Pearl Aurelia Grigsby Richardson (March 28, 1896 – October 13, 1983) was an American educator and clubwoman. She ran a well-regarded childcare program in

Montclair, New Jersey Montclair () is a township in Essex County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Situated on the cliffs of the Watchung Mountains, Montclair is a wealthy and diverse commuter town and suburb of New York City within the New York metropolitan area. As ...

, from the 1930s to the 1960s.

Early life and education

Pearl Grigsby was born in Montclair, New Jersey, the eldest of five children of William Grigsby and Golden Belle Anderson Grigsby. She graduated from

Smith College Smith College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts Women's colleges in the United States, women's college in Northampton, Massachusetts. It was chartered in 1871 by Sophia Smith (Smith College ...

in 1919. She pursued further studies in child development at

Rutgers University Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's ...

Career

After she married, Richardson taught in Georgia, at

Dorchester Academy Dorchester Academy was a school for African-Americans located just outside Midway, Georgia. Operating from 1869 to 1940, its campus, of which only the 1935 Dorchester Academy Boys' Dormitory survives, was the primary site of the Southern Christi ...

, a missionary school, and at Haines Normal Institute. She was a member of the

Alpha Kappa Alpha Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. () is the first intercollegiate historically African American sorority. The sorority was founded on January 15, 1908, at the historically black Howard University in Washington, D.C., by a group of sixteen stud ...

(AKA) sorority, and of the Townswomen, an organization of twelve prominent Black women in Montclair. In 1921, she was one of the five founding members of the Delta Omega graduate chapter of AKA, in

Petersburg, Virginia Petersburg is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 33,458. The Bureau of Economic Analysis combines Petersburg (along with the city of Colonial Heights) with Din ...

, along with Pauline Sims Puryear and

Louise Stokes Hunter Ella Louise Stokes Hunter (died 1988) was an American mathematics educator who became the first African-American woman to earn a degree at the University of Virginia. She taught for many years at Virginia Normal and Industrial Institute and V ...

. She was one of the six founding members of the first chapter of AKA in Louisiana, when she helped to found the Alpha Beta Omega graduate chapter in New Orleans in 1927. She lived in Saint Thomas in the

Virgin Islands The Virgin Islands ( es, Islas Vírgenes) are an archipelago in the Caribbean Sea. They are geologically and biogeographically the easternmost part of the Greater Antilles, the northern islands belonging to the Puerto Rico Trench and St. Croix ...

, where her husband was the appointed

postmaster A postmaster is the head of an individual post office, responsible for all postal activities in a specific post office. When a postmaster is responsible for an entire mail distribution organization (usually sponsored by a national government), ...

from 1932 to 1936. While there, she taught at

Charlotte Amalie High School Charlotte Amalie High School (CAHS) is a public high school housing a population of just over 1400 students, and over 130 members of faculty and staff. It is located in what is colloquially called the "town area" of the island of St. Thomas, Uni ...

. Back in New Jersey, she was founder and director of Montclair's Child Care Center, from the late 1930s until she retired in 1965. "I knew it was needed here, so I just did it," she recalled in 1965.

Personal life

Pearl Grigsby married fellow educator Edward S. Richardson Jr. in 1922. They had a son, Edward William. Her husband died in 1976, and she died in 1983, at the age of 87, in New Jersey.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Richardson, Pearl Grigsby 1896 births 1983 deaths People from Montclair, New Jersey 20th-century American educators 20th-century American women educators Smith College alumni