Helen Maria Chesnutt

Helen Maria Chesnutt: An Influential and Innovative Latin Teacher

Helen Maria Chesnutt was born to Charles and Susan Chesnutt in Fayetteville, NC on December 6, 1880. She earned her B.A. from Smith College in 1902, At this time, Helen, her sister, and one other black student, Otelia Cromwell, were the only African-American students at Smith. All three lived off campus. Otelia became the first African-American graduate of Smith, followed the next year by Helen. Later, in 1925, Helen earned her M.A. in Latin from Columbia University. She belonged to the American Philological Association from 1920–1934.

Chesnutt taught Latin at Central High School in Cleveland, Ohio, where she inspired her notable pupil, Langston Hughes. In 1932, she co-authored a beginning level textbook, The Road to Latin, an influential work that went on to have multiple print runs. She belonged to the American Philological Association from 1920–1934. A reviewer in Classical Journal stated that the book and teaching methods, which relied on oral presentation of Latin, intensive rather than extensive reading, and a paraphrase method, were discussed and appraised positively in research into teaching of Latin in the US at that time. She also wrote a biography of her father, entitled Charles Waddell Chesnutt: Pioneer of the Color Line, which remains an important source of information about him and his works.

Miss Chesnutt also wrote a biography of her father titled Charles Waddell Chesnutt: Pioneer of the Color Line. More information about Miss Chesnutt can be found in “Classical Education and the Advancement of African American Women from the Nineteenth to the Twentieth Century,” in Unsealing the Fountain: Pioneering Female Classical Scholars from the Renaissance to the Twentieth Century Helen died in Cleveland Heights, Ohio, on August 7, 1969 at age 88.

Dr. Michele Valerie Ronnick of Wayne State University gave a keynote address on the life of Helen Maria Chesnutt for the Classical Association of New England's Annual 2021 Meeting, as they announced a new Helen Maria Chesnutt Scholarship. Here is the link to the presentation, In Search of Helen Maria Chesnutt.

Central High School

I want to share a bit more about Central High, because I grew up east of Cleveland and my mother grew up in this exact same neighborhood when it was an enclave of German immigrants. Case Western Reserve University documents state that Central was the first public high school in Cleveland, and existed from 1846-1952. In fact it was the first high school supported by public funds “west of the Allegheny Mountains.” Early students included John L. Severance, John D. Rockefeller, Marcus A. Hanna, Samuel Mather, and Langston Hughes. The curriculum included English, math, foreign languages, social science, physical science, commercial education, technical education, home economics, and music! Here is the previous building… on East 40th Street, when it celebrated its Centennial in 1946.

Langston Hughes

Case Western also documents that Helen Chesnutt’s student I mentioned above, Langston Hughes, was born in Joplin, Missouri, and moved to Cleveland in 1916. He “began writing seriously while a student at Central High School, where his efforts were encouraged by his teachers.” He spent a year at Columbia, dropped out to travel in Europe and Africa. He later studied and degreed at Lincoln University. He spent his lifetime writing prolifically – novels, volumes of poetry, children’s books, plays, essays and black history. He also founded the Negro Theater in Los Angeles in 1939 and wrote a film script. Throughout his life, Hughes lectured and was active in the Black civil rights movement and worked to establish the Black identity.

Sources: Link to sources used for this NCLG website Spotlight article on Helen Maria Chesnutt. Katie Robinson 2-22-21

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