Griffith, Emily (c. 1880–1947)
Griffith, Emily (c. 1880–1947)
American teacher and school founder. Born Feb 10, c. 1880, in Cincinnati, Ohio; died June 19, 1947, in Pinecliffe, Colorado; dau. of Andrew Griffith and Martha (Craig) Griffith.
Hired as substitute teacher, then as regular teacher in Denver, Colorado's Central School; twice appointed deputy state superintendent of schools (1904 and 1910); persuaded school board and local community to allow her to open Denver Opportunity School, a free daytime and evening school for children and adults (1916); served as principal of the school (1916–33), which was later renamed Emily Griffith Opportunity School (1934). Griffith's school, which realized her vision of education and social work as entwined, was an immediate success; though it spawned some imitators, her program remained essentially unique, owing at least largely to its founder's personality.
See also Elinor Bluemel, Emily Griffith and the Opportunity School of Denver (1954); Fletcher H. Swift and John W. Studebaker, What Is This Opportunity School? (1932).