Retired Teacher Continues To Model, Inspire Through Endowment
Bernice Mosbey Peebles '39 has always liked "to see the impact a teacher has on children and adults. Teachers are models; they inspire." Through her volunteer activities on the University's behalf and her recent donation to Initiatives for Women, the retired teacher is both model and inspiration for students at her alma mater.
 Bernice Mosbey Peebles |
A fourth generation Catskill native, Peebles lived with relatives
in Albany while attending the State Teachers College. "I
was the only black student in my class for all but the first
semester my freshman year," she notes. "When I received
my master's a few years later, there was only one black bachelor's
candidate, but I had come from a similar high school experience
in Catskill."
Peebles was not prepared, however, "for the
fact that I could not get a
teaching position in New York State after
college or for the College's Placement Bureau
telling me that it could not
place me. While there were limited teaching
opportunities then, I had not
expected to be so helpless."
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"Prior
to my senior year, my realistic uncle
insisted that I take a New York State civil
service examination," Peebles
continued. "Since in my naivete,
I was positive that the world awaited my entrance
into the teaching field, I did not
take him seriously, went to a party
the night before, somehow passed, and was later most
relieved to find that, immediately
upon graduation, I had an appointment as
a clerk in the New York State
department of Labor--my only job offer!"
Despite her disappointment at not
finding a teaching job immediately after graduation,
Peebles persevered. "I came from
a family that kept my spirits up. My parents were
not people who would ever accept failure,"
remarks the former Annual Fund
volunteer, who recently completed a stint as the
Fund's New York City chairperson.
After four years
with the state, "opportunities to
teach finally came." Through a friend
and as a result of vacancies created by the war,
Peebles obtained a teaching job in a
Cambridge, Maryland "separate but equal"
high school. She taught one semester, then returned
home to pursue her master's at State
while teaching at the New York State Training
School for Girls in Hudson. She later took New York
City Board of Education examinations
and, after teaching at Wiltwyck School for
Boys, moved to New York City, where she taught for
four years prior to becoming a
principal. Peebles retired as principal of an
elementary school there in 1973 and
subsequently worked for ten years as an
adjunct at the Pace University Graduate School of
Education's Department of
Administration and Supervision. She has also worked
on projects with Bank Street
College, Vassar's Institute of Family Relations,
Long Island University Brooklyn
Centers United Nations Semesters, and teacher Corps;
taught a Saturday course at State;
worked as a lecturer at Bronx Community
College; and done some teaching at City
College.
Today, still
active in the education field, Peebles
is a part-time consultant for the New York City
Department of Education. She also
chairs a committee writing the history of
the New York City graduate chapter of her sorority,
TAU Omega Chapter of Alpha Kappa
Alpha, which is celebrating its 70th birthday this
year. "I'm relearning bridge after not having
played in over 40 years," she
reports.
As a firm
believer that "people who really aspire to get
someplace should be recognized,"
Peebles recently set up a scholarship
endowment through Initiatives for Women, which
assists university women in reaching
their academic and career potential. When endowed,
the Bernice Mosbey Peebles '39 Scholarship Award
Fund will annually provide a partial
scholarship to a woman of color who plans to teach
after graduation.
Reprinted with permission of
Momentum, Summer/Fall 1995
