I wouldn’t exactly call it a flood of responses. There were four.
Come to think of it, I wouldn’t even call them “responses,” because I never asked the question.
But a foursome of readers is on exactly the same page in terms of choosing the right name for Akron’s new high school, which is expected to be built starting in 2018.
As you probably know, Kenmore and Garfield will be merged because of plummeting enrollment in the Akron Public Schools system. Funds exist to build one more new high school, but not two.
The board voted to temporarily call it “Kenmore-Garfield.” Others would like to flip the names. Still others have suggested a combo job, either “Kenfield” or “Garmore.”
But the folks who emailed me believe this is a great opportunity to honor a name from Akron history that hasn’t gotten as much attention as it should have.
Dr. Neil Cabe of Ravenna, a teacher, pastor, clinical counselor and author over the years, says, “How about Herbert Bracken, longtime East High School teacher, who was the first African-American teacher in Akron?
“A wonderful man. I can still hear him say, and it’s been 50 years, ‘I wouldn’t give a penny for you!’ ”
Also sending emails were Bracken’s granddaughter, Cherisha Bracken; her best friend, Pam Brown; and Ulius Landrum Benson, an East High grad.
During the past three decades, Bracken received virtually no publicity in the Beacon Journal. His name had appeared only twice, both in passing references, until local history guru Mark J. Price wrote a “This Place, This Time” feature about him in February.
Honoring Akron’s first African-American teacher would seem appropriate, given that 59 percent of Garfield’s students and 54 percent of Kenmore’s are black.
Even during his heyday, Bracken didn’t have a high profile. He actually shied away from the spotlight. But clearly he was a role model and a prominent advocate of education.
Back in the ’60s, he told the Beacon Journal, “My grandfather used to tell me, ‘Get your education. It’s the one thing nobody can take away from you.’ I grew up believing that.”
Grandpa was right. And that message has never been more important than it is today.
Born in 1909 on a former Tennessee plantation where his grandmother had been a slave, Bracken grew up in the South and moved here at the age of 27. Like so many of the people who arrived in Akron during the 20th century, he wound up here because of the rubber industry: His father landed a factory job.
Bracken’s resume is a lot beefier than just being the first person of color to stand in front of students. He was a fabulous orator who, while attending the University of Akron, finished second in a national collegiate speech competition. His topic: “The Economic Color Line.”
It didn’t hurt that Bracken’s voice was “deep and musical,” as the Beacon reported in the mid-1960s.
He was able to attend UA, graduating at age 30, only because he worked his tail off as a janitor at Firestone.
Bracken’s initial hiring by the Akron School Board was a historical blockbuster, given the fact that a mere 15 years earlier the board included four members of the Ku Klux Klan.
He started out at the mostly black Bryan Elementary School, a long-ago fixture on Glenwood Avenue that later became the first permanent home for the rehab program Oriana House.
After seven years there, he moved to East High, teaching mainly social studies, civics and (of course) speech.
Bracken and East High helped nurture a lot of future leaders. In the class of ’65 alone were Cabe, the Bracken advocate mentioned above; Polly Young-Eisendrath, a world-renowned psychoanalyst and author; retired Summit County Judge Jane Bond; Dr. John Bond (no relation), director of an emergency medical clinic in Oregon; and Ruth Pratt, who raised $7 million to build a library in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho.
Bracken died in 1970 at the relatively young age of 61. But perhaps his name will live on above the entrance to an Akron High School.
Bob Dyer can be reached at 330-996-3580 or bdyer@thebeaconjournal.com. He also is on Facebook at www.facebook.com/bob.dyer.31. In addition, he produces a weekly podcast, “Dyer Necessities,” that can be found at www.ohio.com/dyer.