Education Pioneer Elizabeth Duncan Koontz Was A Member Of Zeta Phi Beta

Did you know that Elizabeth Duncan Koontz was a proud member of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc.? An honorary member since 1965, Koontz left an indelible mark on American education, civil rights, and the women’s movement.

Born on June 3, 1919, in Salisbury, North Carolina, Elizabeth Duncan Koontz was the youngest of seven children raised in a household grounded in the value of education. Her father, Samuel E. Duncan, was a high school principal and later president of Livingstone College, and her mother, Lena Bell Duncan, was an elementary teacher who also taught adults to read. This legacy of education profoundly shaped Koontz’s path.

After graduating as salutatorian from Price High School in 1935, Koontz earned a BA in English and elementary education from Livingstone College in 1938 and a master’s degree from Atlanta University in 1941. She pursued further studies at Columbia University, Indiana University, and North Carolina College.

Koontz began her career teaching special-needs children in North Carolina and quickly rose to national prominence. She was a lifelong member of the National Education Association (NEA), becoming its first African-American president in 1968. During her presidency, she led the NEA into a new era by establishing its Human and Civil Rights Division to address educational equity for minority students.

Her leadership extended to the federal level in 1969 when President Richard Nixon appointed her as the first African-American director of the U.S. Department of Labor Women’s Bureau. In this role, Koontz tackled systemic discrimination against women and minorities, promoted the Equal Rights Amendment, and represented the United States on the global stage, including at the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women in 1975.

Koontz’s accolades were many: she received honorary doctorates from institutions including Howard University, Livingstone College, Coppin State College, and Indiana University. An elementary school in Salisbury, NC, bears her name in honor of her legacy.

She continued to serve her community as assistant state school superintendent in North Carolina until her retirement in 1982 and sat on numerous educational boards and commissions.

Elizabeth Duncan Koontz passed away from a heart attack on January 6, 1989. Her pioneering spirit and commitment to justice, education, and equality live on through the countless lives she touched—and through the sisterhood of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc., which proudly claims her among its own.

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