Blanche Armwood facts for kids
Blanche Mae Armwood (1890–1939) was an important educator and activist. She was the first African-American woman in Florida to graduate from a fully recognized law school. Blanche Armwood also became the first leader of the Tampa Urban League. She started five special schools called Household Industrial Arts Schools for African-American women in different states. Armwood High School in Seffner, Florida is named to honor her.
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Blanche Armwood's Early Life
Blanche Armwood was born on January 23, 1890, in Tampa, Florida. Her parents were Levin Armwood Jr. and Margaret Holloman. She was the youngest of five children in a well-known middle-class family. Her mother was a talented dressmaker. Her father was Tampa's first Black policeman in the late 1870s. He also worked as a county deputy sheriff. He supervised county roads and the Mt. Zion school. Her father and her brother, Walter, owned the "Gem" drugstore. It was the only Black-owned drugstore in Tampa. Walter Armwood also taught at Bethune-Cookman University.
Blanche Armwood's father and grandfather were born into slavery. Her great uncle, John Armwood, was an early landowner. He helped talk between the Seminole Native Americans and white settlers. Her mother's father, Adam Holloman, was a free man. He owned citrus groves. He served as a Hillsborough County Commissioner.
Blanche Armwood's parents wanted her to have a good education. They sent her to a private school, St. Peter Claver Catholic School. She finished school with high honors in 1902. That same year, at just twelve years old, Blanche passed the State Teacher's Examination. Tampa did not have a high school for Black students then. So, she went to Spelman Seminary in Atlanta, Georgia. This school is now Spelman College. She was excellent in English and Latin classes. In 1906, at age sixteen, she graduated with top honors. She earned her teacher's certificate.
Blanche Armwood's Career and Activism
After graduating, Blanche Armwood returned to Tampa. She started teaching in the Hillsborough County Public Schools. She taught there for seven years. In 1913, she stopped teaching when she married Daniel Webster Perkins. She moved to Knoxville, Tennessee. Their marriage ended the next year, and she came back to Tampa.
Helping Women Learn New Skills
In 1914, Blanche Armwood began helping her community. The Tampa Gas Company, the school board, and local ministers asked her to start a school. This school would teach Black women skills for working in homes. Around 1915, the Tampa School of Household Arts was created. The school taught women and girls how to use new gas appliances. They also learned other skills to work in domestic service. After the first year, over 200 women earned certificates. Later, Armwood started similar schools in Roanoke, Virginia, Rock Hill, South Carolina, Athens, Georgia, and New Orleans.
Between 1917 and 1920, Blanche Armwood lived in New Orleans. She was married to dentist John C. Beatty. During this time, her work in training domestic workers gained national attention. In 1918, she wrote a cookbook called Food Conservation in the Home. It was popular with many women. The book was published during World War I. Its introduction said that saving white flour helped the nation's defense.
Leading the Urban League
In 1922, Blanche Armwood was chosen to be the first Executive Secretary of the Tampa Urban League. This organization helps people in cities. Under her leadership, the Tampa Urban League did many good things. They created a public playground for children. They also started a day care center and a kindergarten for Black children. The league helped build a new neighborhood. This area offered good, affordable homes for Black families. While working with the league, she also served as an assistant principal. She worked at Tampa's Harlem Academy School.
Improving Schools for Black Students
Blanche Armwood became the first Supervisor of Negro Schools. The Hillsborough County School Board appointed her to this role. From 1926 to 1934, she made many improvements. She helped the school board build five new school buildings. She also improved older schools. She created a vocational school for Black students. She worked to increase salaries for Black teachers. She organized parent-teacher groups at every school. She also extended the school year for Black students from six to nine months.
She is also known for starting Booker T. Washington School in 1925. This was the first junior high school for Black students in Tampa. It quickly grew to include senior high school students. This was another first for Black students in the county. It was also the first fully recognized school for Black students in the county.
National Work and Law Career
Blanche Armwood held important roles in national groups. She chaired the Home Economics Department for the National Association of Colored Women's Clubs. She was a speaker for the Republican Party. She also organized the Louisiana chapter of the NAACP. She often gave speeches across the country and even internationally. She spoke about voting rights and fairness for all races.
Armwood worked for voting rights and against lynching. She worked closely with Mary McLeod Bethune. Bethune was a famous advocate against lynching. Armwood helped raise money for Bethune-Cookman College and other Black schools. She was also good friends with Clara C. Frye. Clara Frye was a Black nurse who created the first medical places for Black people in Tampa. Armwood helped raise money for Frye. She also helped start the first training program for licensed Black nurses. She helped create some of the first blood banks for Black people in Florida.
Her strong interest in politics and equal rights led her to study law. In 1934, Armwood enrolled in Howard Law School. She earned her law degree in 1938. This made her the first Black woman from Florida to graduate from a fully recognized law school.
Blanche Armwood's Death and Legacy
Blanche Armwood became sick while on a speaking tour. She died suddenly on October 16, 1939, in Medford, Massachusetts. She is buried in her family's plot. This plot is at Tampa's L'Unione Italiana Cemetery.
In 1984, Congressman Michael Bilirakis and the Florida House of Representatives honored Armwood. That same year, Blanche Armwood Comprehensive High School opened in Tampa. It is now known as Armwood High School. Armwood is also remembered on historical markers. These markers are for Booker T. Washington School and L'Unione Italiana Cemetery. In 2014, a bronze bust of her was placed on the Tampa Riverwalk. A street in Tampa's revitalized Black business district has also been renamed in her honor.
