Eva C. Mitchell
{{short description|American educator}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Eva C. Mitchell
| image = EvaCMitchell1928.png
| alt = A young Black woman with her hair in a bouffant style
| caption = Eva C. Mitchell, from a 1928 publication
| birth_name =
| birth_date = August 21, 1893
| birth_place = Hawkinsville, Georgia
| death_date = February 9, 1990 (age 96)
| death_place = Hampton, Virginia
| other_names =
| occupation = Educator
| years_active =
| known_for =
| notable_works =
| spouse(s) =
| relatives =
}}
Eva C. Mitchell (August 21, 1893 – February 9, 1990) was an American educator. She was a professor of education at Hampton Institute from 1930 to 1960.
Early life and education
Mitchell was born in Hawkinsville, Georgia, the daughter of William Mitchell and Sarah Love Mitchell. She graduated from Hampton Institute in 1921. She earned a master's degree from Teachers College, Columbia University in 1930, and completed doctoral studies there in 1942.
Career
Mitchell taught at the Penn School in South Carolina after college,{{Cite journal |date=January 1922 |title=Graduates and Ex-Students |url=https://virginiachronicle.com/?a=d&d=SWM19220101.1.55&srpos=17&e=-------en-20--1--txt-txIN-%22Eva+C.+Mitchell%22------- |journal=Southern Workman |volume=51 |issue=1 |pages=55 |via=Virginia Chronicle}} then at the North Carolina state normal school in Fayetteville.{{Cite journal |date=February 1929 |title=Graduates and Ex-Students |url=https://virginiachronicle.com/?a=d&d=SWM19290201.1.45&srpos=19&e=-------en-20--1--txt-txIN-%22Eva+C.+Mitchell%22------- |journal=Southern Workman |volume=58 |issue=2 |pages=92 |via=Virginia Chronicle}} She was a professor in the education department at Hampton Institute for thirty years, from 1930 to 1960, and was chair of the elementary education program there. Mitchell took a particular interest in providing continuing education opportunities for Black teachers, because, in the Jim Crow South, Black teachers were often prevented from attending the conferences and using the libraries that white teachers could access.{{Cite journal |last=Jackson |first=Reid E. |date=1936 |title=A Proposed Revision of a Two-Year Curriculum for Training Elementary Teachers in Negro Colleges |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/2292034 |journal=The Journal of Negro Education |volume=5 |issue=4 |pages=602–611 |doi=10.2307/2292034 |jstor=2292034 |issn=0022-2984|url-access=subscription }}{{Cite journal |last=Mitchell |first=Eva C. |date=August 1935 |title=The Necessity for a Guidance Program for Virginia Negro Teachers |url=https://virginiachronicle.com/?a=d&d=SWM19350801.1.12&e=-------en-20--1--txt-txIN-%22Eva+C.+Mitchell%22------- |journal=Southern Workman |volume=64 |issue=8 |pages=240–245 |via=Virginia Chronicle}}
In 1933, Mitchell was elected president of the Virginia Society for Research, a scholarly society for Black academics in the state.{{Cite journal |date=22 April 1933 |title=Research Society Holds Fourth Annual Session; Hampton Woman Elected President |url=https://virginiachronicle.com/?a=d&d=VAS19330422.1.4&srpos=29&e=-------en-20--21--txt-txIN-%22Eva+C.+Mitchell%22------- |journal=Virginia Statesman |pages=4 |via=Virginia Chronicle}} She was research editor of the Virginia Education Bulletin from 1934 to 1940. After World War II, she worked on adult literacy, adult health education, and other reforms,{{Cite news |date=1946-09-08 |title=Experts Assisting in Plan to Combat Negro Illiteracy |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-press-experts-assisting-in-plan-to/140002125/ |access-date=2024-02-01 |work=Daily Press |pages=34 |via=Newspapers.com}}{{Cite news |date=1951-01-21 |title=Negro Group Will Report on Education |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/richmond-times-dispatch-negro-group-will/140002585/ |access-date=2024-02-01 |work=Richmond Times-Dispatch |pages=32 |via=Newspapers.com}} and was a member of the board of directors of American Overseas Aid–United Nations Appeal for Children (AOA–UNAC).{{Cite news |date=1948-02-13 |title=100,000 Volunteers Wanted for World Relief Agency Work |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/arizona-sun-100000-volunteers-wanted-fo/139988427/ |access-date=2024-01-31 |work=Arizona Sun |pages=1}} She was active in the National Association of Teachers in Colored Schools, the American Association of University Women (AAUW), and the NAACP.
Publications
- "Educational Needs of Negroes, Illustrated" (1925){{Cite journal |last=Mitchell |first=Eva C. |date=January 1925 |title=Educational Needs of Negroes, Illustrated |url=https://virginiachronicle.com/?a=d&d=SWM19250101.1.40&e=-------en-20--1--txt-txIN-%22Eva+C.+Mitchell%22------- |journal=Southern Workman |volume=54 |issue=1 |pages=24–29 |via=Virginia Chronicle}}
- "The Necessity of a Guidance Program for Virginia Negro Teachers" (1935)
- "A Statistical Survey of Problems Facing the Negro Teacher in Virginia" (1936)Mitchell, Eva C. [https://virginiachronicle.com/?a=d&d=SWM19360801.1.10&e=-------en-20--1--txt-txIN-%22Eva+C.+Mitchell%22------- "A Statistical Survey of Problems Facing the Negro Teacher in Virginia"] Southern Workman 65 (1936): 242-51.
- "Adult Health Education and Recreational Programs: National, State, and Local" (1945){{Cite journal |last=Mitchell |first=Eva C. |date=1945 |title=Adult Health Education and Recreational Programs: National, State, and Local |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/2293001 |journal=The Journal of Negro Education |volume=14 |issue=3 |pages=363–373 |doi=10.2307/2293001 |jstor=2293001 |issn=0022-2984|url-access=subscription }}
Legacy
Mitchell died in 1990, at the age of 96, in Hampton, Virginia.{{Cite news |date=1990-02-15 |title=Educator Eva C. Mitchell |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-press-educator-eva-c-mitchell/139987666/|via=Newspapers.com |access-date=2024-01-31 |work=Daily Press |pages=24}} The Eva C. Mitchell Building at Hampton University was named in her honor in 1978, and houses the university's Child Development Center.{{Cite web |title=Child Development Center|website=Hampton University School of Liberal Arts |url=https://home.hamptonu.edu/libarts/child-development-center/ |access-date=2024-01-31 |language=en-US}} The Hampton alumni chapter of Delta Sigma Theta has a scholarship named for Mitchell.
References
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Category:People from Hawkinsville, Georgia
Category:Hampton University alumni
Category:Hampton University faculty
Category:20th-century African-American academics
Category:Delta Sigma Theta members
Category:African-American women academics
Category:Academics from Georgia (U.S. state)
Category:20th-century African-American women
Category:20th-century American women academics