In 1964 Edmae Swain became the first Black woman to serve as principal in the Omaha Public School district.
Swain, a St. Louis native, graduated from Stowe Teachers College with a Bachelor of Arts degree and taught in St. Louis before moving to Omaha.
She continued her teaching career in Omaha and continued her academic education by earning a masters degree in education from the then-University of Omaha. Swain worked as a substitute teacher at Howard Kennedy Elementary. Soon after that, she was hired by the school district as a full-time teacher at Long Elementary.
After Swain taught for 16 years at Long, Omaha Public Schools Superintendent Harry Burke appointed her principal at Lake Elementary School in North Omaha in 1964. Lake was one of Omaha’s four Black schools at the time, and by 1965 it was a completely segregated school.
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Did you know that when Swain was named principal of Lake in 1964, she was only the second Black person to hold that position in the school system? The first was Eugene Skinner, 17 years earlier…