The Baltimore educator who helped low-income students go to college

When Ellen Louise Dolvey Howard’s sons were young, they watched their mother stay up late into the evening, flipping through books and studying for her master’s degree.

To her, education was everything. She’d grown up admiring aunts and uncles who’d built successful careers after college. When her children headed to school, she signed them up for tutoring sessions and almost every extracurricular she could find.

It was both her personal passion — hence the late-night study sessions — and her career.

She was the first Black educator at Hamilton Junior High School, where she taught English. She was later a Dunbar High School guidance counselor and wrote a book on financial aid for students and parents. Then, she became the director of two federally funded programs helping send low-income, first-generation students to college.

Dolvey Howard helped thousands of people learn and jumpstart their careers. Their education — and everything they’ve been able to do with it — is the legacy she leaves after devoting more than 50 years to the cause, loved ones said.

She died April 22 of natural causes. She was 97.

“She was a very proud and a very positive person whose life mission really was to help young people and to uplift those around her,” said her son, Larry Howard.

She was born April 8, 1929, to Lucious Dolvey and Ann Louise Tignore Dolvey. When she was 10, the family moved to the Morgan Park neighborhood in Baltimore, where she made lifelong friends during games of jacks and pick-up sticks and bike rides around the neighborhood. At Christmas time, she’d go caroling with friends and convince her father to light up the fireplace for roasted marshmallows.

After graduating from Frederick Douglass High School, Dolvey Howard enrolled at what was then Morgan State College. She joined Delta Sigma Theta, a historically Black sorority.

She ran in the same friend group as Harold Hawkins Howard Sr., with whom she bonded during beach trips and parties. He went off to the military, and when he returned, their friendship turned into something more.

The couple welcomed their first son, Harold Hawkins Howard Jr., when she was 23. Larry made the family complete about three years later.

Though Dolvey Howard ensured that her children had time to play, “she was always protective and made sure we stayed involved in activities that help us grow and enrich us,” Harold Howard Jr. said. On top of the tutoring sessions and other extracurriculars, the boys were regulars at the local YMCA, and they attended Enon Baptist Church every Sunday.

But she made sure, as they grew older, that they embraced their independence and learned to make their own decisions, her sons said. She “made it so we started life on first base in terms of opportunity, where a lot of kids weren’t even in the game,” Larry said.

“She just had the perfect touch — always knew when to intercede, when to push, when to let us stand on our own," he added.

She walked the walk, too. Beyond her master’s degree from Johns Hopkins University, her sons saw her leap at opportunities for continued learning. Throughout her life, she accrued more than 30 advanced credits from Johns Hopkins, Morgan State University and the University of Maryland.

But she was proudest of her work with others. After earning her bachelor’s degree, Dolvey Howard maintained her involvement with Delta Sigma Theta, which sponsors national education programs. She was appointed to lead two federal “TRIO” programs for students from disadvantaged backgrounds — first, the Educational Talent Search, and in 1979, the Maryland Educational Opportunity Center.

As executive director of the MEOC, Dolvey Howard led a staff that advised more than 3,000 students and helped at least 800 matriculate in postsecondary education programs each year, family said.

Lynn Drummond, the former associate director of MEOC, remembers meeting Dolvey Howard for the first time and thinking she was a “breath of fresh air.” She was elegant and poised, never heavy-handed with employees, and direct when needed. She told staff over and over again: “Hard work pays off.”

“She was always thinking about ways to reach more people, to get them interested in higher education,” Drummond said. “As a result of her efforts, we were able to reach those goals, and the program became nationally recognized as one of the best in the country.”

Among other accomplishments, Dolvey Howard was inducted into the Maryland Executive Council for Education’s Hall of Fame and was a past president of the National Educational Opportunity Center Association. She worked into her 90s.

Outside of the office, Drummond and Dolvey Howard enjoyed grabbing lunch or shopping. Dolvey Howard was always hip to the latest fashion trends, and her closet was fuller than most.

She also enjoyed spending time at the beach, staying involved in community organizations, writing and traveling with friends and family. Paris was among her favorite destinations.

“You never met her when she was feeling in a not-so-great mood,” Drummond said.

Drummond laughed, thinking of the time Dolvey Howard demonstrated the “camel walk” dance she learned in high school. But she grew serious recalling how Dolvey Howard comforted her after her mother died, telling her that while she couldn’t be her mom, she could be there for whatever her friend needed.

Dolvey Howard “was so good in terms of how people were treated,” Harold Howard Jr. said. “She had a good, keen sense of taking care of people and treating people with dignity.”

In addition to her sons, Dolvey Howard is survived by two daughters-in-law, Edith Howard and Janette Soto-Howard, six grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren. The kids called her “Ba” and “GiGi,” respectively.

A public viewing is scheduled from 3 to 6 p.m. Thursday at the March Life Tribute Center in Randallstown. A wake and funeral service will follow the next morning.

The Banner publishes news stories about people who have recently died in Maryland. If your loved one has passed and you would like to inquire about an obituary, please contact obituary@thebanner.com. If you are interested in placing a paid death notice, please contact groupsales@thebanner.com or visit this website.