Irma Daniels

Educator Irma Daniels was born Irma Dean Hall on April 21, 1949 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin to Levester Powell Hall and Daisy Lee Hortman Hall. Raised in the Brewer’s Hill section of Milwaukee, Daniels’ family were members of the Bethesda Church of God in Christ. She attended Palmer Elementary School, Twelfth Street School, Robert Fulton Junior High School and graduated as an honor student from North Division High School in 1966. Attending Oshkosh State University, Daniels graduated in 1971 with her B.S. degree in education.

After teaching for a year in Fondulac, Wisconsin, Daniels married John W. Daniels, Jr. in 1972 and accompanied him to Boston, Massachusetts. There, she taught health and coached a championship girls basketball team. In 1974, Daniels returned to Milwaukee and worked in City Hall for a short time. In 1975, she was hired by Milwaukee Public Schools where she taught elementary and middle school. In 1978, Daniels joined Lady Pitts School Age Parent Center which was founded on January 25, 1966, through the efforts of forty black women known as the “Our Concern Committee.” They were concerned about the school policy of requiring pregnant students to drop out of school. The first school was above the Shiloh Tabernacle and was a privately run school with MPS support services, similar to the present-day partnership schools. Lady Pitts became part of MPS in the early 1970s. The school provides comprehensive services to 200 pregnant students, grades six through twelve and a special completion program with job training for forty-five parenting students with twelve or more credits. At Lady Pitts, Daniels taught prenatal health until her retirement.

Daniels is a member of Holy Redeemer Church of God in Chritst, where she is actively involved in the youth ministry. She is a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., the Links and the Bethesda Senior Citizens Board. She and her husband, John, have a son and a daughter.

Daniels was interviewed by The HistoryMakers on November 26, 2007.