Alumna Presents Black History Month Program

WEST LIBERTY, W.Va., Feb. 8, 2022 — West Liberty University alumna Martha Lash, Ph.D. is part of a presentation for Black History Month that takes place today (Feb. 8, 2022) through the Ohio County Public Library. Lash is a professor and the interim director of the School of Teaching at Kent State University.

The virtual and in-seat program is part of the local library’s ongoing “Lunch with Books” public programming and it looks at the inspiring life of Miss Eileen Miller (1921-2010), an African American teacher from Wheeling.

Miller taught in Wheeling before, during, and after school desegregation following the Brown v. Board of Education decision in 1954.

Lash and Monica Ratcliffe Cooper of Pittsburgh (one of Lash’s students in teacher education) will share Miss Miller’s story which stands as an example of the desegregation experience and as such deserves a place in Black history as a talented educator who gracefully and powerfully managed her teaching career through many social changes, according to Lash. Lash and Cooper interviewed Miller in 2008.

Lash shares, “A master’s degree student posed the following question to our Professional Development in Teaching class: ‘Did anyone in class have an African American teacher during any of their PK-12 years?’ Only two raised their hands: the African American female student posing the question, and I, a middle-aged, female, Caucasian professor. The class discussion revolved around the topic of the relatively few teachers of color who grace our public schools. It also left me with lingering questions of how and why an educated and talented African American teacher had taught me in eighth grade in my predominantly European American community on the northern edge of Appalachia during my school years in the 1960s and 1970s.”

Lash is from the Wheeling area (Warwood) and received a B.A. in Sociology, West Liberty State College, a master’s of education in Curriculum Studies, Early Childhood emphasis, Indiana University-Bloomington, 1996, and a Ph.D in Curriculum Studies, Early Childhood emphasis, Indiana University-Bloomington, 2004. A professor at Kent State University since 2003, her areas of specialty are Early Childhood Teacher Education and Curriculum Studies.

The in-seat program will be held at the Ohio County Public Library’s auditorium, located at To access the virtual presentation, please click this YouTube link. You may also visit OCPL’s Facebook page for access.

Seán P. Duffy, programming director and local history specialist at the library offers on-going programming throughout the year for the public’s enjoyment. A complete listing is found online.

To stay active with all WLU alumni events, chapters and more, please visit the wlibertydev.wpenginepowered.com/alumni webpage or call 304.336.8888.