User:Isabelstreetmnsu/Florence Cobb
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Florence Cobb
[edit]Cobb's Childhood
[edit]Cobb’s mother possessed the creative spirit as well. Her mother also had a passion for dance and would take ballet classes, during a racially segregated time, which inspired her daughter to take an interest in dance as well. Carol Jones. (2015, April 15). Her mother’s creative spark and perseverance of pursuing a creative passion during a disapproving time, passed through to her daughter, who passed the passion to many.[1] Both Cobb’s Grandmother and great grandmother were born into slavery (Ted Paul and Florence Cobb, n.d.).[2] Her grandmother helped to raise Florence during her childhood. Cobb’s childhood included attending a segregated elementary school in Okmulgee Oklahoma (Roper, 2016). On Florence’s three mile long walk to her segregated school, white children harassed and assaulted her as she passed by the all white school (Ted Paul and Florence Cobb, n.d.).[2]
Worklife
[edit]Florence Cobb founded the Minnesota State University, Mankato dance program minor in 1976. Additionally, a dance studio previously named the Highland Center North dance studio has been renamed the Florence Cobb dance studio in her honor (Bhar, 2023a).[3] Ruth Schellburg, a woman's P.E. professor and Florence Cobb worked together at MNSU and were known to be friends. Both women now have spaces in the performance arts discipline named after them (Bhar, 2023b). [4]
Florence Cobb began teaching at MNSU in 1968 alongside her husband Robert Cobb. He was offered a teaching position from MNSU, and only accepted the offer under the condition that his wife, Florence Cobb would be hired to be a physical education teacher as well. Florence was unaware of the hiring negotiation. She predicts that her husband negotiated her a job because they needed more than one salary to maintain their lifestyles at the time (Jones, 2015). [5]
Through her teaching, Florence was able to give back to the community. She provided and taught dance workshops to various students in the Mankato area including at MNSU and high school students (Ted Paula and Florence Cobb, n.d.).[2] Additionally, Florence was a strong advocate for safe dance practice and training. She advocated for a safer floor in the dance studio on campus at MNSU. [1]
Education
[edit]Florence Cobb was a Black woman dancer and educator. Florence earned multiple college degrees. She earned her bachelor’s degree in health and physical education from Lincoln University in Missouri before being hired there as an assistant instructor. She later earned a master’s degree in health and physical education from Tennessee State. Cobb also spent some time studying at the Madison Wisconsin dance program (Jones, 2015).[1] She also gained teaching experience in Florida where she taught physical education (Ted Paul and Florence Cobb, n.d).[2]
Self Expression Through Creativity
[edit]Florence Cobb’s daughter remembers her mother being focused on dance as “artistic expression” for her students. Cobb focused on dance as a legitimate academic subject beyond creativity. Roper, E. (2016, Jul 17). For Cobb, dance was not just physical exercise, it was a way to connect the mind and the body in a way that could be performed and experienced by many people. Florence Cobb enrolled in college when she was sixteen years old and eventually earned her first degree in 1941 (Ted Paul and Florence Cobb, n.d.).[2] In Search of Our Mothers Gardens by Alice Walker, uses the portrayal and action of creativity to show a deep relation to one’s sense of self. Black women have utilized the ability to be creative as a way to show self-expression (Walker, 1983). This creativity has been handed down from previous generations, woman to woman. Using creativity in this way is an act of resistance against systemic racism. Alice Walker (1983) tells us that her mother turned a difficult life into a beautiful work of art, adorned by her children, and with that beauty, a sense of comfort infiltrated her mother. Florence’s ability to use her own body and the body of her students as the medium for creativity adds another layer of resistance to the physical creative works discussed in In Search of Our Mothers Gardens. It expands the number of spirits touched (Walker, 1983).[6]
Intersection of Race and Gender in a Career
[edit]According to Collins (2021), Black women intellectuals are at the forefront of Black women’s obstacles and are prone to recognizing those struggles. [7]Florence Cobb was one of very few Black faculty at MNSU the year she began teaching. Jones (2015) reported that Florence used dance and her improvement of the discipline helped keep her from the forefront of the struggles she faced being a Black faculty member.
- ^ a b c "All the Right Moves — TODAY Magazine". today.mnsu.edu. Retrieved 2024-11-20.
- ^ a b c d e "Ted Paul and Florence Cobb". hss.mnsu.edu. Retrieved 2024-11-20.
- ^ "Blank page". 2006 67th ARFTG Conference. IEEE: 10a – 10a. 2006-06. doi:10.1109/arftg.2006.4734337.
{{cite journal}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Bordoloi, Mayuri (2023-06-13), "Studio dance teachers' journeys", Reflections of Dance along the Brahmaputra, London: Routledge India, pp. 220–245, ISBN 978-1-003-39877-6, retrieved 2024-11-20
- ^ Jones, Rodney H. (2024-04-09), "All the Right Moves", Discourse Analysis, London: Routledge, pp. 52–58, ISBN 978-1-003-37740-5, retrieved 2024-11-20
- ^ King, Debra Walker (2001-02-15), "In Search of Our Mothers' Gardens", African American Studies Center, Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0-19-530173-1, retrieved 2024-11-20
- ^ Hill Collins, Patricia (2013-10-01). "Black Feminist Thought". doi:10.4324/9781315831824.
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