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President
Augusta Souza Kappner, Bank Street College |
Bank Street to Endow New Scholarship for African-American
Students
By Sybil Maimin
It was a love fest!
Alums, faculty, and friends of Bank Street College of Education
gathered at the June Kelly Gallery in Soho recently to honor
Priscilla Elizabeth Pemberton (1918-2004) and inaugurate
a new organization in her name that will help Bank Street
students and alumni of color. The initial goal of The Priscilla
E. Pemberton Society is raising funds for an endowed scholarship
for African-American students in the graduate school, the
first scholarship named for an Africa-American. The setting
for the kick-off was appropriate. “She would
have loved it,” exclaimed Bank Street president, Augusta
Souza Kappner. “Pris loved art and was married to a musician.” A
guitar and bass filled the room with jazz. Larger than life
black and white drawings of African-Americans by artist Debra
Priestly looked down at the crowd. “The portraits look
very serious—like they are saying, ‘we have to
get this done,’ ” mused Kappner. Priestly explained
she explores ancestry and many of the subjects, depicted from
photographs, have “amazing stories,” and “witnessed
important events in our history.”
Pemberton, a 1966 graduate
of Bank Street had a long list of accomplishments. She directed
the Bank Street Early Childhood Center at its former home
on 42nd Street and was on its faculty. At various times,
she served as Registrar, director of non-matriculating students,
and special assistant to the college president. She was on
two presidential search committees. An enthusiastic graduate,
she headed the alumni association, worked on various committees,
and understood the importance of fund-raising. According
to Kappner, “No job titles, no awards can describe
the roles she had at Bank Street…wherever there was
a need she served, and she served, and she served.”
At the reception, accolades
about Pemberton and stories of her devotion to her students
and frequent acts of kindness were shared by those who knew
her. Cynthia Wilson (’73)
learned about commitment from Pemberton and the importance
of educating and training community people for teacher certification.
Suzanne Carothers (’73), who came to the college from
North Carolina, called Pemberton “my New York mom” and
marveled that she was the first African-American professional
in the college and in the School for Children. Lucia Jack,
a college friend, remembered that Pemberton often spoke about
the small number of people of color at the school.
President Kappner explained, “We at Bank Street are
committed to training more minority teachers and to seeing
more minority teachers in our schools...Setting up a scholarship
to increase the number of African-American students is the
most fitting tribute to Pris…This is done with love.”#
