Beulah Rucker Oliver facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Beulah Rucker Oliver
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Beulah Rucker Oliver, c. 1909.
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| Born |
Beulah Rucker
April 4, 1888 |
| Died | February 27, 1963 (aged 74) Gainesville, Georgia
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| Nationality | American |
| Alma mater | Savannah State College (1944) |
| Occupation | Teacher |
| Known for | Beulah Rucker Industrial School |
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Notable work
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The Rugged Pathway (1953) |
Beulah Rucker Oliver (born April 4, 1888 – died February 27, 1963) was an amazing African-American teacher from Banks County, Georgia. In 1915, she started the Rucker Industrial School in Gainesville. This school helped teach African-Americans. Beulah Rucker watched her school grow and was its principal for over forty years!
Contents
Early Life and Dreams
Beulah Rucker was born on April 4, 1888. She was the fifth of eight children and the first daughter. Her parents, Willis Rucker and Caroline Wiley, were sharecroppers. They had been slaves and never had the chance to go to school.
From a young age, Beulah really wanted to be a teacher. She learned the alphabet by reading newspapers that were used to insulate her family's house. Her first school was called Neal's Grove, and it was in a small church.
Beulah worked hard to get her education. She graduated from Jeruel Academy and the Knox Institute in Athens. To pay for her room and board, she cleaned the principal's home. She told him, "Here are my hands; they can work." Her classmates even called her "Baby" because she was the youngest girl. Beulah graduated with honors on May 28, 1909.
Starting the Rucker Industrial School
Beulah Rucker was sad that many Black students couldn't go to good schools. So, she decided to open her own boarding school for African-Americans. In 1911, she bought a 12-acre piece of land in Gainesville. Then, in 1914, she bought another plot of land.
She used recycled materials, like wood from the old Piedmont Hotel, to build the Beulah Rucker Industrial School. Some of the bricks for the school were even made by students who were learning brickmasonry. Beulah Rucker's students loved her and called her "Godmother."
In 1911, Beulah Rucker wrote in a newspaper called the Atlanta Independent:
We want to teach our students that working hard is how we grow. We want this school to help our community move forward. We can do this through hard work. "Hard work conquers all things."
During the Great Depression, Beulah Rucker bought a Ford Model T car. She used it as a school bus to help students get to school. In 1920, her school was the first one run by an African-American woman to get a grant from the Rosenwald Fund. These funds helped build a cannery (a place to preserve food), a dormitory (a place for students to sleep), and a workshop at the school.
A high school was also added, and nearly 200 students attended. The school also taught about Christianity.
Between 1949 and 1950, the main building of the school unfortunately burned down. But Beulah Rucker didn't give up! In 1951, she started a night school. This school helped Black Korean War veterans get their GED (a high school equivalency diploma).
The Rucker Industrial School closed in 1958. It became part of the local school district. Even after it closed, African-American Boy Scout and Girl Scout groups still used the school's buildings.
During these years, Beulah Rucker also worked as a teacher in other schools. She also made and sold hats and gave music lessons to earn money.
Family Life and Later Years
Around 1914, Beulah Rucker married Reverend Byrd Oliver. He had four children from a previous marriage. Beulah continued to use her maiden name, Beulah Rucker, for business. She would sign her name "Beulah Rucker Oliver."
Beulah and Byrd had four children together: Garfield (born 1916), Dorothy (born 1919), Carrie N. (born 1925), and Elvernia (born 1929). Byrd Oliver passed away in 1947.
Beulah Rucker kept learning throughout her life. She graduated from Savannah State College in 1944 when she was 56 years old! In 1953, she wrote a book about her life called The Rugged Pathway.
Beulah Rucker Oliver died on February 27, 1963, at the age of 74. She was a very religious Baptist.
Legacy and Honors
The Beulah Rucker Museum and Education Center in Gainesville is named after her. Her daughters started it to honor their mother. In 1971, people raised money to turn the property into the Beulah Rucker Memorial Community Center.
The center was added to the National Register of Historic Places on May 4, 1995. It was fully restored by 1996.
Beulah Rucker was honored by being added to the Georgia Women of Achievement Hall of Fame on March 8, 2012. In 2013, an intersection in front of the Rucker Museum was named the Beulah Rucker Oliver Memorial Intersection in her honor.
