Holland, Beatrice "Tommie"
Birth Year : 1911
Death Year : 2003
Holland, born in Madison County, KY, and raised in Cleveland, OH, was the first African American teacher in Richmond, Indiana. She was the daughter of Florence and Henry Allen Laine. Holland was a graduate of Wilberforce University and Ball State University. She was a teacher in Columbia, SC in the 1940s, then she and her family moved to Richmond in 1950. In addition to teaching, Holland was head of the Wayne County Community Action Program and was the first African American woman to head the Indiana Civil Rights Commission (1973-1977). For more see "Richmond schools hired first Black teacher in 1960," Palladium-Item, 02/19/2008, Region section, p. 3A; and Tommie Beatrice Holland in "Obituaries," Columbus Dispatch, 01/17/2003, News section, p. 07C.
Subjects: Activists, Civil Rights, Civic Leaders, Education and Educators
Geographic Region: Madison County, Kentucky / Cleveland, Ohio / Richmond, Indiana