On behalf of the Montclair History Center, Trustee Dr. Davida Lindsay-Harewood, presented the 2024 Hortense Tate Scholarship to Katharine Baney-Giampoala at the Montclair High School Awards Night in June.
This year, the Montclair History Center presented its Hortense Tate Scholarship to Montclair High School senior Katharine Baney-Giampoala.
Katherine’s essay describes the history, values and community of the Montclair Quaker Meetinghouse which her family has attended since she was young, and how its lessons of peace and equality have inspired her.
Katherine recounts, “One of the most special parts of our First Day School lessons were the plays we put on…My most vivid memory is of a historical reenactment of Alice Paul’s Suffragette Road Trip. The community gathered together and watched as I rolled the canary yellow cardboard car. I felt connected to the Quaker women of the past who had dedicated their strength to fighting for social change. I was surrounded by women who carried on their legacy and who were equally motivated to impact the world around us.”
Katharine will attend Haverford College in the fall. Her extracurricular activities in high school have been numerous, from literary and performing arts endeavors to tutoring ELL students, active involvement in Montclair High School’s Civic and Government Institute, and serving as President of the National Organization for Women at Montclair High.
Education is a critical component of the Montclair History Center’s mission—embodied in its local history programs for school children and adults and in its archives which are a center for local historical research. The namesake for the Montclair History Center’s annual scholarship, Hortense Ridley Tate, was a motivational figure at the Glenridge Avenue YWCA from 1921 and throughout the 20th century. (The Glenridge Avenue YWCA was an important and thriving organization which occupied the Crane House from 1920-1965, prior to the home being moved to Orange Road and converted to a museum.) As the Girl Reserve Secretary and leader of the Glenridge Avenue YWCA, Mrs. Tate inspired countless young women by creating a positive environment, fostering cultural pride, and encouraging African American women to pursue higher educational degrees. The Montclair History Center’s Crane House and Historic YWCA Museum shares stories of those important YWCA years, in the context of the history of the home, our township, and our country.
We think Mrs. Tate -- who inspired so many through her work at the Glenridge Avenue YWCA – would be proud of Katharine’s commitment to improve the future.