"Selena Sloan Butler"(January 4,1872-October 7,1964)When

Founder and first president of the National Congress of Colored Parents and Teachers Association (NCCPT).President Herbert Hoover appointed her to the White House Conference on Child Health and Protecting in 1929.During World War 2,she organized the Red Cross's first black women's chapter of "Gray Ladies."When Congress merged the NCCPT with the National PTA,in 1970 Selena was named as one of the organization's founders.Today,she is considered a co-founder of the National Parent-Teacher Association.Selena was born in Thomasville Georgia to William Sloan and Winnie Williams.Her was father was white,and her mother was of mix descent,Half Native American and Half African American.She started life with her mother and sister but without her father's presence,she did receive his monetary support.Selena attended a missionary-operated elementary school in Thomas County and studied at Spelman Seminary (later Spelman College).At the age of sixteen she graduated from Spelman in 1888 (with a high school diploma) and began her teaching career in Atlanta.She later became a member of the Eta Sigma chapter of Sigma Gamma Rho sorority.Selena married Henry Rutherford Butler,a prominent African SHE W American doctor in Atlanta who had studied medicine at Harvard University.The couple had one son,Henry Jr.As Henry,Jr.,approached school age,Selena looked for a preschool.Finding none in her Neighborhood or in any black neighborhood in the city,she decided to start a kindergarten in her home.When Henry entered the Younge Street Elementary School,Selena began seeking ways to help parents get involved in their children's education.Enlisting support from other parents, in 1911,she founded the National Congress of Colored Parents and Teachers Association (NCCPT)at Younge Street Elementary School;the first parent-teacher association for Africa Americans in the United States.In 1919,she formed a statewide parent-teacher association in Georgia.What began as a local venture grew into a nationally recognized organization.Selena dedication to children and families stirred her to reach out to parents on a national level.She wrote several letters encouraging parents of color to form a union with the primary purpose of uniting home and school into a planned program for child welfare.Her letters stimulated interest in the parent-teacher movement and her own state George became the first to organize.By 1926,she aroused sufficient interest and issued the first call for a national convention.To this call,four states responded and sent delegates.During the same year,the once statewide parent-teacher association became the National Congress of Colored Parents and Teachers Association.The NCCPT was modeled closely after its white only counter part,the National Congress of Parents and Teachers (today,the National Parent-Teacher Association).Selena dedicated her life to forming an organization which would have the same objectives as the National Congress of Parents and Teachers.The NCCPT and the Congress of Mothers worked closely with each other to improve the conditions in schools for all children,regardless of race,as well as for teachers.Her efforts inspired President Herbert Hoover to appoint her to serve on his 1929 White House Conference on Child Health and Protection representing the National Congress of Colored Parents and Teachers and Working on the Committee on the Infant and preschool,child whose work contributed to the writing of the Children's Chapter.Between 1929 and 1930,she serve on the President's Committee (presently,the White House Conference on Children and Youth) and would go on to lead the NCCPT for more than thirty years.Selena was active in her community not only as an educator but also as an organizer.She co-founded the Spelman College Alumnae Association,organized the Phyllis Wheatley  Branch of the Atlanta YWCA,and was the first president of the Georgia Federation of Colored Women's Club.Selena's entire life was dedicated to service.She was also a delegate to the founding convention of the National Association of Colored Women;a member of the Georgia Commission on interracial Cooperation;a member of the Chautauqua Circle of Atlanta;a member of Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority,Inc.,Gamma Chapter,and the Order of the Eastern Star.Following the death of her husband in 1931,she relocated to England where she worked in the Nursery School Association.She returned to the United States to live with her son and his wife in Arizona where she organized the first black women's chapter of the Gray Ladies Corps.Selena died of congestive heart failure and was buried besides her husband in Oakland Cemetery in Atlanta.