Who was Amelia (Sleet) Burton?
 |
Amelia (Sleet) Burton began teaching at the age of 16, in September 1935 in the school in Perryville near where she lived, and continued there until the school closed. In 1939-1940, her yearly pay was $606.50! When that school closed in 1952, she then spent 14 years at Bate School in Danville, and was the first African-American teacher at mostly white Jennie Rogers Elementary School in Danville in 1967, where she was instrumental in smoothing over the process of integration and taught for another 15 years. In January 1983, she was the recipient of the Kentucky’s first Distinguished Teacher Award. She retired in June 1982, after a teaching career that spanned 47 years. Mrs Burton graduated from Bate High School, Lincoln Ridge Institute in Simpsonville (1941); she also received a bachelor’s degree from Kentucky State College (1949) , and a master’s degree from Indiana University (1959). She was born 10 Feb 1917, daughter of Lot and Cora Lee (Goodloe) Sleet, grand-daughter of Preston and Emma (Walker) Sleet, and great-grand-daughter of Warner Sleet. She married James Burton, councilman in Perryville. She died 14 Feb 2013, and is buried in Perryville Spring Hill Cemetery with her husband, James A Burton. |
Biography -- Renovation -- History -- DBCAAHS Home