Roberta Byrd Barr
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Roberta Byrd Barr | |
|---|---|
 Barr in 1966 | |
| Born | January 4, 1919 |
| Died | June 23, 1993 (aged 74) |
| Education | |
| Occupations | Educator, librarian, television presenter |
Roberta Byrd Barr (January 4, 1919 – June 23, 1993) was an American civil rights activist, television personality, educator, and librarian. From the mid-1960s to the early 1970s, she hosted a weekly Seattle television show, Face to Face, which featured guest speakers discussing issues such as race, education, and welfare. In 1973 she became the first woman principal of a high school in Seattle.
Roberta Spencer was born in Tacoma, Washington on January 4, 1919.[1][2]
She attended Lincoln High School and Wilberforce University.[1] She also attended the New School of Social Research.[3] She later earned a bachelor's degree in sociology and elementary education as well as a master's degree in librarianship from the University of Washington.[1]
Career as educator and librarian
Barr worked as a teacher and librarian in a number of schools within Seattle.[1] During the Seattle school boycott of 1966, she headed one of the Freedom Schools that were set up in protest of the lack of progress towards desegregation.[1] That same year, she was appointed to the Washington State Board Against Discrimination.[1]
She was appointed vice principal of Franklin High School in 1968, after 150 students held a sit-in protesting the expulsion of black female students who chose to wear their hair in a natural style.[4][5] In 1973 Barr became the principal of Lincoln High School, becoming both the first woman and the first African American to be a principal in the Seattle Public Schools district.[6]