Retired Brooklyn teacher Eleanor Williams has significantly impacted the lives of future educators by establishing a $50,000 scholarship fund at South Carolina State University in memory of her late mother, Cora Shivers. This generous contribution will empower students pursuing degrees in elementary education and honor the value of education that Shivers instilled in her family.
Cora Shivers, a native of nearby Elloree, South Carolina, moved to New York after completing high school. She became a beautician and raised two children, always emphasizing the importance of education. Her own parents, Mannie and Rebecca Darby Shivers, were proud graduates of the Elloree Training School, ensuring the value of education was passed down through generations.
Williams, a graduate of Brooklyn City College, fondly remembers her mother, who passed away in 2005, as a quiet and loving person. Reflecting on her mother’s influence, Williams credits her drive to pursue education to Shivers’ unwavering belief in its transformative power. “She believed in education, so I went to college, and I became an elementary school teacher here in New York City,” Williams shared with Bulldog News.
In a heartwarming twist of fate, Williams discovered that her mother still had relatives living in Elloree. Additionally, two of her family members attended SC State: her niece, Lorraine Shivers-Glover, who graduated with a business degree in 1990, and Lorraine’s son, Deandre Glover, who earned a civil engineering technology degree in 2015.
The Cora Shivers Scholarship Fund will specifically assist sophomores and juniors majoring in elementary education at SC State.
Through establishing this scholarship fund, Williams pays homage to her mother and uplifts the next generation of educators.
This story sources information from South Carolina State University.