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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 14, 1978)
Portland Observar Thursday, December 14, 1978 Page 3 This is Christmas by Kathryn H. Bogle Sorting through a b o x fu l o f momentoes and pictures o f a long teaching career, Emma W alker Chiles pauses to examine more closely an old snapshot or two. This one is o f a Christmas tree decorated by a Couch School class back in 1949; another one is o f herself with a 6th grade class she was teaching in 1953 at the same school. A ll the faces in this latter photograph are smiling, relaxed as the children are in the midst o f a Christmas program for their school room . “ Joy to the W orld” proclaims the block letters on the blackboard. Emma Chiles stands behind her class, happy with them, *‘ I d id n 't have a spectacular career,” Emma smiles contentedly as she reminisced. “ I was always happy w orking w ith children. I enjoyed being among the little ones — hearing them say, ‘Oh, now 1 see — .’ That is why I went on to work to gain Ready to start a new day at Ken ton School, 1963 my Masters degree. I was a tough teacher I made them study. And countless times, they who had a d if fic u lt tim e achieving in th e ir classwork, have come to me in later years and thanked me. They have told me: ‘ You are the first teacher that cared whether or not I learned.’ That spells happiness for me.” Born in Louisiana, but educated in the segregated primary and secon dary schools o f Tuscon, Arizona, Emma won her BS degree from the U niversity o f A rizona. Her firs t school was in Globe, a tiny mining town in that state. The school was indeed all hers. Emma had a one- room school accomodating fifteen children scattered through grades one through eight, with the structure having been converted fro m the original bakery no longer in use. Emma enjoyed the challenge o f the situation, faithfully lasted all year, but was ready to move on to Tuscon when the o p p o rtu n ity came the following fall. A gain Emma taught in a segregated situation where she was in charge o f 4th, 5th and 6th grade children. Her assignments included her own favorites: Home Eco nom ics, A rt and M usic. To the girls o f that school, Emma brought Holiday Sales. 20% off Men’s sleepwear Sale 6.40 Mrs. Chiles' 1952-1953 sixth grade clses at Couch School with paper mache' "piñata" made by students for the happiness o f belonging to the “ G irl Reserves,” a popular YW CA organization o f those years. Marriage to C liffo rd Walker in terrupted Emma's teaching career when the bridegroom and she decided to come to “ God’s Coun try ,” Oregon to make their home. To make their home a real home for their children and themselves, the couple decided that Emma should be a full-tim e mother, and stay at home she d id , fo r ten years, u n til the death o f her husband. Faced with the total care o f her children, Emma made applications both at Vanport, and in Portland, to become a classroom teacher or a Home Economics teacher. H ired in 1948 as a 6th grade teacher in Vanport, though she had had hopes o f a Portland position, Emma never actually taught in Van- port. The disastrous flood o f that period swept away Vanport schools and Vanport itself. Suddenly Port land had to provide housing and schools for thousands o f dislocated families with children. P ortland school adm inistrators had a few- hurdles to overcome. And quickly. Here were children o f all races needing to be taught. Crowds oM hem . They would be new to a school and many would be trans ferring out o f that school as soon as th e ir d is traught parents could acquire more desirable housing, a situation surely unsettling to teachers as well as to the children themselves. Here also were a handful o f Black teachers well recommended, commit ted to Vanport but standing available on the doorstep o f Portland schools. Portland met its obligations. There were two Black teachers “ already.” Now there would be more. There had tobe. An administrator questioned Em ma, “ Can you be c o m fo rta b le teaching white children?” “ Children are children — no mat ter what color they are,” Emma replied. Her first white class was at TJX Talk,Tati T d k ,Taìk-Tall,JalkTalk,Tòlk. r a lk .U k T a lk .T a lk ^ Talk,Talk, T ^ k lk ^ T a lk ja lk J a lk T a lk , Talk, T ^ ^ T aJkT U k ^ T alk.T aik.T alkT alk, T iik ^ .T a ik T a ik T ^ ^ J ^ ^ m l Talk,ŸaJk,Talk,Talk/Tillk Tall,Talk T ilÍT U l, Talk,Taik, W k.Talk. Talk TalkTalk,Till, T ill, Talk, Talk, Talk,~Klk,Talk, T a /J tT a É tT a ^ .T a ik .T ^ Æ tU k M ^ ^ . TaA.Talk, Tolkjalk, talk T a ll,7 a lk J > lk k lk M k .T a lk Talk,TalkJ*lk,Talk TalkTalk, Talk, Tadfc Talk TalkTalk. Talk,,T a llToUkTalk Talk Talk Talk,Talk,Talk, Ta£k TalkTalk Talk,Talk, Talk,Talk,Talk,Talk, Talk.Ta^,TalkTklk,T>lk, Talk,Talk,Talk TalkToli TalkTalk TaJk,TaJLk Talk:Talk;TalkJaik.Talk TalkTalk. Tall,. Talk Talk,Talk. Talk, IT’S CHEAPER AFTER 5. If you can wait until 6 P M to make th at call back east, you'll cash inona.WJt discount That's if you dial direct without operator assistance (Q This 36% discount holds un til 11 P M during weekdays. A t 11, the night owl talkers get an even better break— 60% off to be exact. Pacific Northwest Bell Christmas pageant. Couch. She was their first Black teacher. Her love for children and her devotion to teaching soon made Mrs. Walker a beloved figure in the halls at Couch. Rapport with prin cipal and other teachers was woven into the fabric o f her several years at Couch, and when her principal was transferred to another school, he in vited Emma to join his new faculty there. Mrs. Chiles in retirement, 1976. “ There’ s a lot o f storage space there for your art work — and,” he promised, “ You w ill have your very own sink!” This sink, prized highly by art teachers, proved to be a deciding factor, that and the 98% Black enrollm ent at E lio t. M rs. Walker joined the Eliot faculty. At about this time too, Mrs. Walker remarried and became Mrs. Chiles. Black role models are necessary “ somewhere along the lin e ” fo r Black children, is Emma’ s feeling. They can get inspiration from white teachers if they are looking for in spiration — and i f the teacher has it to give. Black teachers can make a contribution to both Black and white children. “ White children have come to me and have said, ‘ I don’ t know NAACP elects new president Lucuis Hicks, IV, director o f the Portland Stale U niversity Educa tio n a l C enter, was elected Pre sident o f the P o rtla n d Branch, NAACP, Sunday. He w ill take office on January 21st. Hicks defeated incumbent Presi dent, Reverend John H. Jackson. Elected first Vice President was Reverend Rozell Gillmore, who was selected over Bob Boyer and Dr. Clarence Pruitt. Thirteen persons were elected to the executive board: Mrs. Carrie Cannon, U.P. Cannon, Mrs. Janet C lam m cr, Ms. Cleo F ra n klin , Reverend L. Fisher Hines, Mrs. Grayce Kennedy, C.C. McCowey, Mrs. Bobbie Nunn, Isaac Payne, Reverend A ustin Ray, Charles Straughter, Harry Ward and Harold Williams. Candidates who were not elected were Herm an H ouston, Thomas Kennedy and Ms. Rosie Taylor. A dditional officers elected: Ms. Brenda K napper, Second Vice President; Mrs. Clevonnc Jackson, Secretary; L.C. Ellison, Treasurer; and Mrs. Lorna Marple, Parliamcn tarian/Sergeant-at-arms. "Never untie." cut Reg. $8. Coat front pajamas w ith long legs are c o tto n / polyester broadcloth in neat prints or solids. Sizes to fit most men. what you can Joseph Joubart why I ’ ve been told — and they then te ll me some m yth th e y’ ve been taught about Black people,” Mrs. Chiles related. “ A belligerent child — a girl — had been disruptive in a class before mine; now she was following her old pattern in my class. One day I took her aside and I let her know that many times I had had to wear shoes with holes in the soles, and that my parents had made many sacrifices to rear me and my brothers and sisters. This girl turned out to be a different ch ild in the classroom . The revelation that I, too, knew what sacrifice and deprivation meant in a family, reached her. She responded to me, and she responded to her work as now something reachable, achievable. We had built an under standing. What does it matter what color she was? She was more com fortable with herself.” Mrs. Chiles taught longest at Ken ton School where she spent eleven years, and where, again, she was the school’ s first Black full-tim e teacher. When she went there there was one Black ch ild among 500 children enrolled. The enrollment o f Blacks has significantly altered since then. M rs. C hiles retired fro m A p plegate School, a primary school of about 300 pupils. This population changed complexion with the white exodus spurred by the intrusion o f a freeway into the area. Black families purchased the vacated homes and the percentage o f their presence has risen sharply. In retirement, Mrs. Chiles lives quietly and travels a bit to Hawaii or toY ucata n, which she finds fascinating. T y p ic a lly , she finds greatest jo y with her fam ily and grandchildren. 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