In a segregated New York City of the 1930s, as a young Black woman Mildred L. Johnson found herself unable to secure the teaching job she wanted. Undeterred, she went on to imagine and built a progressive, affirming, Black independent school, called The Modern School, which operated for more than 60 years in Harlem’s Sugar Hill.

Panelists:
Khadijah Akeem, Masters Student, History and Education, Teachers College

Melanie Edwards, Daughter of Modern School Founder Mildred L. Johnson

Ansley Erickson, Associate Professor of History and Education Policy and Co-Director, Center on History and Education

Deidre B. Flowers ’17, A’Lelia Bundles Scholar at Columbia University

Nicole Furlonge, Klingenstein Family Chair Professor of Practice and Director of Klingenstein Center, Teachers College

Karen D. Taylor, Founder and Executive Director, While We Are Still Here