February is Black History Month and Jazzy 88.9 WCSU is paying tribute to African-Americans who made a difference in the Miami Valley. Today we salute Educator Louise Troy from Dayton, Ohio. The daughter of a civil war veteran, she would teach in the city of Dayton from 1878 until 1920.
Louise Troy began teaching in the "Colored School" and after the school's were integrated in 1887 she was the only African American teacher who was retained. Louise Troy remained the only black teacher in the public school system for many years, so all young black women seeking teacher training in the early 1900's were sent to her for practice teaching. Her pupils included Paul Laurence Dunbar, who she described as the "dreamy type" and Willie O. Stokes as well as many future black educators. Louise Troy was a charter member of YWCA and was instrumental in the drive which helped lead to the purchase of the building at West Fifth and Horace Streets in Dayton. She served as the first Treasurer and founding member of the Dayton Branch of the NAACP. In 1957, an elementary school in Dayton opened bearing her name.
This Black History tribute is brought you by your Miami Valley Jazz authority, Jazzy 88.9 WCSU.
