Bluefield High School Hall of Fame to honor Virginia Hebert

BLUEFIELD — Mrs. Virginia Clark-Hebert, one of the area’s most highly-respected educators who received her high school diploma from the city’s segregated high school, graduated from a segregated college, taught in the high school she attended and later helped students make the transition into an integrated public school system, will be honored for a lifetime of service to the community with her entrance into the Bluefield High School Hall of Fame.

“Mrs. Hebert was a dedicated teacher,” Delores French said. French was one of Hebert’s students at Park Central High School. They later worked together on the Park Central faculty, and both made the transition to the BHS faculty after the black and white schools of Bluefield were fully integrated. BHS was integrated by a few black students as early as 1957, but BHS and Park Central weren’t fully integrated until the latter closed in the spring of 1969.

According to a press release from the Hall of Fame committee, graduates of Beaver, Genoa, Park Central and Bluefield high schools are all considered as part of the BHS Hall of Fame recognition program.

“I had originally nominated Mrs. Hebert for the Hall of Fame,” French said. “She is such an articulate and well educated person, and she loved geometry. She loved everything about mathematics and she loved teaching.”

Hebert was born and raised in Bluefield, graduated with honors from Genoa High School, earned her undergraduate degree from Bluefield State College and received a master’s degree from Columbia University. She was married to the late W.E. Hebert, head of the art department at BSC, who followed the well-known West Virginia artist, Joseph Dodd in that position. Together, the Heberts touched the lives of many students on the region, both in high school and in post secondary education.

“You look at the legacy of a teacher, any teacher, in the lives of the students they taught through the years, and Mrs. Hebert has touched so many lives,” The Reverend Garry D. Moore, pastor of Scott Street Baptist Church in Bluefield said. Hebert has been a member of Scott Street Baptist through her life. “She started attending this church as an infant with her parents,” Moore said. “I’m the 18th pastor of this church, and she was serving as the church treasurer when I got here. Her commitment to this church is legendary.”

Moore said that Hebert taught students in segregated schools as well as after the schools were integrated. “You had to know that back then, when there was so much going on in terms of civil rights, it had to be a bitter time for teachers working through that transition,” Moore said. “Through that time, she never lost focus on her role of serving the students. She made an impact in their lives.”

Mrs. Hebert taught mathematics at three high schools, Genoa and Park Central during segregation and BHS after the public schools in Bluefield were integrated. Hebert also worked with the Upward Bound program at Concord University. During her teaching career, she served for a time as the treasurer of the Mercer County Teachers Association and was the first African American officer of the association.

“I had a geometry class from Mrs. Hebert when I was in 10th grade,” Delores French said. “She was a good teacher, but she was very strict. One night, my friend, Mary Simmons and I attended a revival at our church but we didn’t do our geometry homework.

“Mary and I thought we could get by without doing our homework if we told Mrs. Hebert we were church-going young ladies,” French said. “Mary went up to her and told her that she didn’t have her homework done because she attended a revival at church. Mrs. Hebert told her: ‘Young lady. When I was your age and attended a revival at my church, I took my homework along with me. My geometry is just as important as the 10 Commandments and don’t you forget that.’

“After I heard Mrs. Hebert tell my friend Mary that, I didn’t tell her I hadn’t finished my homework either,” French said. “She was a dedicated teacher, and she really loved that geometry.”

Hebert also held an office in the Mercer County Teachers Federal Credit Union and was a member of the National Education Association, West Virginia Education Association and American Association of University Women. She joined the BSC Alumni Association after graduation, served as a member of the former BSC Institutional Advisory Board and is one of a very few recipients of the BSC Medallion for outstanding service to the college.

In addition to her service to her college alma mater, Hebert served on the board of directors of “Bible in the Schools,” is a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc., the Southern West Virginia Chapter of Links Inc., is a life member of the NAACP and a member of the local branch of the AARP.

She continues to serve as assistant treasurer of Scott Street Baptist Church, and had served as a Sunday School teacher and a Bible School office worker. She is still an active member of the General Missionary Society, the Helping Hand Circle, the Women of Destiny Auxiliary, the Pastor’s Aid Society and she regularly attends Bible Study Class.

“For God to allow Mrs. Hebert to be here on earth for 97 years and to allow her to remain so active in her church and in her community has been a true blessing,” Moore said. “She is so thoughtful, and never fails to ask about your family members. Her spiritual transformation has been amazing and she has always remained dedicated to her church, the schools she attended, her community, the students she taught and her friends.”

BHS will honor Hebert during the annual Hall of Fame assembly in the BHS auditorium at 10 a.m., on Tuesday, Nov. 17. Friends of the recipient are invited to attend.

— Contact Bill Archer at barcher@bdtonline.com

Local News

Search Results

Discussion

Site Map

Contact Us