Luminaries

Kate Frank

Kate Frank was one of three teachers in Muskogee, Oklahoma, who, in 1943, were fired without warning or opportunity for hearing. Their offense—being Association activists and organizing a campaign on behalf of teachers to unseat certain school board members.

Of the three, Frank chose to stand and fight, with NEA's help. The case was to be of lasting importance to educators nationwide. NEA's Defense Commission and the Committee on Tenure saw this as a basic test of a member's right to free speech, and persuaded the Executive Committee to allocate $10,000 for her defense. The case was eventually won and Frank reinstated in 1945. After all the bills were paid, $948.39 remained, and this became the DuShane Fund for Teacher Rights, named after NEA president Donald DuShane who created the Defense Commission.

In honor of Frank's courage, the Fund was later renamed the Kate Frank/DuShane Fund, and remains today the Association member's most potent weapon to ensure that rights cannot be exploited for lack of legal defense.

In 1983, Frank was inducted into the Oklahoma Women's Hall of Fame.