Mary Barker, John Dewey, and Teacher Unionism in the Early 20th Century

• In Event: Exploring Lives and Livelihoods in Biographical and Documentary Research

Abstract

Mary Barker believed that teacher unions were the vehicle for repairing, remedying, and
renewing education when her white local, the Atlanta Public School Teachers Association, voted
in 1919 to affiliate with organized labor. Her ideas, closely tied to those of John Dewey, were the
foundation for a life of activism and leadership. Barker was president of her local (1921–1923)
and the American Federation of Teachers (1925–1931), but she has slipped into the margins of
teacher history. This biographical work recovers her life story. Sometimes her attitudes toward
racial equality, democratic education, and civic rights were at odds with others in the local but
she did not stop her advocacy.

Authors

• JoAnn Wood, Georgia State University

• Chara H. Bohan, Georgia State University