Beulah Rucker Oliver Achievement Honors

GEORGIA WOMEN OF ACHIEVEMENT HONOR: BEULAH RUCKER OLIVER

MACON, Ga.- ¬This year Beulah Rucker Oliver (1888-1963) is one of three women to be recognized by the Georgia Women of Achievement. The women chosen for this annual honor are either native to the state or clearly identified with Georgia, and have made extraordinary contributions within their chosen field and inspire generations to come.

The daughter of African-American sharecroppers, Beulah Rucker Oliver literally worked her way through school with the dream of becoming an educator. She often didn’t have the means to pay tuition, and in one instance returned to school with an empty pocketbook. When it came time to pay the principal, she offered out her hands instead. “Here are my hands; they can work,” she told him, to which he responded by moving her along in line.

Her hard work earned her a degree with honors, and she continued to work multiple jobs with the dream of opening up her own school, The Industrial School. Between teaching public and private school, giving music lessons and making and selling hats, Rucker also began to work toward her college degree at Savannah State College through correspondence and summer courses. She eventually received her degree in 1944 at age 56, showing her determination and will to reach her goals.

Despite objections at a black woman being in charge of a school facility, Rucker opened her first school on Norwood Street in Hall County. After having two schools in the city, she moved her facility out to the country, where she proved to be an excellent fund-raiser and educator for the African-American community. Her Industrial School eventually merged with the City of Gainesville school district in the 1950s.

Rucker achieved a number of firsts for an African-American woman of her time: the first to receive a Rosenwald Grant for her school, the first woman to establish a school in Gainesville and the first to start a Veterans Night School in the state. She also was responsible for educating hundreds of African-American children and adults alike. In recognition for contributions to the community, her daughters and a former student founded and dedicated The Educational Foundation and Museum Beulah Rucker Inc. to memorialize her life and great work.

Rucker and two other inspirational women will be honored during the Georgia Women of Achievement’s annual Induction Ceremony and luncheon starting at 10 a.m. Thursday, March 8, 2012 at Wesleyan College in Macon, Ga. They will join 71 other amazing women honored by the Georgia Women of Achievement. The keynote speaker for the event will be Stella Williams Bailey. For more, visit www.georgiawomen.org