From The Wilmington News Journal
dated Monday 18 10mo 2006.

Mary Eva Bingamon Hackney      Mary Eva Bingamon Hackney, 93, of Wilmington, died Friday evening (Nov. 14, 2008) at Quaker Heights Assisted Living, Waynesville. She was preceded in death by her husband, Robert Bond Hackney. They were married Oct. 7, 1943.      Mrs. Hackney was born Nov. 1, 1915, on Charlton Mill Road in Greene County, daughter of the late Charles S. and Eva Snyder Coy Bingamon. She graduated in 1933 from Silvercreek Township School and attended Cedarville College. Her first teaching position was at the Old Town Run School in Greene County. She also taught at Mt. Pleasant School in Clinton County and Trotwood Elementary in Montgomery County. After their marriage, she and her husband moved to Chester Township, Clinton County, where she lived until 2005. After rearing a family, she returned to teaching at various schools, which included Kingman and Harveysburg in the Clinton-Massie school system. In 2006, she was recognized as one of the Outstanding Women of Clinton County because of her volunteer efforts at the Freedom School in Hillsboro. It was there she volunteered one day a week, tutoring children who were withdrawn from school by their parents in protest of segregation. She was a member of the Jamestown Friends Meeting, later moving her membership to Chester Friends Meeting, where she remained a life member. At Chester Friends Meeting, she served as Sunday School teacher and monthly meeting recording clerk. She also served on various committees and boards of the Wilmington Yearly Meeting. She was a donor- member of the Christian Childrens Fund for more than 40 years and a member of the Farmers Union. Additionally, she was a member of Chester Grange, where she served as lecturer for many years and was responsible for the booth displays at the Clinton County Fair. Her family and her church were her greatest joys. She attended the extracurricular activities of her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. She supported many Clinton-Massie Falcon and Wilmington Hurricane sporting events, dramas and musical programs.      She is survived by two sons, James (Lois) Hackney of Wilmington and David (Pat) Hackney of Wilmington; a daughter, Rebecca (Arthur) Godfrey of Wilmington; nine grandchildren, Rhonda (Ken) Owings of San Diego, Calif., Emma (William Morris) Godfrey of Cincinnati, Lydia (Mike) Donovan of Lebanon, Renee (Donald) Quallen of Wilmington, Suzanne Addison of Wilmington, Robert Hackney of Wilmington, Mark (Sarah) Hackney of Wilmington, Kent Hackney of Wilmington and James David Godfrey of Greensboro, N.C.; 10 great-grandchildren, Loren Quallen, Sarah Quallen, Emily Quallen, Matt Addison, Vanessa Addison, Zachary Owings, Danielle Owings, Abel Hackney, Nathan Hackney and Gideon Hackney; and a sister-in-law, Bonnie Bingamon of Xenia.      In addition to her husband and parents, she was preceded in death by four brothers and three sisters-in-law, Chad and Mary Coy, Ross and Blanche Coy, Mark and Venda Bingamon and Donald Bingamon.      Funeral services will be held 2 p.m. Wednesday at the Chester Friends Meeting, 3451 Gurneyville Road, Wilmington, Mike McCormick, Nancy McCormick and Jim Ellis officiating, with burial in New Burlington Cemetery. Visitation will be from 1 to 2 p.m. Wednesday at the church. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to Chester Friends Meeting, in care of Billie Baker, 378 Darbyshire Drive, Wilmington, 45177, or the Jamestown Friends Meeting, in care of Russell Cline, 5649 N. Jeffersonville Road, Jamestown, 45335. Arrangements are under the direction of REYNOLDS- SMITH FUNERAL HOME, 327 N. South St., Wilmington. For more information or to sign the funeral homes registry of condolences, www.smithandson funeralhomes.com.      MARY HACKNEY -- Burial was Wednesday in New Burlington Cemetery for Mary Eva Bingamon Hackney. Mike McCormick, Nancy McCormick and Jim Ellis officiated. Pallbearers were William Morris, James Godfrey, Mike Donovan, Robert Hackney, Mark Hackney, Kent Hackney and Donald Quallen. Arrangements were under the direction of REYNOLDS-SMITH FUNERAL HOME, Wilmington.

Mary Hackney      Mary Hackney was born in November 1915 on a family farm on Carlton Mill Road near Wilberforce, Ohio. She graduated from Silvercreek High School in Jamestown, Ohio and attended Cedarville College to become a teacher. Hackney's first teaching position was at the Old Town Run School in Greene County and she later went on to teach at Mt. Pleasant School in Clinton County as well as Trotwood Elementary. She was one of the first white Americans to be an administrator and teacher at an all-African American school. Hackney's life was dedicated to ensuring equal education was provided to all, no matter their race or ethnicity.      In 1954 the African American families of Hillsboro, Ohio's Lincoln School began protesting about the continued segregation occurring in violation of the Supreme Court's Brown v. Board of Education decision. Upon hearing of the protests, Hackney led a group of Quaker teachers in providing the protesting children with daily lessons when they were denied access to the all-white school. Despite intimidation and threats to her family, she continued to educate the protesting students until the district was finally desegregated. During integration, the district tested the African American students who had been taught by the Quaker teachers, and all the children except one passed the test and were able to resume their formal education. Hackney later investigated and discovered that all the children had passed the exam -- with scores ranging from 80-90% -- but the school board held back one student unfairly. After the desegregation of the schools, the parents of the students purchased Mary a ticket to see Martin Luther King, Jr. speak in Columbus, Ohio.      Because of her role in the Hillsboro school protest, Hackney was featured in the film The Lincoln School Story by Andrea Torrice. In 2007, she was recognized as one of the Outstanding Women of Clinton County for her leading role in Hillsboro. In 2017, a plaque was presented to Mary Hackney's family from the New Hope Baptist Church.

(She was one of the 2019 inductees
into the Ohio Civil Rights Hall Of Fame)