Collection Title: Nancy Tyler Demartra Collection
Series Number: MS23-08
Processed and Cataloged by: Sarah Owens
Date Listed: July 16, 2024
Date Span: 2023
Size of Collection: 1 file
Number of Boxes: 1
Type of Material: Paper ephemera.
Condition of Material: Good
Arrangement: Physical size and type of material.
Biographical / Historical Information: Nancy Tyler Demartra was born in Hickory, Graves County, Kentucky on June 26, 1939 to Ocala and Jewell Tyler. She was the fourth of five children. As a child, Nancy was raised in Shelton Chapel AME Church in Viola, Kentucky. She was active in church wherever she lived. After she attended both Burks Chapel AME and Washington Street Baptist while in Paducah, Kentucky. When she settled in Louisville, she became active in the youth ministry at Gethsemene Baptist Church and later became a charter member of Canaan (Missionary Baptist) Christian Church. At Canaan, she led, co-led and taught youth ministry on Sundays and Wednesdays, She also worked with the Rites of Passage Program to teach Black History to youth.
Nancy was homeschooled by her mother who was a homemaker and educator. She also attended several Black-only schools in Hickory, Kentucky: Rosenwald (one-room school), in Paducah, KY; Dunbar Elementary, Rosary Chapel, and Lincoln. She went on to attend Murray State University where she was the first African-American student to attend full-time and graduate with a four-year degree. In 1961, she earned a Bachelors in Elementary Education (K-6). During her time at MSU, she would wake up at 5am to complete her farm chores, then ride seven miles with her brother to Mayfield, KY where she worked at the local dry cleaner in the mornings (6:30-7:30 am) and her Masters in Elementary Education a few years later. She was a Rank 1 Certified Teacher.
Nancy taught in Paducah, KY for three years until she moved with close friends to teach in Louisville, KY. The city and county school systems merged in 1975 and she continued to teach there until retirement. Nancy taught at McFerran Elementary, Hazelwood Elementary, Stuart Middle, and Valley Middle.
She incorporated teaching life skills and the arts in her education including Girl Scouts, 4-H, cultural field trips to museums, ballet, orchestra and evena Michael Jackson concert once.
Nancy continued her education later in life, taking couriser at the University of Louisville in paralegal studies. She was a lifelong learner and would often spend countless hours reading, researching, and writing (poems and letters to friends, family, the editor, and politicians).
Nancy was a member of numerous educational, civic, and social organizations (she also served on several boards): Jefferson County Teachers Association, KY Education Association, National Education Association, NAACP, the Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASLAH), and The Kentucky Alliance Against Racist and Political Oppression. She was instrumental in bringing national activists like Jesse Jackson, Dick Gregory, and Martin Luther King, III to Louisville to speak for justice. She regularly attended meetings, rallies, protests, and marches for justice.
Family members both deceased and living are listed in the collection's "Celebration of Life" program.
Scope and Content: The collection currently consists of one celebration of life program from Demartra's service held on Friday, May 19, 2023.
Subject Headings / Descriptors:
African American history
Education
Kentucky
