Bazoline Estelle Usher
A steadfast architect of Black education in Atlanta who broke barriers in city hall and built opportunity for generations of children.
1885–1992 (age 107)·20th-century American educator·Birthday: December 26·The Lost Generation
Biography
For over half a century, Bazoline Estelle Usher was a quiet but formidable force for educational equity in the heart of the segregated South. Joining the Atlanta Public Schools in 1919, she rose to become the director of education for African American children, a position that made her the first Black person to hold an office in Atlanta's City Hall. From that unlikely desk, she worked tirelessly to improve resources and conditions for Black students and teachers, operating within a discriminatory system to extract every possible advantage. Her vision extended beyond school walls; in 1943, recognizing the need for character-building activities, she founded Atlanta's first Girl Scout troop for Black girls. Usher's legacy is one of dignified, persistent bridge-building, creating pathways of opportunity that would help prepare the city for the civil rights movement and eventual integration.
The Lost Generation
1883–1900
Came of age during World War I. Disillusioned by the carnage, they rejected the certainties of the Victorian era and built modernism from the wreckage — in art, literature, and politics.
Bazoline was born in 1885, placing them squarely in The Lost Generation. The events that shaped this generation — world wars, depression, and rapid industrialization — shaped the world they entered and the choices available to them.
#1 When Bazoline Was Born
The biggest hits of 1885
Bazoline's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1885Born
Karl Benz builds the first gasoline-powered automobile
President: Grover Cleveland
1890Started school
Wounded Knee massacre marks the end of the Indian Wars
President: Benjamin Harrison
1898Became a teenager
Spanish-American War; US emerges as a world power
President: William McKinley
1901Could drive
Queen Victoria dies, ending the Victorian era
President: Theodore Roosevelt
1903Could vote
Wright brothers achieve first powered flight
President: Theodore Roosevelt
1906Turned 21
San Francisco earthquake devastates the city
President: Theodore Roosevelt
1915Turned 30
The Lusitania is sunk by a German U-boat
President: Woodrow Wilson
1925Turned 40
The Scopes Trial debates evolution in schools
Home: $4,366President: Calvin Coolidge"Sweet Georgia Brown" — Ben Bernie
1935Turned 50
Social Security Act signed into law
Gas: $0.19/galHome: $3,450President: Franklin D. Roosevelt"Cheek to Cheek" — Fred AstaireBest Picture: Mutiny on the Bounty
1945Turned 60
WWII ends; atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki
Gas: $0.21/galHome: $4,600Min wage: $0.40/hrPresident: Harry S. Truman"Sentimental Journey" — Les Brown & Doris DayBest Picture: The Lost Weekend
1955Turned 70
Rosa Parks refuses to give up her bus seat
Gas: $0.29/galHome: $9,550Min wage: $0.75/hrPresident: Dwight D. Eisenhower"Rock Around the Clock" — Bill Haley & His CometsBest Picture: Marty
1965Turned 80
US sends combat troops to Vietnam
Gas: $0.31/galHome: $13,600Min wage: $1.25/hrPresident: Lyndon B. Johnson"(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" — The Rolling StonesBest Picture: The Sound of Music
1992Died at 107
LA riots after Rodney King verdict
Gas: $1.13/galHome: $84,300Min wage: $4.25/hrPresident: George H.W. Bush"End of the Road" — Boyz II MenBest Picture: Unforgiven
Key Achievements
- Became the first African American to hold an office in Atlanta City Hall as Director of Education for African American Children.
- Founded the first Girl Scout troop for African American girls in Atlanta in 1943.
- Served the Atlanta Public Schools for over 40 years, in a career spanning more than five decades.
- Was posthumously inducted as a Georgia Woman of Achievement in 2014 for her pioneering work.
Did You Know?
A public elementary school in Atlanta, the Bazoline E. Usher Elementary School, is named in her honor.
She lived to be 106 years old, witnessing profound changes in American society from the post-Reconstruction era to the 1990s.
She began her teaching career in her native Georgia in the early 1900s, before moving to the Atlanta system.
Her role at city hall was both symbolic and practical, giving the Black community a direct point of contact within the municipal government.
“A child's mind is not a vessel to be filled, but a lamp to be lit.”
