Introducing the NCSS Septima P. Clark Women in Literature Book Award

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1974, NCSS established the Carter G. Woodson (CGW) Book Award to Carolina, from 1916-1919. Returning IN counter the absence of books that offered authentic portrayals of the experi- to Charleston in 1919 to teach at ences of American racial and ethnic minorities. As the diversity in book publications Avery Normal Institute, Septima Clark increased over the years, the book award committee has wrestled with the question of joined the National Association for gender and how it played into the award decision process. While books about women the Advancement of Colored People that address issues of race or ethnicity have always been considered for the Carter G. (NAACP). That year, she led her stu- Woodson award, the committee found that the award eligibility guidelines limited dents around Charleston, collecting the ability to consider many female-centered children’s and young adult literature. over 10,000 signatures in one day for a petition to allow black principals at the private, all-black, Avery. Clark received a bachelor’s degree from Benedict College in 1942 and a master’s degree from Hampton (Virginia) Institute in 1945. She also collaborated with Thurgood Marshall to campaign for

Courtesy of the Library of Congress equal pay for black teachers in Columbia, South Carolina. In 1956, Clark became the vice president of the Charleston chapter of the NAACP. That same year, South Carolina passed a law banning city and state employees from participating in civil rights organizations, but Clark refused to leave the NAACP. As a result, she was fired, losing her pension after 40 years of employment. She later fought for and regained her pension. Clark then moved to Tennessee to Septima Clark (left) and Rosa Parks at Highlander Folk School, Monteagle, Tennessee, 1955. lead workshops at the Highlander Folk School, an institution supporting inte- In answer to this dilemma, this year, rights movement by developing adult lit- gration in the labor movement. Clark the book award committee is pleased to eracy programs and creating Citizenship taught classes focused on developing announce the first annual Septima Clark Schools, which promoted voting and leaders from within their communities. Women in Literature Book Award. civil rights for African Americans. Dr. Four months before Rosa Parks refused As a teacher and civil rights activist, Martin Luther King, Jr., referred to her as to give up a seat on a bus, Parks attended Septima Poinsette Clark, born May the “mother of the civil rights movement.” one of Clark’s workshops at Highlander. 3, 1898, empowered countless people Becoming a teacher at the age of 18, Additionally, while at Highlander, through education and activism. She Clark taught children during the day and Clark and her colleagues designed played an important role in the civil adults at night on Johns Island, South Citizen Schools curriculum for teaching

Social Education 370 adults reading, writing, and math skills dedicated to laying the foundation for rors, and sliding glass doors3 and this within real-work context of citizenship advancing social justice through educa- award will serve to boost the publica- rights. Classes included how to pay taxes, tion, Clark’s grace and dignity empow- tion of more nonfiction texts that pres- complete the driver’s license exam, voter ered individuals, especially women, to ent non-stereotypical female roles and registration, mail-order forms, and how take leadership roles within their com- experiences. Submitted books will be to sign checks. Created in response to munities. analyzed from a social studies perspec- legislation requiring reading and inter- tive, which means selections will be pretation of state constitutions in order The Award engaging and provide authentic cultural to be allowed to register to vote, these Although instrumental in empowering or historical material. schools gave individuals the knowledge African American voters, as a woman, and confidence to participate in improv- Clark was still questioned by top civil Criteria ing their communities. rights leaders regarding her role on the Nominated books will be evaluated for The Southern Christian Leadership SCLC executive board of directors. four key traits: Conference (SCLC) recognized the Clark noted on several occasions that the • Respect for the worth and impor- Citizen Schools’ potential for increasing unequal treatment of women was “one of tance of individual(s)/group(s) pre- voter registration. In 1961, Clark joined the greatest weaknesses of the civil rights sented. the SCLC, and by her retirement in 1970, movement.” • Focus on individuals and issues that the Citizen Education Program had Creation of the Septima Clark provide insight into experiences and trained over 10,000 teachers, teaching Women in Literature NCSS Annual historical events. more than 25,000 people, and enabling Book Award encourages authors at the • Presentation of positive, balanced about 700,000 African Americans to secondary, middle, and elementary lev- with negative. become registered voters. els to compose authentic, notable works • Avoid patronizing, distorting, and Continuing her activism in retire- about women. stereotyping in text and illustrations. ment, Clark served two terms on the Current studies find there is an imbal- Charleston County School Board, orga- ance of gender portrayal in children’s and Septima Clark Women in Literature nized daycare centers for low-income young adult literature—with the ratio of NCSS Annual Book Award: mothers, and spoke out on women’s male to female characters at 2:1.1 Other • The books should accurately reflect rights. She was honored with a Living studies have examined the gender imbal- the experiences, perspectives, cul- Legacy Award from President Jimmy ance in children’s informational books tures and values of women. Carter in 1979. In 1987, Clark’s second with Science, Technology, Engineering, • The books should be nonfiction or book, Ready from Within: Septima and Math themes. Within these subjects, informational text. Clark and the Civil Rights Movement there was an even larger gap, in both text • They should be primarily trade or (1986), won the American Book Award. and images.2 supplementary books rather than Septima Clark died on December 15, Girls and young women deserve to textbooks, fact books, or encyclope- 1987, on Johns Island. During a lifetime have books that serve as windows, mir- dias.

Carter G. Woodson Book Award Committee (2018) and Creators of the Septima Clark Women in Literature NCSS Annual Book Award:

Sarah M. Segal, M.Ed., 2018 Woodson Committee Chair, Hood River Middle School, Hood River, OR. Kristy Brugar, Ph.D., 2017 Woodson Committee Chair, 2019 NCSS Awards Chair, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK. Ann Adkins, Ed.D., Clarke University, Dubuque, IA. Sydney G. Beauchamp, M.S., Indiana University South Bend, School of Education, South Bend, IN. Janae J. Oveson, M.S., McKay School of Education, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT. Elizabeth Sturm, Ed.D., Lewis University, College of Education, Romeoville, IL. Heidi J Torres, Ph.D., Jeannine Rainbolt College of Education, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK. Jessica Wilkerson, M.Ed, King George High School, King George, VA. Lara Willox, PhD., University of West Georgia, Carrollton, GA.

November/December 2019 371 no. 2 (2017): 101–118. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1386/ • The books should be written for • It is possible for more than one book jspc.1.2.101_1; C.G. Anderson, Girls, STEM, and children or young people. (Children to receive the award if the selection Children’s Books: A Review of the Literature and young people are standard subcommittee determines that more Concerning Girls’ Interest, Motivation and Ability in STEM, Complemented by a Mixed Methods terms with specific meanings used than one book satisfies the criteria Content Analysis of Award Winning Informational by librarians and the American for the award. Children’s Books (Master’s Thesis: University of Washington, 2013), https://digital.lib.washington. Library Association.) • Although only one book in each edu/research works/bitstream/handle/1773/22833/ • The books should be well written category will normally receive the Anderson_washington_0250O_11388. pdf;sequence=1 and reflect originality in presenta- award each year, outstanding run- 3. R. Sims Bishop, “Mirrors, Windows, and Sliding tion and theme. The setting of the ner-up books may be designated as Glass Doors,” Perspectives 1, no. 3 (1990): ix–x. books may take place anywhere Outstanding Honor books. across the globe. References McCabe, J., E. Fairchild, L. Graurholz, B.Pescosolido, • The books must have been pub- Notes and D. Tope, “Gender in Twentieth-century lished in the year preceding the year 1. T. Crisp, S.M. Knezek, M. Quinn, G.E. Bingham, K. Girardeau, and F. Starks, “What’s on Our Children’s Books: Patterns of Disparity in Titles in which the award is given. Bookshelves? The Diversity of Children’s Literature and Central Characters,” Gender and Society 25, no. 2, (2011): 197–226, www.jstor.org/stable/ • They should also have been pub- in Early Childhood Classroom Libraries,” Journal of Children’s Literature 42 no. 2 (2016): 29–42. 23044136 lished in the United States, but the 2. E.F. Caldwell and S.J. Wilbraham, “Hairdressing Colabucci, L., and M. Napoli, “Beyond Compassion? authors of the books need not neces- in Space: Depiction of Gender in Science Books An Analysis of the Jane Addams Children’s Book for Kids,” Journal of Science & Popular Culture 1, Award,” Journal of Children’s Literature 43, no. 1 sarily be United States citizens. (2017): 28-36.

Elementary Winner Social Studies Themes: CULTURE; TIME, CONTINUITY, AND She Persisted Around the World, by Chelsea Clinton, illus- CHANGE; PEOPLE, PLACES, AND ENVIRONMENTS; INDIVIDUAL DEVELOPMENT trated by Alexandra Boiger. Philomel Books. Reviewed AND IDENTITY; POWER, AUTHORITY, AND GOVERNANCE; CIVIC IDEALS AND by Lara Willox, associate professor and department chair, PRACTICES Department of Educational Technology and Foundations, College of Education at the University of West Georgia, Middle Level Winner Carrollton, Georgia. Streetcar to Justice: How Elizabeth Jennings Won the Right to Ride in New York, by Amy Hill Hearth. Greenwillow In this companion book to She Persisted, which highlighted Books. Reviewed by Lara Willox, associate professor and the achievements of 13 American women, Chelsea Clinton department chair, Department of Educational Technology spotlights 13 remarkable women from around the world. and Foundations, College of Education at the University of West Georgia, Carrollton, Georgia. Each chapter features a short but compre- Elizabeth Jennings is rarely hensive biography, a talked about with regard to quotation, and a few America’s struggle for racial illustrations. The illus- equality, but she played a trator, Alexandra Boiger, prominent role in 1854 in the makes use of a double desegregation of New York page layout to create City’s privately-run streetcars. images that encompass A school teacher and church the work and scope of organist who was running late each woman’s achieve- for church, Jennings refused ments. The book fea- to dismount a segregated tures: Marie Curie, Sor streetcar. She was the catalyst Juana Ines de la Cruz, Viola Desmond, Sissi Lima do Amor, for legal action, in Jennings Leymah Gbowee, Caroline Herschel, Wangari Maathai, v. Third Ave. Railroad, 100 years before Rosa Park’s famous Aisha Rateb, J.K. Rowling, Kate Sheppard, Yuan Yuan Tan, act of civil disobedience. The court ruled in her favor, and Mary Verghese and Malala Yousafzai. Young readers from the Third Avenue Railroad Company desegregated (though diverse backgrounds will find connections and inspiration it would be another decade before all of New York’s public from the spotlighted women, who represent a cross section transit was desegregated). of the world’s countries and cultures. Amy Hill Hearth uses narrative and primary sources

Social Education 372 (including newspaper articles, photographs, This autobiography by Olympic fencer and maps) to tell the story of Elizabeth Ibtihaj Muhammad describes her humble Jennings’s fight for equality. This book not beginnings as the only African American only details the events of Elizabeth Jennings’s Muslim in her Maplewood, New Jersey, fight, but it also provides historical context elementary school. Her father was a New about slavery in the North. The back matter Jersey police officer and her mother a special includes extensive resources such as a six- education school teacher. Muhammad writes page bibliography of websites, books, and that her parents “thought of sports as almost newspapers as well as author notes, and a a way of life” (p. 21), and they searched for timeline. a sport in which she could retain her fam- Social Studies Themes: CULTURE; TIME, ily’s religious beliefs and wear the hijab head CONTINUITY, AND CHANGE; PEOPLE, PLACES, AND covering. Muhammad tried other sports but ENVIRONMENTS; INDIVIDUAL DEVELOPMENT AND discovered fencing as an adolescent. In spite IDENTITY; POWER, AUTHORITY, AND GOVERNANCE; of bigotry and other obstacles, she excelled CIVIC IDEALS AND PRACTICES at it. She won state championships and competed for Duke University where she was a three-time All-American. In 2016, Secondary Winner she joined Team USA in Rio and became the first American Proud: Living My American Dream (Young Readers Edition) woman to compete in the Olympics in hijab and the first by Ibtihaj Muhammad (Author), Lori Tharps (Contributor). Muslim woman to win an Olympic medal (bronze) for the Little, Brown Books for Young Readers. Reviewed by Kristy United States. Proud is an engaging coming-of-age story and Brugar, associate professor, Social Studies Education in is both informative and inspirational. the Instructional Leadership and Academic Curriculum Social Studies Themes: CULTURE; TIME, CONTINUITY, AND Department at the University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK. CHANGE; INDIVIDUAL DEVELOPMENT AND IDENTITY; CIVIC IDEALS AND PRACTICES

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