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Taylor Thomas, the son of Woodward and Alice Thomas, was
born in 1911 at Burnham Hospital. He was raised in Champaign
and entered first grade as the only African American student
in his school. He was educated in the Champaign schools.
After graduation he entered Tennessee College where he majored
in history and English. After graduation he worked from
1937-1940 for the Farm Security Administration in Indianapolis.
From 1940-1944, illness kept him bedfast most of the time.
Following recovery, he was employed as a supervisor of the
Unit Personnel Service Records Section at Chanute Air Force
Base. He served as director of Douglass Community Center
from 1945-1948 and was held in such high regard that he
was nominated for the Champaign City Council in 1947.
Mr. Thomas began his teaching career in 1948 in the upper
grades in an all-black Danville school where he served until
1956. He was vice president of the Danville Education Association
in 1954. At Danville he was also a successful coach of football,
basketball and track. Mr. Thomas became the first African
American teacher employed in the Urbana school system in
1956, teaching history and sociology in the junior and senior
high schools and in 1958 he became a full-time teacher in
the senior high school. He was appointed Assistant Principal
of Urbana High School in 1968 and was promoted to Assistant
Superintendent for Student Services in 1972, the post he
held until his retirement in 1977.
Taylor continued his studies through the years and obtained
a Master's Degree in 1951 and in 1955, an Advanced Certificate
in Educational Administration from the University of Illinois.
Mr. Thomas was elected President of the Urbana Teachers
Association in 1959. In 1961 the students dedicated their
yearbook, the Rosemary, to Taylor Thomas. In 1970 he was
elected Secretary of the Illinois High School Dean of Students
Association and he was given Life Membership in the Illinois
PTSA. In 1977, he was made an honorary Commissioner of the
Champaign Park District.
Taylor Thomas continued to be active in civic affairs after
his retirement working with organizations such as: the Youth
Allocation Committee of the United Fund, the Family Service
Administrative Committee, the Wesley Foundation Child Development
Personnel Committee, the Urban League, Don Moyers Boys'
Club, and NAACP. Taylor Thomas was recognized for his outstanding
citizenship and public service in 1980 as the recipient
of the Urbana Exchange Club Book of Golden Deeds Award.
Taylor Thomas was a member of the Bahai faith. He was chairman
of the original group of seven that organized the church
in Champaign in 1950.
Taylor married the former Mary Grace Jordan in 1945.
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