In 1946, eight years before Brown v. Topeka, Harriette Curley graduated at the top of her teachers’ program at Drake University and was hired on as a kindergarten teacher at Perkins Elementary School. A group of neighbors attempted to pressure Des Moines Public Schools Superintendent Newell McCombs to remove Ms. Curley, claiming that a Black … Continue reading Harriette Curley – Des Moines’ First Black Teacher