Workers: Elizabeth Duncan Koontz

Elizabeth Duncan Koontz (1919-1989) was an educator and civil rights leader, known for her pioneering efforts in advancing racial equality and women's rights. She was the first Black president of the National Education Association and later became the first Black woman to serve as the director of the Women's Bureau in the U.S. Department of Labor. 

For Further Reading:

• Elizabeth Koontz never stopped pushing
• The Voice of the Teacher Speaks for the Child
• The Veteran Feminists of America Interview Elizabeth Koontz 

This month we’re talking about workers: Women who fought for labor rights and shaped the way we do business today. They advocated and innovated to make the “office” – wherever it is – a more equitable place.

History classes can get a bad rap, and sometimes for good reason. When we were students, we couldn’t help wondering... where were all the ladies at? Why were so many incredible stories missing from the typical curriculum? Enter, Womanica. On this Wonder Media Network podcast we explore the lives of inspiring women in history you may not know about, but definitely should.

Every weekday, listeners explore the trials, tragedies, and triumphs of groundbreaking women throughout history who have dramatically shaped the world around us. In each 5 minute episode, we’ll dive into the story behind one woman listeners may or may not know–but definitely should. These diverse women from across space and time are grouped into easily accessible and engaging monthly themes like Educators, Villains, Indigenous Storytellers, Activists, and many more. Womanica is hosted by WMN co-founder and award-winning journalist Jenny Kaplan. The bite-sized episodes pack painstakingly researched content into fun, entertaining, and addictive daily adventures.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:03):
Hello from Wonder Media Network. I'm Jenny Kaplan and this
is Wamanica. This month, we're talking about workers, women who
fought for labor rights and shaped the way we do
business today. They advocated and innovated to make the office
wherever it is, a more equitable place. Today, we're talking
about a woman who worked to make teaching and any

(00:24):
job a woman might want more equitable. She encouraged women
and people of color to speak up for what they
deserve and never settle for the job they're expected to take.
Let's talk about Elizabeth Duncan Koon's. Elizabeth was born on
June third, nineteen nineteen, in Salisbury, North Carolina. Her parents,
Samuel and Lena, valued the importance of education. Samuel was

(00:48):
a high school principal and Lina was an elementary school teacher.
Despite living in the segregated South, they made sure that
all seven of their children received a proper education, and
it didn't stop there. Samuel len Lena instilled the belief
in their children that if you were privileged enough to
have an education, you were also obligated to be of
service to others. Elizabeth witnessed this firsthand as she watched

(01:11):
and later helped her mother teach adults how to read
and write at their kitchen table. Elizabeth learned to read
at an early age, and she excelled in school. She
graduated salutatorian from high school, and she received her bachelor's
degree in English and elementary education when she was just
nineteen years old. Elizabeth's teaching career began at the Harnett

(01:35):
County Training School. There, she worked with kids with learning disabilities.
She empowered them and taught them to defy the belief
that they were incapable of learning. She was good at
her job, then she started to realize something. Teachers were
being charged at an excessive rate for room and board, and

(01:56):
the boarding house was owned by the school. Elizabeth got
to work and organized a protest to fight for a
fairer rate. She was fired as a result, so she
went on and got her master's degree. But Elizabeth's activism
didn't stop there. She got a new job teaching special
education at her old high school and found her next

(02:16):
fight for justice. She brought black and white teachers together,
and after Brown v Board mandated desegregation, she worked toward
making that a reality in North Carolina. Elizabeth Starr continued
to rise as the first black president of the National
Education Association, or the NEA, she fought for job in

(02:37):
retirement security and better pay for teachers. She also advocated
for more federal money for education. It all went back
to this idea of teaching power her rallying cry, and
across the country, teachers went on strike in droves. Elizabeth's
work as president of the NEA caught the attention of

(03:00):
those in Washington, d c. In nineteen sixty nine, she
was appointed the first black director of the US Department
of Labour's Women's Bureau. She was the highest ranking black
woman in the Nixon administration. As director, Elizabeth primarily focused
on eliminating workplace discrimination against women and minorities. She believed

(03:22):
in and fought for equal rights and greater opportunities for
black people, the working poor, and women, and she was
also a proponent of the Equal Rights Amendment to the
US Constitution. While Elizabeth fought for working women, she also
wanted to expand what work women could do. The classification
of women's work dissuaded women from going after certain jobs

(03:45):
and therefore put a cap on their salaries and potential.
When asked about the problems women faced at the time.
Elizabeth responded, I would say that perhaps one of the
greatest obstacles is the attitude of the general public, including women,
toward women's rights to enter the job market and the
jobs heretofore considered to be traditionally men's jobs. So Elizabeth

(04:07):
encouraged those women who knew how to operate a typewriter
to also know how to repair it, and she guided
women teachers to focus on math and science, which paid more.
Elizabeth was often labeled as a radical for her positions.
She welcomed this title and kept fighting for equality in
the workplace. Elizabeth knew the complexity and subtlety of discrimination,

(04:32):
so she made sure her work also extended to people
of color. She knew that while a white woman could
complain about not being able to be more than a secretary,
a black woman wouldn't even be considered for the job.
Elizabeth helped people see the institutionalized racism that society had
allowed to persist when it came to women's work. Elizabeth's
time in Washington came to an end in nineteen seventy five.

(04:56):
She returned to North Carolina and became the assistant state
school superintendent. In this role, her work focused on improving
public education. In nineteen eighty two, Elizabeth retired from public
service and returned to her hometown, Salisbury, North Carolina. She
died of a heart attack on January sixth, nineteen eighty nine.
She was sixty nine years old. Elizabeth's legacy lives on

(05:20):
through the annual Elizabeth Duncan Koon's Humanitarian Award and the
Elizabeth Duncan Kones Elementary School, which opened in two thousand
and six in Salisbury. All month, We're talking about workers.
For more information, find us on Facebook and Instagram at
Wamanica Podcast special thanks to Liz Kaplan, my favorite sister
and co creator. Talk to you tomorrow