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Murray • As a child in Portsmouth, Va., in the 1940s and '50s, Joyce M. Gray attended all-black school from kindergarten through 12th grade. Only as she neared graduation did she realize the textbooks in her classrooms were hand-me-downs from the all-white schools. And she noticed that white high schools had amenities hers lacked, including swimming pools and tennis courts.
Gray shared a piece of her African-American history with students at Murray's Horizon Elementary on Friday. She spoke as part of a nationwide campaign to chronicle the experiences of black Americans, addressing a room full of third-graders much more diverse than the classrooms she knew. At Horizon, more than a third of students are Latino, Asian, American Indian, black, multiracial or Pacific Islander, and 64 percent are white, according to last year's enrollment count.
"I'm thankful that things have changed. For kids nowadays, that's a historical moment for them, to think that things weren't always this way," said Gray, 68, in an interview. "And even these kids today can continue to make changes because we're not where we need to be in terms of society, of everyone realizing that every person is a human being and has a heart and has a mind and has a soul. We're still working on it."
Friday was the second annual "Back to School" event for the Chicago-based nonprofit HistoryMakers, which has recorded and digitally archived the life stories of more than 2,000 African-Americans. Gray was one of more than 500 "history makers," including Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick and hip-hop artist Common, who visited schools in 35 states.
Gray made history in Utah when she was named principal of Arcadia Elementary in Granite School District in 1984.
"It turns out I was the first African-American principal they ever had in the whole state," Gray said. "I'm not talking about 1884 — 1984."
Gray, who is now an educational consultant, started her career as an elementary music teacher in Las Vegas in the 1960s in the city's predominantly black west-side neighborhood. The area's six, all-black elementary schools later were forced by a NAACP lawsuit to integrate with white schools in the 1970s.
She moved to Utah after she married. After leading Arcadia Elementary for six years, she worked as principal of Roosevelt Elementary, Bryant Middle School and West High. She retired from Salt Lake City School District in 2005.
On Friday, she spoke to students at Horizon about how far she has come and how far they will go.
Gray encouraged students to stay in school and have "BHAGs — big, hairy, audacious goals." She led students in repeating her goal for them to "stay committed."
Eight-year-old Catherine Martinez said she liked Gray's message. She hopes to be an archaeologist when she grows up.
"We learned we should stay in school and not give up on our dreams," Martinez said after the presentation. "We shouldn't say, 'No, I can't go there,' or 'I don't want to go [to school]."
Bryant Middle in Salt Lake City also had a visit from two "history makers," University of Utah history professor Ronald Coleman and former Girl Scouts administrator Emma Houston.
"It was excellent," said Principal Frances Battle, whose school is 60 percent nonwhite. "Because of the diversity at my school, I try to have as many role models as possible come in and share their stories. It doesn't matter where they come from, but they make a difference."
More online
O Learn more about HistoryMakers > http://www.thehistorymakers.com