The Philadelphia Inquirer from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania • Page 564

CLAYTON Pottstown lack Diamond Shoes Coventry Mall i InPhiladelphia Selinsgrove Irving Shoes Susquelianna Mall Springfield Florsheim Shoe Shop Springfield Mall Whitehall Florsheim Shoe Shop Lehigh alley Mall Willow Grove Florsheim Shoe Shop Willow Grove Park York Irving Shoes West Manchester Mall continued (ram Page 1 8 seamstress. Willabell, who helped out at the stores, attended Kensington High School, where she was the only black student in her class. Her father died the year she graduated. When Clayton was 2, her parents divorced, and she and her mother moved into her grandmother's house on Marvine Street Willabell managed clothing stores to help support a household that also included Wil-labell's sister, Beatrice, and her sister's two young sons. Connie rarely saw her father, who lived in Chicago and Virginia.

Clayton was an exceptionally bright, obedient child who "never got a licking in her life," says her mother. At Christmastime, instead of pleading for dolls or toys, Clayton wanted books. "It was as though she was on a straight line just headed from the classroom to where she is now," said Alice Spotwood, who was Connie's fourth-grade teacher at the Paul Lawrence Dunbar School and one of her early mentors. "I'm not gilding the lily. She was a wonderful little Every teacher should have one Constance Clayton in their classroom." By the time Clayton was in sixth grade, she was already beginning to be singled out.

When Eleanor Roosevelt came to Philadelphia to receive a national award from Youth City, a black youth organization that Sam Evans had founded across the street from the Dunbar School, Clayton was chosen to give the first lady a bouquet of flowers and welcome her to the city. The women in the Marvine Street household worked hard to "I think, as a kid, I had everything I needed and most of the things I wanted. I really was very fortunate in that regard," Clayton recalled. "People might interpret that as being materialistic, but I had a lot of love, and we did a lot of things together." At the Philadelphia High School for Girls, Clayton played the cello and gained a reputation for being a hard-working, serious student "Connie was generally the kind of person who was on task. I think she came there with a mission," recalled Martha Crump Young, a classmate who went on to become the principal of the Prince Hall School in West Oak Lane.

"And therefore, it helped being in classes with her because she would tend to keep others on task. If you started doing silly kinds of giggly things in study hall, she would say, 'Oh, by the way, did you finish this When Clayton entered Girls' High, she was planning to become a doctor, but by the time she graduated in June 1951, she'd decided to become a teacher. Through her work as a Sunday school teacher and camp counselor, she discovered she loved working with childrea There were other reasons as welL "I had plenty of friends who were interested in teaching," Clayton notes. "And then also at that time which was more than 30 years ago there weren't a lot of avenues open for women and minorities. And generally, success could come if you went into that particular endeavor.

I think there were multiple factors in the decision. I have no regrets whatsoever." Clayton enrolled at Temple University, where she earned an undergraduate degree in early-childhood and elementary education and a master's degree in elementary school administration. After returning to Dunbar as a student teacher, she began her career in 1955 with a fourth-grade class at the William H. Harrison School, 11th and Thompson continued on next page DELAWARE Ihiladelphia loves fall and Philadelphia loves The Gallery! From changing leaves to colorful new merchandise From cool autumn nights to "hot" shopping days in over 220 sizzling shops and restaurants From sculling on the river to striding into 4 levels of your favorite marketplace The Gallery really is the best of fall in Philadelphia! Hours: Tues. 10-7; Wed.

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There were piano lessons and regular visits to museums and concerts. Every summer, Clayton went to camp and to the seashore. She and her mother also were very active at nearby St Paul's Baptist Church, where they continue to worship. NEW JERSEY Cherry Hill Florsheim Shoe Shop Cherry Hill Shopping Center Florsheim Thayer McNeil 252 Cherry Hill Mall Deptford Florsheim Shoe Shop Deptford Mall Lawrenceville Art Broder Florsheim Quaker Bridge Mall Mays Landing Aliens Shoes Florsheim Hamilton Mall Moorestown Carls 27 Main Street Florsheim Shoe Shop Moorestown Mall SC Pleasantville Aliens Shoes Florsheim Shore Mall Voorhees Florsheim Shoe Shop Echelon Mall 3 ljjjj i.