PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE - SATURDAY, JANUARY 20, 2001
LOCAL NEWS: OBITUARIES
HERMAN J. MCCLAIN
Genteel teacher known for promoting diction
By Ervin Dyer
Post-Gazette Staff Writer
Herman J. McClain gave his all. And, then, he gave some more.
For more than three decades, he worked as an educator. As an English and
speech teacher; he drilled his students in the fine art of diction.
Well-read and cultured, he was content to let his students have center stage in
the classroom.
Mr. McClain was also a volunteer for more than a half-century, giving his time
and expertise to scores of social and political groups.
And he defied racial constraints and rose to become a high-ranking lay leader in
a mostly white Presbyterian church in Mt. Lebanon.
Mr. McClain, who lived in East Liberty, died of sepsis on Jan. 11 at the VA
Medical Center in Oakland. He was 87.
A Native of St. Louis, Mr. McClain grew up in the Hill District and graduated
from Schenley High School in 1932. He graduated from the university of
Pittsburgh, where he earned a bachelor's and master's degree in education, and
was a member of Kappa Phi Kappa fraternity.
He began his career at Homewood's Westinghouse High School teaching English and
becoming one of the first full-time speech instructors in the city.
He later worked as an assistant professor at Penn State University, taught at
Schenley and Langley high schools, and retired, in 1977, as a counselor at
Westinghouse High.
Genial and eager to see his students succeed, Mr. McClain used to say that
English shouldn't be a foreign language to black students and he drilled his
pupils in the rudiments of language.
A stickler for diction, Mr. McClain made his students conscious of the need to
be careful in their speaking and writing.
"He was an outstanding teacher and person," said Dr. Helen Faison, former
interim superintendent for the Pittsburgh Public Schools who worked with Mr.
McClain at Westinghouse High.
"His students never forgot him," she added. "Whenever they held class reunions,
he was always there."
Mr. McClain was an optimist who quietly pushed back barriers. In the early '50s,
when the Presbyterian church pushed for racial diversity, Mr. McClain left his
home church, Grace Memorial in the Hill District, and joined Southminster
Presbyterian Church in Mt. Lebanon. He rose to become clerk of session, one of
the highest ranking lay positions in the Presbyterian faith.
Madelyn Hairston Giddens of Lemington was a longtime friend. She met Mr. McClain
when both were students at the University of Pittsburgh in the 1930s.
Last year, she traveled with him and 20 other Pittsburghers, on an excursion to
South Africa. Mr. McClain, with his digital camera and personable manner, won
the group over with his natty dress and genteel manners.
Especially endearing was the care he showed a newly widowed traveler:
"Herman catered to the lady," said Giddens, "making sure she wasn't lonely and
was included in everything."
As a young man interested in art and culture, Mr. McClain was a charter member
of a theater troupe known as the Curtaineers.
The group won raves for its polished productions, using the dramatic arts to
lift spirits in Depression-era Pittsburgh.
They were so successful, said Frank Holden, a former reporter with the
Pittsburgh Courier, that while segregation relegated other black theater
companies to the Hill District YMCA, the Curtaineers were able to perform in the
Irene Kaufmann Settlement House.
"He brought Pittsburgh such a taste of culture," said Bolden, that the company
helped to open the
door for the National Negro Opera Company.
An outgoing person, who loved traveling and literature, Mr. McClain had no
family responsibilities and involved himself in his community.
During his life and career, he volunteered in more than 30 community
organizations, including the Pittsburgh AIDS Task Force, the NAACP, Light of
Life Mission and the Pittsburgh Council for International Visitors.
Sally Newman, director of Generations Together, a program dedicated to bringing
senior citizens in positive contact with young people, met Mr. McClain 15 years
ago when he served on her board.
His gentleness and sensitivity impressed her "He was very involved in fostering
a harmonious environment," she said.
"He never spoke above a whisper; but whatever he said was always meaningful."
Mr. McClain was the recipient of The 100 Outstanding teacher's award; the Martin
Luther King Citizen's Award; Outstanding Volunteer award from the Pennsylvania
Association of School Retirees; and the Lambda Foundation Board Of Directors
Award in 1998.
Memorial services will be held at 11 a.m. on Feb. 17 at Southminster
Presbyterian Church, 799 Washington Road, Mt. Lebanon. Interment will be at
Southminster Columbarium.
Donations can be made to the Herman J. McClain Memorial Fund, c/o Law Office of
Kathleen D.
Schneider, Regent Square Professional Building, 1227 S. Braddock Ave.,
Pittsburgh 15218.
