Braulio Alonso (December 16, 1916 – June 5, 2010) was an American high school and junior high school teacher and principal. He served as the first Hispanic president of the

National Education Association The National Education Association (NEA) is the largest labor union in the United States. It represents public school teachers and other support personnel, faculty and staffers at colleges and universities, retired educators, and college st ...

.National Education Association
"NEA - Answering the Call: Part IV"
Retrieved 6/28/09.

Early life

Alonso as born in Ybor City,

Tampa, Florida Tampa ( ) is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. Tampa's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and t ...

on December 16, 1916. His parents were both cigar makers in Ybor City and members of the Centro Asturiano social club. His first language was Spanish. Braulio went to work at the age of 10 in order to help support his family."An Educator's Educator." The Tampa Tribune. November 7, 2000. He graduated from Hillsborough High School as

valedictorian Valedictorian is an academic title for the class rank, highest-performing student of a graduation, graduating class of an academic institution in the United States. The valedictorian is generally determined by an academic institution's grade poin ...

in 1935. He graduated from the University of Tampa, also as valedictorian, in 1939. Braulio married Adelfa (Bebe) Diaz, an elementary school educator, in August 1941. They had two children."Educator talks with passion." The Tampa Tribune. July 20, 1993.

Military service

Braulio entered the US Army in October 1941. He entered as a private and was immediately sent to Officer Candidate School. Dr. Alonso served with the 85th infantry Division in North Africa and the Italian Campaign as Battery Commander in the 328th Artillery Battalion. He was in the first group of allied officers to enter

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

. Major Alonso was discharged in November 1945. He received the Bronze Star and Purple Heart with Cluster.

Career in education

Alonso began his teaching career as a chemistry and physics teacher at Henry B. Plant High School before the war. After the war, Alonso returned to public education as director of Adult Education and On the Job Training for Veterans. He pioneered the present-day Adult High School. He served as Director of this office from 1946 to 1953. During the summers he attended the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preem ...

where he earned a Master's and Ph. D. At the time, he was providing also for the college education of his two sisters, as well as supporting his family. His next assignments were as principal of West Tampa Junior High School (1952–1958), Jefferson High School (1958–1962) and C. Leon King High School (1962–1968). All three schools grew in excellence under his tenure. One of Alonso's lifelong passions had been to improve the schools and champion the teachers. In pursuit of that mission, he served as president of the Hillsborough Education Association (1951–1956) and then as President of the Florida Education Association in 1957. He was especially proud of his role as one of the educators who contributed toward desegregating the FEA. Braulio was elected president of the

and took office in July 1967."Tampan Takes NEA Reigns". St. Petersburg Times. July 8, 1967. In 1968 masses of Florida teachers resigned in protest over budget cuts. Braulio ended his teaching career by resigning as principal of King High School in solidarity with the teachers. The county refused to rehire him after the protest. Braulio later became the NEA's director of international relations and traveled the world representing the NEA."School names honor 2 educators". Tampa Tribune. October 7, 2000. He retired his post at the NEA in 1983. In 2001, Braulio Alonso High School was opened in honor of Dr. Alonso.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Alonso, Braulio 1916 births 2010 deaths Schoolteachers from Florida United States Army officers United States Army personnel of World War II University of Florida alumni Presidents of the National Education Association