Betty Campbell:Statue honours Wales' first black head teacher, in Central Square, Cardiff,Wales - black history campaigner - Rachel Elizabeth Campbell
Betty Campbell MBE (6 November 1934 – 13 October 2017,born Rachel Elizabeth Johnson) was a Welsh community activist, who was Wales' first black head teacher. Born into a poor household in Butetown, she won a scholarship to the Lady Margaret High School for Girls in Cardiff. Campbell later trained as a teacher, eventually becoming head teacher of Mount Stuart Primary School in Butetown, Cardiff. She put into practice innovative ideas on the education of children and was actively involved in the community. Betty Johnson became pregnant at the age of 17, while she was doing her A-levels. She left school when she married Rupert Campbell, a fitter's mate, in 1953. Betty Campbell had four children, one of whom had special needs. She had 14 grandchildren and 17 great-grandchildren. In 1960, when Campbell already had three children, she discovered that Cardiff Teacher Training College had started to enrol female students. Campbell applied, and was one of only six female students to be admitted. Campbell's first teaching post was in Llanrumney. She soon returned to Butetown, getting a job at Mount Stuart Primary School, where she taught for 28 years. As a black teacher she experienced hostility from some parents: "They hadn't seen a black teacher before. It was as if you could do a job, but if you’re black you weren’t quite as good." Campbell was inspired by a trip to the US where she learned about anti-slavery activists like Harriet Tubman and the civil rights movement. When she became Wales' first black head teacher at Mount Stuart in the 1970s, she began teaching children about slavery, black history and the system of apartheid which operated at the time in South Africa. Speaking later in the Senedd, Campbell explained: "I was determined that I was going to become one of those people and enhance the black spirit, black culture as much as I could." Campbell helped to create Black History Month and taught a series of workshops on the role of Butetown's citizens
Size: 3648px × 5472px
Location: Central Square, Cardiff, Wales, UK
Photo credit: © Tony Smith / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
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