Sunday Favorites: Women You Should Know: Frankie Howze

Francis "Frankie" Agnes McKay Howze originally wanted to make journalism her profession; she worked for the Chicago Daily News for about a year. However, when she received an assignment that her father deemed "unbecoming for a young lady," her career as a reporter came to an end. Frankie would soon follow a different journey, becoming what many consider the "Mother of Education in Manatee County." During her time as an educator, she was a teacher, school principal, librarian and Palmetto's first football coach, according to the Palmetto Historical Society.

During the late 1800's, women began to expand their political limits in an emerging American culture. Frankie was only one of the area's influential females who overcame gender oppression and contributed greatly to the character of the community. Her influences not only helped historians understand the lives of other women of her time, but also serve as an inspiration for present-day women. Census records from 1889 to 1940 affirm the importance of female figures during Florida's founding. Many of the organizations still in service today were monumental in raising money for schools, public space and promoting literacy.

While Frankie had already built up an educational career in Chicago by working as a teacher for two years, the rise of industry and residue of the fire of 1871 adversely affected Frankie's asthma. As was the custom treatment at that time, she journeyed to Florida in the winter of 1887 intending to regain her health and return to Chicago the following spring. While visiting Florida, Frankie stayed with her Aunt Lottie Douglas. She became the first female teacher in Bartow at age 19. Her hard work was recognized by the superintendent of schools and Frankie decided to stay in Florida permanently.

The religious village of Bartow forbade teaching geography based on the religious saying "men coming from the four corners of the Earth," they interpreted the proverb as meaning the world was flat. Frankie started with mapping out their small community, then the county, then the United States. She began discussing sailors and their discoveries. On her last day of teaching, she drew a globe on the board and gained enough nerve reveal the truth. Even adults were lined up outside the windows to listen to Frankie expose that the world was actually round.

In September of 1888, Palmetto was hit hard by the Yellow Fever epidemic. Residents were advised to avoid public places in order to contain the infection. That year, Palmetto children didn't start school with the rest of the children in Manatee County. A great need for teachers shortly followed the outbreak; Frankie answered that call. She brought with her a letter of recommendation from Superintendent John Snoddy who wrote, "Miss Frankie McKay is the best teacher we ever had, despite the fact she is a woman."

When Frankie first arrived in Palmetto, a multiuse building served as the schoolhouse; it was also used for public meetings, religious services and, at night, a family of hogs slept underneath the floorboards. There were no screens and the constant presence of fleas, flies and mosquitoes impeded upon the children's learning environment. The blackboard was constructed of pine boards painted with boiled roots of black-jack oak and the seats were split pine. Frankie ordered proper desks and textbooks from Chicago and paid for them with her own money. Parents held fundraisers to help reimburse her.

Utilizing revolutionary methods of teaching that she learned from educators in Chicago, she improved the one-room schoolhouse and divided students into grades. She established a Library Society in her first year of teaching. She became the first librarian there, serving nine years.

As a vivacious young woman, she soon attracted and married Captain James A. Howze whose wife died of yellow fever; they wed Dec. 24, 1889. Frankie birthed four sons, and raised a stepdaughter, but was widowed when the youngest was 9 years old.

By 1895, the new Palmetto Academy opened with an enrollment of 90 students. It was the first publicly-funded school in Manatee County. Frankie was a disciplinarian; nothing got past her. Tests were given to students with their parents as an audience; they watched to ensure no cheating occurred. Frankie also reportedly tied children to their chairs to remind them to stay seated (it was with ribbon and could be untied at anytime) and would lightly tap a student in the shoulder with a buggy whip if they didn't stay in line formation.

Frankie primarily taught first grade. She later became the first principal and when student interest in football arose, she became the first coach. She taught school for 51 years; the vastness of her teaching ability was so well respected, she was featured in a Good Housekeeping article and recognized under the Great Floridians 2000 program by the Florida League of Cities. Howze put her children through college and took classes at Colombia University during the summer.

At age 82, she became blind and relied on radio to keep her abreast of current events. Howze died in July 29, 1956. Palmetto Elementary was named Frankie A. Howze Elementary at one point, but after a restoration, the dedication was forgotten. The one-room schoolhouse she taught in was moved to the Palmetto Historical Park as was the dedication plaque from Palmetto Elementary.