Career
At a time when many women taught primary school, Margaret Holmes earned advanced degrees and taught in academic high schools. In addition, she headed an academic department for years.
For nine years, Flagg served as a history, Latin and English teacher at the same Baltimore high school as fellow founder Lucy Diggs Slowe. By studying during summers, Flagg earned a Master of Arts degree in philosophy in 1917 from Columbia University in New York.
On August 1, 1917, Flagg married John Clay Holmes. The couple moved to Chicago, Illinois, where she returned to teaching in 1922. Holmes first taught Latin at Wendell Phillips High School, the first secondary school for African Americans in Chicago. It attracted talented teachers and students. Holmes earned recognition as "Best Latin Teacher of the City" by the North Central Association.
As the school expanded, it was renamed Du Sable High School. Margaret Holmes headed the history department for several years, until 1931. Such a position of leadership at the high school level was unusual for women educators of the time. Holmes was an educator for more than 30 years, until 1953, teaching generations of students.
Read more about this topic: Margaret Flagg Holmes
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