Ardella C. (Carr) Keith

Ardella C. Keith (nee Carr), age 94,  passed away on October 22, 2018.  Ardella Carr Keith was born in Brooklyn, NY, the second of 13 children of Alma Davis Carr and William A. Carr, a career serviceman in the United States Coast Guard.   Because of her father's occupation, the family lived in Brooklyn, NY, New London, Connecticut, and Savannah, Georgia, before settling in Baltimore, Maryland.  

Ardella attended the Baltimore public schools and graduated from the Frederick Douglass High School.  After high school she worked at Fort Holabird, Edgewood Arsenal, and as a mail clerk in Baltimore Post Office.  She continued working at the post office while attending Morgan State College as a full-time student.  Ardella received her B.A. in History from Morgan State College.

After graduating from Morgan, she began her teaching career at the Lockerman School in Denton, Maryland.  Later she was appointed as a teacher of English and History in the Baltimore Public School System and taught at Dunbar, Booker T. Washington, and Frederick Douglass School.  

While attending graduate school she met and married Charles L. Keith of Philadelphia,  They have one son, Charles L. Keith, Jr.

Ardella resigned from the Baltimore Public School System to take a position in the Philadelphia School District.  She was appointed to the Sulzberger Junior High School in February 1957, as a teacher of Social Studies, where she taught for 30 years.  

During her early tenure in the Philadelphia School System, she became an active member of the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers.  Ardella was a participant in the Task Force Hearing that gave the P.F.T. exclusive bargaining rights for Philadelphia Teachers.  She was a member of the Sulzberger Building Committee and served as aJunior High Representative on the P.F.T. executive board until 1969 when she resigned that position.

Ardella was also involved in the early Motivation Program in the school.  She was in charge of the Auditorium Large-Group Team Teaching Program in Social Studies and Guidance during the early seventies and was very fortunate to have a group of strong, able, cooperative, and supportive teachers on the team.  

Agreeing to the request of one principal to become a part of the school's Reading Program, Ardella worked in that department for several years with a very able, efficient, dedicated, and effective group of reading teachers.

Ardella received her Master's of Education Degree plus 30 credits from Temple University and is a member of the National Council of Social Studies.

Relatives and friends are invited to her funeral service 12:00 P.M., Saturday, November 3rd at the Logan Funeral Home, 57 S. Eagle Road, Havertown, PA  19083.  A Visitation  will be held 11:00 AM  - 12:00 PM  at the funeral home also.  Interment private.  In lieu of flowers, donations in her name may be made to the Morgan State University Scholarship Fund,1700 East Cold Spring Lane, Truth Hall, Room 201, Baltimore, Maryland 21251. https://www.morgan.edu/about.html