- In February, PTAs celebrate Founders Day and take time to honor our history of advocacy, our volunteers, and our work in our communities. In the late 1800s women weren't allowed yet to vote in elections, and thus it would seem that they wouldn't be able to wield the political power needed to bring about change. The conventional wisdom of the time was soon to be challenged, however, by two women who first founded National PTA's predecessor, the National Congress of Mothers. On February 17, 1897, the two founders, Alice McLellan Birney and Phoebe Apperson Hearst, looked out at the 2,000 people from across the country who gathered for the Mothers Congress' first meeting in Washington, DC, and saw the beginning of the largest (and now oldest) volunteer organization that works exclusively on behalf of children and youth--a group of people who had even fewer rights at the time than women.
- Apart from the two women who organized the 1897 meeting, a third woman is also considered a PTA founder and, in celebrating our country’s Black History month, I would like to spotlight her story.
Selena Sloan Butler
Founder and first president of the National Congress of Colored Parents and Teachers (NCCPT), which was founded to function in states that legally mandated segregation. Mrs. Butler, mother, teacher and wife of physician, Dr. Henry R. Butler of Atlanta, Georgia, was a pioneer in the work of the improvement of racial relations, especially the rights of children. In spite of National Congress of Parents and Teachers mission to protect the rights of all children irrespective of color, Mrs. Butler believed more needed to be done.
In 1919, Butler dedicated her life to forming an organization which would have the same objectives as the National Congress of Parents and Teachers. She wrote several letters encouraging parents and teachers of color to form a union with the primary purpose of uniting home and school into a planned program for child welfare. In 1919 the Yonge Street Parent-Teacher Association was the first unit of the Georgia Congress of Colored Parents and Teachers (the precursor of the National Congress of Colored Parents and Teachers). Her letters stimulated interest in the parent-teacher movement and her own state, Georgia, became the first to organize. By 1926, Mrs. Butler aroused sufficient interest and issued the first call for convention. To this call, four states responded and sent delegates.
Her letter writing technique inspired President Hoover to appoint her to serve on his 1929 White House Conference on Child Health and Protection representing the National Congress of Colored Parents and Teachers and working on the Committee on "The Infant and Preschool Child," whose work contributed to the writing of the "Children's Chapter."
Mrs. Butler lived to enjoy and participate actively in the work of this organization for more than thirty years. After working 50 years apart, NCCPT and the National Congress of Parents and Teachers united in 1970 to expand their outreach. Today, Selena Sloan Butler is considered one of National PTA's founders.
In August 2017, at our leadership retreat, the Thirty Second District PTA Board agreed at our that developing and promoting PTA leaders of color, so that all our PTA leadership boards in the county will more closely reflect their communities of students and families, is a priority. We continue to identify, support and train emerging leaders. If you are interested in becoming more involved in PTA and its leadership board at your school and community, we strongly encourage you to contact your school PTA nominating committee this month since PTAs are currently in the process of nominating its officers for the 2018-2019 board. Elections usually occur between March and May. If you have any questions, or unsure how to contact your PTA nominating committee, contact Thirty Second District PTA directly at president@32ndpta.org.
All PTA members and community partners are invited to attend the Thirty Second District PTA’s Founders Day Dinner on February 27, 6-8:30pm.
