Gwendolyn Means — Trajectories of Black Mathematics Teachers

Dr. Gwendolyn Means is a third generation native Washingtonian, from a family of solidly middle-class professionals.Dr. Means earned a scholarship of $400 which paid her tuition in full at Minors Teacher College on the campus of Howard University. She began her teaching career in the early 1950s when DC schools were still segregated through the 1970s when public school enrollment was nearly 100% Black with most students from low-income and working-class families. She is a firm believer that mathematics is a language and she made certain that her high school students learned to read it, understand it, and speak it. She was skilled in culturally relevant teaching, before it was labeled as such. Dr. Means was a college instructor for three of the four Anacostia teachers (Radcliff, Roberts, and Sneed).