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A Tribute

© Sharon Krasner

In my last article, I wrote about the traits of an urban teacher. In this article, I'd like to pay tribute to an urban teacher who dedicated her life to her students, many of whom overcame their world to make a change in the world around them.

Frances Hamburger was a dedicated urban teacher. Head of the Performing Arts Department of Cass Technical High School in Detroit, MI, Mrs. Hamburger retired in 1998 after 36 years of teaching. She died last month at the age of 74. What made Mrs. Hamburger a memorable urban teacher is the dedication she showed to her students. No matter what their condition, ability, or level, she made sure that each student knew how special they were to her.

What was different? I think that the difference came in the reason why her students were at Cass Tech, and it's something that all urban schools should think about. Cass Technical High School is, and always has been, a premier school in the Detroit Public School system. Its approach to education is similar to a university, where students study a concentration curriculum that is right for them. And Frances Hamburger fit the role of teacher at that school perfectly, because she was a consummate performer.

Let me describe Cass Tech for you. The physical building was in what is known as the Cass Corridor. Think the Bowery in New York City, or pretty much any red light district in any city, and you'll get the picture. When I attended Cass in the 1970's, it was pretty typical of the Detroit Public Schools with one major exception: students went to Cass because they wanted to. You had to pass a state-wide test to attend Cass, and you couldn't have below a 3.5 GPA. Students came from all over the city to attend Cass, and they followed a variety of curriculums. Performing Arts, Chem-Bio, Arts and Sciences, Refrigeration, Visual Arts, you name it, Cass had it. Cass also had Mrs. Hamburger, who was the head of the Performing Arts department.

Cass Tech's Performing Arts department listed among its graduates names such as Lily Tomlin, David Alan Grier, Ella Joyce, Ellen Burstyn, and the musical group The Miracles, just to name a few. Other graduates included Diana Ross, about whom Mrs. Hamburger loved to tell the story of how, as a fashion design student singing in class one day, Ms. Ross had been told by a teacher that she should stick to fashion design, because she couldn't sing! Frances Hamburger saw them come and go, but in my mind, she was the best of the best.