Lessie Givens hailed as a shining light
A Taylor treasure and pioneering Black educator who taught thousands of students from segregation through modern times recently celebrated a historic milestone surrounded by friends and fans alike.
Lessie Givens turned 100 years old and was honored July 9 during a celebration at SPJST Senior Living Community that included more than 60 former pupils, relatives, politicians, fellow parishioners and friends.
Givens said the birthday was a blessing.
“It feels great to be 100,” Givens said. “The Lord helped me make it there. I am the oldest in my family.”
Many of the attendees praised Givens for the positive impact she had on their lives.
“I can remember you using Popsicle sticks to teach us math and 10 cents for each page of cursive writing and an extra nickel if we put it in a bank for our trip right before the end of the year,” said former student and longtime friend Leslie Hill, who organized the gathering with her husband, Don Hill, and two daughters, Kim Hill and Regina Hill. “Your biggest gift to us has been your time. Whether teaching us to fish, helping with homework, or just listening to our problems, you’ve always made us feel important and loved.”
Givens, who was born on July 9, 1926, in Bryan, was the valedictorian of her high school, and received a Bachelor of Arts in English and a Master of Arts in elementary education from Prairie View A&M University.
For more than 37 years, Givens served as an educator. She started her career teaching the first grade in Sulphur Springs for a year before taking a job as a second grade instructor at O.L. Price, the all-Black school in Taylor. She taught there from 1950 until 1965 under segregation.
After integration, Givens worked at many other schools until 1988, including Southside Elementary and Northside elementary schools, and St. Mary’s Catholic School, Don Hill said.
At the centennial celebration, several family members, including great-niece Tamisha Donald-Prescott, arrived from as far away as California and other parts of Texas, to pay honor to their beloved relative.
“You have been an amazing great-aunt,” Donald-Prescott said. “You’re always so loving.”
She added she recently brought Givens to H-E-B and could not find a person there who didn’t stop and share stories about the help Givens had given them.
“You have impacted so many in Taylor,” Donald-Prescott said.
Givens is credited by community members with many notable achievements and contributions, including serving for 18 years as the president of the Welfare Workers Club, a health and civic-minded organization founded in 1935 by Givens’ friend, Magnolia P. Dickey, the wife of renowned African American physician Dr. James L. Dickey.
Givens was also the first African American certified bilingual educator at Southside and Northside schools and served as the executive secretary for the Central Texas District Teachers Association. In the 1990s, Givens was an election clerk and was appointed by then-Mayor Don Hill to the Building Standards Committee.
In 2016, a neighborhood center she had previously managed was named the Dickey-Givens Community Center in her honor. This year, Givens was also selected to serve as the grand marshal for the Juneteenth Parade.
Jason Hennington, the former editor and publisher of The Taylor Press, said afterwards it was very important to him to attend Givens’ birthday.
“Mrs. Givens has always been an inspiration,” said Hennington, a former fellow parishioner of The First Baptist Church of Taylor. “Growing up, she was very encouraging and was always pushing me to do my best. Although I never had her as a teacher in the classroom, she has been someone who helped me learn life lessons. Every time she had the opportunity, she said, ‘I’m so proud of you.’ There was no way I was missing her 100th birthday.”
Judy Schroeder, who worked with Givens for many years, said it was wonderful to see so many people at the party honor her colleague.
“She was such an influence on my life as a teacher,” she said. “More than anything, I want her to know that.”
Though Givens is no longer teaching, she still has this advice for today’s youth: “Always do your best,” she said. “Trust in the Lord for everything. If you are not happy, turn it over to the Lord, do your best and you will be rewarded.”
