A Pioneer and a Standard Bearer

Remembering New England’s first African American professor

With a handkerchief in hand, Juliette Burstermann cut a striking figure in front of the classroom. Tall and exacting, she expected a lot of her students. “She demanded respect in the classroom,” said former student Bunny Lescoe ’64. “She wanted your best.” Another former student, Ruth Swift ’64, agreed. “She was strict. She wanted you to get what she was teaching.”

Born in 1903, Burstermann grew up in Baltimore, MD, and Charlotte, NC. She earned her B.S. from Winston-Salem State University in 1929 and taught for seven years in North Carolina. She then went on to receive her M.A. from Teachers College at Columbia University in 1933 and her Ph.D. from New York University in 1948. Her appointment to Eastern’s faculty in 1948 made her the first African American professor in higher education in New England.

Hired as an assistant professor, Burstermann was offered an annual salary of $4,602, minus $323.40 for dormitory accommodations. In her work as assistant professor, she was the supervising teacher in the middle grades of the campus laboratory school. As a house mother in Burr Hall, Burstermann was required to be on duty one evening a week and every third weekend.

“We would knock on her door if we needed help with her class. We only did that three or four times a year,” said Lescoe, whose room on the third floor of Burr was down the hall from Burstermann. “Our group liked to listen to music and dance. She let us be unless we got too rambunctious.” When that happened, Burstermann’s hand would appear inside the door before opening it to ask, “Are we studying yet?” Then Lescoe and her friends knew it was time to get to work.

In 1951, Burstermann was promoted to associate professor and in 1959 she was named professor. She remained at Eastern for 26 years and taught introductory courses in education, history and philosophy of education, and the teaching of mathematics. While at Eastern, Burstermann also served as chairperson of the Department of Elementary Education and on numerous college, community and state committees. In 1970 she was named by Connecticut’s governor to the White House Conference on Children and Youth and served as state chairman on the committee on education.

As her first decade in Willimantic was coming to a close, Burstermann reflected on her time at what was then Willimantic State Teachers College. “On leaving for the interview I did not entertain the thought that because I was a Negro I would not be favorably received.

“Instead, I was fortified with the conviction that I was highly qualified for the position and that my approach would be positive, unbiased and indeed enthusiastic,” she wrote. “Fortunately, to my delight, the same atmosphere was apparent among my interviewers.” Burstermann was offered the position on the spot and found a welcoming atmosphere among her colleagues. “I was frequently invited to some of their homes for teas, meals, discussion groups and parties for faculty. In faculty meetings I found that my opinions, like my white colleagues, were always entertained and often accepted.”

Burstermann was twice granted educational leaves of absence while at Eastern. During one leave, she served as a visiting professor at both Winston-Salem State University in North Carolina and Brooklyn College in New York City. She also took this time to serve as a consultant in elementary education at New York University.

During another leave in 1968, Burstermann worked as professor of education with the Ford Foundation program for the development of teacher education on the Virgin Islands. The program, which took place at the College of the Virgin Islands, was a six-week federally financed institute for teachers of disadvantaged youth. Burstermann taught two courses and directed the program. Classroom learning was reinforced through instructional work with individual children or small groups, as well as 10 hours per week in daycare centers or youth shelters. This was Burstermann’s second educational project in the Virgin Islands, having assisted in establishing the islands’ first in-service teacher training program in 1953.

Burstermann’s accomplishments and accolades were many. She dedicated her life to education, teaching future educators, influencing policy, publishing books and scholarly articles, and speaking at conferences. She received many awards, including the Distinguished Service Award from Eastern’s Alumni Association in 1977, three years after her retirement. She passed away in 1991. Her former students recall her as a woman who was quite strict but also very caring, someone you could talk to whenever you needed.

“I called her once to tell her that I would have to miss class because I didn’t have a babysitter for my five-year-old daughter,” said Swift. “She told me to bring her. When we got to class Dr. Burstermann had toys set up in the back for her.” Swift never forgot this act of kindness, and neither did her daughter. “She remembered and often asked about her. She still brings it up.”

To donate to the Dr. Juliette Burstermann Scholarship, contact the Development Office at (860) 465-4514.