Fort Scott honors Prof. Hawkins' dedication to African American education
FORT SCOTT, Kan. — A lifetime of education — dedicated to the African American community in Fort Scott.
'Professor Hawkins had a saying, look sharp. Be sharp. Be somebody,' said Kirk Sharp, Gordon Parks Museum Exec. Dir.
Just a few words with a big impact.
It started early with a career as a teacher at Ft. Scott's Plaza School, a segregated campus for students K through 8th. The high school was integrated — but opportunities were still limited for Black students.
Something Hawkins worked to change in the early 1900s.
'Could not participate in sports activities. Basically go to school and have to leave. And so Professor Hawkins knew it was important for the students to have some type of activity, so he created a basketball team basically out of his own pocket, very similar to what travel teams are doing today.'
It was a career on the courts and in the classroom that would span five decades.
'Professor Hawkins was a long time professor, principal, coach. He was the mainstay of the Plaza School, and when he passed in 1946 during the mid of the segregation and discrimination, the white school board at the time had control of the school and decided to name the Plaza School after Professor E.J. Hawkins, in honor of his wonderful legacy,' said Sharp.
An impact that wasn't limited to the Fort Scott community.
'So he is the first Kansas teacher to get posthumously inducted to the Kansas Teachers Hall of Fame as an educator, and he's also in the Hall of Fame with the High School Athletics Association for his outstanding achievement that has been recognized by the Kansas High School Athletics Association.'
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