franklin High School for wearing their hair in an Afro. Nearly 150 of her classmates responded via a sit-in protest. The district appointed Barr as the vice principal at the school.
On this day in 1973, the school year started in Seattle. Barr, a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., welcomed her students to Lincoln High School as the first woman and the first Black person ever to serve as principal of a high school in the Seattle Public School District.
On June 23, 1993, Roberta Byrd Barr was called to head the Eternal School, where everyone is free.
This article is brought to you courtesy of Black Heritage Day V – the most comprehensive Black History Calendar ever! Edition V is an all women’s edition available at blackheritagedays.com
