Next Wednesday, February 17th is Founder's Day -- the anniversary of the date PTA was founded. Alice McLellan Birney and Phoebe Apperson Hearst founded an organization comprised of mostly women, some men, teachers, laborers, and others, during a time when women did not have the right to vote and social activism was not popular. They believed mothers would support their mission to eliminate threats that endangered children and started a nationwide campaign in early 1897. On February 17,1897, more than 2,000 people attended the first Congress of Mothers in Washington, D.C.
February is also Black History Month. In 1926, Selena Sloan Butler formed the National Congress of Colored Parents and Teachers to advocate for children, especially African American children in segregated communities. Following the Supreme Court decision that ended segregation, the two associations held their conventions together and worked to merge the groups in all fifty states. On June 22, 1970, the two congresses signed a Declaration of Unification and became one association, known today as National Parent Teacher Association (National PTA®). The year 2020 marked the 50th anniversary of the unification of the two groups.
Michele Rohleder
