Hattie Beverly isn't just a name used by our youth development program, she was a person who lived and died in Grand Rapids more than a 100 years ago. Hattie Beverly was the first African American schoolteacher in Grand Rapids in 1899, and paved the way for Grand Rapids' African Americans to pursue their calls to teaching. That is why Andy Schrier and Laura Carpenter felt it fitting to name the program after her 6 years ago.

As part of my position as program director of the Hattie Beverly Youth Development Program, I felt I should know more about Hattie Beverly so I could share her story. I am recording what I have found on another of my blogs found here.

I also started an entry about Hattie on Wikipedia that has most of the information I have found about her. I will post more on my blog as I discover things, so stay tuned!

-Stacey