Hilda Grayson Finney
American educator
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Hilda Veronica Grayson Finney (November 29, 1913 – June 1, 1976) was an American educator. She was a field representative for the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History in the 1940s. She was founder and director of the Center for Extended American History, a Los Angeles archive for materials concerning Black History Week.
November 29, 1913
Hilda Grayson Finney | |
|---|---|
Hilda Grayson (later Finney), from a 1942 newspaper | |
| Born | Hilda Veronica Grayson November 29, 1913 Estill, South Carolina, U.S. |
| Died | June 1, 1976 (age 62) Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Occupations | Educator, public historian |
Early life and education
Grayson was born in Estill, South Carolina, the daughter of Edgar Grayson.[1] She graduated from Morris Brown College in Atlanta.[2]
Career
Grayson was a teacher in Allendale, South Carolina.[3] In 1939, she was forbidden to teach Black history lessons to her students. Later, she succeeded in getting thirteen books on Black history added to the state's approved list for school use.[4] Based on this success,[4] Carter G. Woodson hired her as field representative at the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History in 1942.[5][6][7] Her work included traveling through the eastern United States, holding workshops on teaching Black history,[8] advising on historical preservation, and recommending reading and curriculum materials.[9][10] She was also secretary of the Bethune-Cookman College Fund,[2] and a leader in the Palmetto State Teachers Association.[11][12] She was a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha.[13]
After she moved to Los Angeles around 1960, she opened her extensive collections as the Center for Extended American History,[14] in her home on Crenshaw Boulevard, to support educators and researchers interested in Black history.[4] She was involved in activities of the Congress of Afrikan People in southern California.[15] In her last years, she taught weekly Black history courses at the men's prison in Chino.[4]
Personal life
Grayson married fellow educator Ernest Adolphus Finney in 1943. At her wedding, she wore a strand of pearls given to her by Mary McLeod Bethune.[2] They had sons Earl[16] and Ronald. Ronald Finney was later known as journalist Yemi Touré.[17] Her stepson Ernest A. Finney Jr. became a judge and state legislator. She died from cancer in 1976, at the age of 62, in Los Angeles.[18]