The Importance of an Education

     Mama believed in education.  Born in 1925 she grew to understand that education was a way out of poverty.  Kathryn Bryan was born in Detroit, Michigan and moved at the age of three to Memphis, Tennessee.  Her Big Mama ( grandmother) taught her to read before she started school.  For a time she attended an experimental school.  A white woman who had worked at a finishing school for young white girls wondered if African American children could learn the same as white children. Kathryn excelled.  She went on to attend Booker T. Washington high school in Memphis where she graduated with honors.  Kathryn's hard work paid off, she earned a scholarship ($75.00) to attend LeMoyne Owen college.  Upon graduation she left Memphis for New York to study Social work and Religious studies at Columbia College and Union Theological Seminary. Kathryn Bryan received her Masters in Social work and Religious education.  Education was a way out and she taught that to her children.  At age 13 I knew what I wanted to be....an Educator.  With Mama as a role model the choice was simple, I never changed my mind.