Reprinted with permission of Momentum, Summer/Fall 1995
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.
A fourth generation Catskill native, Peebles lived with
relatives in Albany while attending the State Teachers College. "I was
the only black
student in the 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."
"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.
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