BORN: Friday, July 18, 1924 in Selma, AL

HOME-GOING: Sunday, August 20, 2006 in Newport, RI

The member who placed this information here had this to say about Pauline Hudson

A former student Michael Browner Jr. said it best of Mrs Barge, "She was the epitome of an educated black woman. ...She had the aura of importance. And she expected great things from us."

Pauline Hudson's Early Life

PAULINE HUDSON BARGE experienced adversity at an all-too-early age. Her father died before she was born, on July 18, 1924, and her mother died when she was a toddler. An orphan by the age of 2, she had to be raised by older siblings. None of them were well educated. Life would not get easier for her in her youth.

Barge grew up in Selma, Ala., where Jim Crow laws dictated where blacks had to sit in restaurants and on buses, and where there were separate schools, restrooms and drinking fountains for blacks and whites. Somehow, Barge kept hope through it all. She graduated from high school and married Warren Barge, who would go on to have a 25-year career in the Navy and fight in three wars. He was away from home much of the time, leaving her to raise their children.

Nevertheless, with a fourth child on the way, Barge enrolled at Alabama State University. She would take her three children on the daily 50-mile trip to Montgomery to attend classes while pursuing a bachelors degree in elementary education.

Things that Influenced Pauline Hudson's Life

Education was the key to success. In her mind, there was no way you were going to make something of yourself without an education.

Pauline Hudson's Legacy

Mrs. Barge was a graduate of Alabama State University and received a Master of Education from Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana. She spent forty years teaching elementary school in Selma and Newport. Mrs. Barge was a member of the Teachers Association of Newport, National Education Association of Rhode Island and a lifetime member of the National Education Association. She was a member of the NAACP and was honored as a Teacher of the Year by that organization. Mrs. Barge was a life long advocate for civil rights and a significant participant in the drive for Voters Rights with Dr. King in Selma, Alabama.

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