Mary Hatwood Futrell

Mary Hatwood Futrell (born May 24, 1940) is an American educator, professor, and pioneer in women's rights education. In her unprecedented six-year-term as president of the National Education Association, she worked to advocate for students in poorer and lower-achieving schools. Early life Mary Alice Franklin Hatwood was born on 24 May 1940 in Altavista, Virginia. After her father, a construction worker, died when she was four, she and her three sisters were raised in relative poverty by a single mother, Josephine Hatwood Austin, who worked in a factory and as a domestic. By the time she was eight, Hatwood was joining her mother work "dusting church pews and offices." A few years later, she worked during her summers as a babysitter and housekeeper at the beach. Even though Josephine only had a sixth grade education herself, she was very involved in her daughters' educations. Hatwood attended segregated Lynchburg before transferring to Dunbar High School, where she was a cheerleader and participated in the student government, Future Business Leaders of America, and the National Honor Society. Though her teachers knew she was bright, Hatwood was put into the vocational track as they knew her family would be unable to afford to send her to college. However, due to her academic success, Hatwood was switched to the more rigorous college-track program. Upon graduating from high school, her teachers, who had collected money from local businesses, churches, and sororities, presented her with a "scholarship" of $1,500 for college. She completed her BA from Virginia State College, where she majored in business, in 1962 and MA from George Washington University in 1968. Later, she attended the University of Maryland, University of Virginia, and Virginia Polytechnic Institute for further education. Career Hatwood started her career as a high school teacher and worked as a business education teacher at the all-black Parker Gray High School, Alexandria, Virginia between 1962 and 1964. She then worked as a business teacher at George Washington High School (Danville, Virginia), where she worked to integrate the faculty and condemn the lingering racism among school community members.