Although small in stature, Dr. Alonzo A. Crim was a giant among men courageous enough to point out, identify and combat problems that prevented public school students from receiving an excellent education.

Despite growing up in Depression Era Chicago, Dr. Crim’s parents, teachers and neighbors instilled in him a strong work ethic and the value of education. In as early as eight years old, Crim delivered newspapers and at twelve he worked as a stock boy in a Chicago warehouse.

Years later would find him teaching at the racially mixed Jacob Riis Elementary School. While there he learned progressive methods to reach more students. It inspired him to further his education, which he did at the University of Chicago where he earned his master’s. In 1961, while Atlanta was going through desegregation, Dr. Crim passed the Chicago principals exam.

America was moving further into the Civil Rights Era, racial tensions rising. The 1960s presented challenges to education the likes of which hadn’t been witnessed before.

Dr. Crim took the job as principal at Whittier Elementary. Despite the racial climate in Chicago in the ‘60s, Crim and his progressive methods proved successful.

From there, he accepted the position as principal at a high school. He earned his Ph.D. in Education from Harvard in 1969 and became the school district superintendent in Compton, California. In 1973 he returned to the South and became the first African-American Public Schools Superintendent, not only in Atlanta but in the entire South.

Dr. Crim’s legacy is defined by the success of his critical pedagogical method of inspiring communities to take more active roles in decisions affecting educating youth.

Dr. Crim’s methods involve inspiring community stakeholders to be part of the decisions concerning improving educational outcomes for their children. If a community can come together to support educational systems for that community’s children, Dr. Crim believed that would also motivate the children.

In earning the trust of the community, the leaders, students and teachers would keep his promise of working with, listening to and keeping them informed. He rolled out a five-year plan in October of 1980 to get APS students who were achieving at or above national standards to believe him as he said he would improve scores by 20% each year. By 1985, APS students performed at or above the national standards.

In 1988, after 15 years of fighting for equality and quality in education, Dr. Crim retired from his position as superintendent for APS. Dr. Crim was the longest tenured African-American superintendent in the nation. He later served as a professor of education at Georgia State University and established the chair of the Benjamin E. Mays Professor of Urban Leadership.

Although the world suffered a great loss on May 6, 2000, when he passed away, his legacy lives on in the Alonzo A. Crim Center for Urban Educational Excellence at Georgia State University. In line with Dr. Crim’s vision, the mission of the Crim center is to optimize the life opportunities of children and families in urban communities by ensuring the availability of a prosperous and equitable school environment.