20th-century African-American educators

Alice J. Palmer (née Roberts, June 20, 1939 – May 25, 2023) was an American educator and politician who served as a member of the Illinois Senate. Known as a longtime progressive activist, Palmer represented the state's 13th Senate District from June 6, 1991, until January 8, 1997. At the time, the district spanned an economically diverse area and included the Chicago communities of Hyde Park, South Shore and Englewood.First appointed to fill the vacant seat of retired state senator Richard H. Newhouse, Jr., Palmer successfully ran for election in 1992 and served a four-year term that ended on January 8, 1997. She ran unsuccessfully for the U.S. House of Representatives in 1995, and was disqualified from running in the Democratic primary for her Illinois Senate seat by Barack Obama, who was running against her and successfully challenged her petition signatures. Obama succeeded her in office.

Vivienne Lucille Malone-Mayes (née Malone; February 10, 1932 – June 9, 1995) was an American mathematician and professor. Malone-Mayes studied properties of functions, as well as methods of teaching mathematics. She was the fifth African-American woman to gain a PhD in mathematics in the United States, and the first African-American member of the faculty of Baylor University.

Leona Ford Washington (1928 – August 5, 2007) was a community activist in Texas and founder of the McCall Neighborhood Center in El Paso. She taught for 39 years in the El Paso Independent School District. Washington composed the song, "The City of El Paso," which was adopted as the city's official song in the 1980s.

Elizabeth Duncan Koontz (June 3, 1919 – January 6, 1989) was a national figure in education, civil rights and the women's movement. She was the first African-American president of the National Education Association and director of the United States Department of Labor Women's Bureau.