Profile- Educator Margaret B. Harris

Role played in borough:  Margaret was Collingdale's 1st school teacher, starting in 1890 before the town was incorporated.

Area specialized in: Margaret loved art. She drew many pencil sketches of plants and animals and created a love for art in her students.

History: Margaret came to Collingdale with her brother, Enon in the spring of 1886 to settle on a tract of land on Felton Avenue. While there she noticed that the children, including her brother's children, had no place to learn and were sadly lacking an education. She decided to help. At that time female teachers were just becoming less of novelty and more common. She went to school, learned all she could and came back ready to teach all the children of Collingdale in 1890. Although she never married, Margaret treasured and nurtured the children she taught for over 40 years. When she retired in 1937, the Bartram Avenue School was renamed in her honor.

Margaret Brisbane Harris as a young woman

Courtesy of Helen Dick Deyo Moyer