COLUMBIA, S.C. — The road to the classroom for Dr. Barbara Fisher wasn't an easy one to travel. It was paved with disappointment, divorce and discrimination; but even with all of those challenges she says there was never a doubt that she should be an educator.
Dr. Fisher was born in 1938. She graduated from high school in North Carolina in 1956. She says, "Back in those days, we all had to go to a Northern family member. There was no talk about college." She went to live with an Aunt and applied for a job for the phone company. She jokes that they hired her because she spoke well. The money she earned offered her the chance to move into her own apartment. Little did she know, she would be moving in next to the man who would eventually become her husband.
The marriage didn't last but they did have 3 small children and that meant Dr. Fisher would have to figure out a way to support them. She took the bold move of writing to President Lyndon B. Johnson and sharing her story. He wrote her back and outlined how she could get help for her children. However, it was her priest who offered her the advice that would set her life on a trajectory that would lead to her doctoral degree. Her priest told her that she should go to college.
She enrolled in Winston Salem University and from there majored in business. It didn't take long for her to realize that wasn't her area of strength and she shifted her focus again. After urging and encouragement from a dean at her college she went on to study at Southern Illinois University where she would break racial barriers.
She says that she found her love for writing when working on her dissertation. It took 3 attempts before she was able to defend it successfully. With a doctoral degree under her belt she moved to Columbia with her new husband children to become the Chair of the Department of Education at Allen University. After a short stint there she came to Richland School District 1 in the early 1980s. Dr. Fisher has been an educator in Richland District 1 for more than 50 years and at 84 years old she is according to her colleagues the first person in the building at Eau Claire High School and one of the last to leave.
If you know an educator like Dr. Barbara Fisher who deserves to be recognized for their hard work in the classroom, you can email your nomination to TOW@wltx.com.