Betty Fairfax

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Betty Fairfax was an educator, counselor, and philanthropist with the Phoenix, Arizona high school district.

Biography

Betty Harriet Fairfax graduated with her Bachelor of Science from Kent State University in 1940. Four years later, she graduated from Western University with her master's in education, and then completed post-graduate work at Teachers College, Columbia University. She worked in the Cleveland public school district before she was recruited by the Phoenix Union High School District to work at the Carver High School, a segregated school. When schools desegregated, Fairfax became one of the first Black teachers at Phoenix Union High School.[1]

In 1969, Fairfax was hired as the Central High School (Phoenix, Arizona) counselor. From 1991 until 2006, she was the dean of students at the school.[1]

In 1985, Betty, along with her sister Jean E. Fairfax, founded the Dan and Betty Inez Fairfax Memorial Fund to expand educational opportunities for African American and Latinx students.[2]

Fairfax died on November 7, 2010.[1]

Awards and Honors

  • 2001: Tribute to Women Award, YWCA in Maricopa County[1]
  • 2004: Arizona Culture Keepers[1]
  • 2007: State of Arizona Proclamation, presented by Janet Napolitano[1]
  • 2009: The Phoenix School District named a new high school the Betty H. Fairfax High School.[3] As of 2021, it was the only school in the district named for an educator.[4]
  • 2020: With Jean Fairfax, inducted into Arizona Women's Hall of Fame

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f "Betty Harriet Fairfax". ASU Retirees Association. 2007.
  2. ^ Jones, Rhonda D. (2008). "Fairfax, Jean E.". In Gates, Henry Louis, Jr.; Higginbotham, Evelyn Brooks (eds.). The African-American National Biography. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
  3. ^ "Looking Kids in the Eye Every Day" (PDF). Teachers College, Columbia University. Winter 2012. p. 72. Archived from the original (PDF) on May 19, 2018. Retrieved April 19, 2018.
  4. ^ Dominguez, Maritza (March 9, 2021). "What legacy did Betty and Jean Fairfax leave behind in Arizona? Valley 101 digs in".
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