Elizabeth Almira Allen Essay ⋆ Education Essay Examples ⋆ EssayEmpire

Elizabeth Almira Allen, elected first female president of the New Jersey Teachers Association (NJTA) in 1913, helped introduce one of the first tenure laws and teacher pension systems in the nation and advocated for better pay for women and their leadership of NJTA.

Born on February 27, 1854, Allen was thirteen when she entered the Model School of Trenton, which was associated with the State Normal School. Upon graduation, she began teaching in Atlantic City. In 1871, she took a position in Hoboken, eventually becoming principal of the elementary and high schools. For decades, she also worked at the Hoboken Normal and Training School. In 1882, at age twenty- eight, she became vice president of the New Jersey Teachers Association, precursor to the New Jersey Education Association. In 1896, her efforts led the state legislature to establish a half-pay annuity for teachers with twenty years of service who were no longer able to teach. The fund was financed by a 1 percent reduction from the salaries of those who chose to participate.

Over time, controversies over Allen’s management of the Teachers’ Retirement Fund led to loss of support for Allen and her forces within the NJTA. Allen died on May 3, 1919, exhausted from the attacks against the pension system that she had helped create.

Bibliography:

Burstyn, J. (Ed.). (1990). Past and promise: Lives of New Jersey women. Metuchen, NJ: Scarecrow.
Crocco, M. S., Munro, P., & Weiler, K. (1999). Pedagogies of resistance: Women educator activists, 1880–1960. New York: Teachers College Press.

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