National Association of Teachers in Colored Schools

Sonya Douglass Horsford

The National Association of Teachers in Colored Schools (NATCS) was organized in 1904 as a professional education organization designed to represent the causes and issues of African American teachers and students. The purpose of the organization, as expressed in its constitution, was “to harmonize and unite the agencies now at work for the elevation of the African American people; to arouse a deeper educational interest among them; to encourage good citizenship; and to ascertain and publish statistics showing educational status.” In 1937, NATCS was renamed the American Teachers Association (ATA), recognized as the largest African American educational organization in the United States; it existed for 62 years until it merged with the National Education Association (NEA) in 1966. This entry looks at the history of the organization. The association was founded by African American educator and civic leader John Robert Edward Lee, who was born enslaved in Seguin, Texas. He ...

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