BETTY ROBINSON PASSED AWAY ON SEPT. 3, 2025. SHE WAS 96.
When it came to Dr. Betty Robinson, there was no doubt—children came first.
If you were having a conversation with her, and a child was around, Dr. Robinson would stop the conversation with you, and turn all her attention to the child.
Children were so important to Dr. Robinson, that she and her late husband, the Rev. Jimmy Joe Robinson, founded the Manchester Academic Charter School in 1998. But Dr. Robinson had stamped her legacy with children long before that.
Dr. Robinson’s life and legacy are being remembered throughout Manchester, the North Side and many other parts of Pittsburgh, following her passing on Sept. 3. Dr. Robinson was 96. Dr. Robinson’s funeral service was held, Sept. 13, at Bidwell Presbyterian Church.
Born on Aug. 16, 1929, in Indianapolis, Dr. Robinson, born Betty Hord, moved to Pittsburgh to reunite with her father who moved to the city to work as a linotype operator for the Pittsburgh Courier. Dr. Robinson’s lifelong dream was to become a teacher, and after graduating from Schenley High School, she enrolled at the University of Pittsburgh. She earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Education in 1951. She also met Rev. James J. Robinson, better known as Jimmy Joe, at Pitt. Reverend Robinson made history as the first Black varsity football player at Pitt, breaking that barrier in the mid-1940s. In 1952, Rev. Robinson and Dr. Robinson welcomed their only child, James J. Robinson Jr.
THE LATE REV. JIMMY JOE ROBINSON AND DR. BETTY ROBINSON. REV. ROBINSON DIED ON JULY 14. DR. ROBINSON DIED ON SEPT. 3.
In 1955, Dr. Robinson made history as the first Black teacher at Beltzhoover Elementary School, where, according to her obituary, “she was told her success would determine whether other Black teachers would be hired. Her excellence and leadership opened the door for many who followed.”
Over the next decade and a half, Dr. Robinson would work at, among others, Manchester Elementary School and Frick School. In the late ’60s and beyond, Rev. Robinson, who was pastor of Bidwell Presbyterian Church, and Dr. Robinson, transformed a plumbing warehouse in Manchester into a community gym, which became a safe haven for neighborhood youth.
It didn’t stop there. Dr. Robinson learned from residents in the community that students’ test scores in school were low, and she decided to create her own early learning program, “Training Wheels,” in 1976. It was a private nursery school and kindergarten.
As the years went on, the Manchester Youth Development Center was formed, housed in that initial plumbing warehouse, and finally, in 1998, the Manchester Academic Charter School (MACS) was founded, at 1214 Liverpool St.
The school began with 160 students. Today, it is a K-8 school that boasts 450 students, and 1,000 students on the waiting list. That growth over the years can be credited to the family atmosphere that Dr. Robinson created with her staff, and the high standards she set, voiced the current school CEO, Vasilios Scoumis. Scoumis was joined at the school by MACS staffers Lynne Baldwin, Adolphus Banks and Phylissa Thomas on Tuesday, Sept. 16, as they reminisced to the New Pittsburgh Courier about everything that Dr. Robinson meant to them.
“You learned early on (with Dr. Robinson), kids come first,” Scoumis told the Courier. “Kids, they were going to learn math, reading, writing. She was going to teach them and she was going to love them.”
Dr. Robinson is known as “Gram” to pretty much everyone inside and outside the school. As soon as one walks into the school, there’s a large photo of “Gram” and “Rev.”, Dr. Robinson and Rev. Robinson, for all to see. Each of the 450 children in the school are able to see the duo who poured their heart and soul into the school they take classes in today.
Thomas is the MACS Director of Curriculum, and she sits in the office that formerly belonged to Dr. Robinson. That alone, is an honor, she told the Courier. Thomas formerly was director of the pre-school program at MACS, and Dr. Robinson once was its director, too.
“She came into my classroom many times and gave me great feedback,” Thomas told the Courier of Dr. Robinson. “Her way of being, she was just always around the kids.”
Thomas recalled a time when Dr. Robinson was focused on proper health. “There was a time where she cut out all the carbs, introduced me to a low-carb diet, aerobics tapes..,” Thomas said. “She made sure that whatever she learned, she passed on to everyone who was around her, and she gave it to you in such a way that was like, ‘that’s the way it needs to be.'”
Being stern is what you have to be to make change. To keep children, and adults, on the right track. Banks, the MACS Facilities Manager, described Dr. Robinson (who was also Banks’ great aunt) to the Courier as “very professional, honest, caring…”
“And didn’t take no stuff,” interjected Baldwin, about Dr. Robinson.
Baldwin, who serves as a Reading Support at the school, reiterated that for Dr. Robinson, “children come first. Listen to them. They have something to say.”
An obituary sent to the Courier read that Dr. Robinson is survived by her devoted son, James J. Robinson Jr. (Deborah); her beloved grandchildren, Jamie (Sion) Akrie, Erin (Brandon Sr.) Chaney, and Kimberly (Quincy) Griffin; and her cherished great-grandchildren: Tatiana, Noah, Brandon Jr., Braydon, Amaya, Quincy and Brycen.
She was prceded in death by her loving parents, Earl and Rema Hord; her husband, Rev. James J. Robinson Sr.; and her siblings, Edgar Hord, Estella Hill, and Vonda DuPree.
She is also lovingly remembered by her brother and sister, Earl Hord (Lois) and Marva (Eugene) Harris.
“In addition to her family, she leaves behind countless students, colleagues, and community members whose lives she touched with grace, wisdom and unwavering commitment,” Dr. Robinson’s obituary read. “Her legacy endures in every classroom she built, every child she empowered, and every door she opened, both literally and figuratively.”