Palestine S. Hill; D.C. Teacher for 40 Years

Palestine Smith Hill, 87, a teacher of Latin and Romance languages in Washington's public schools for 40 years, died Dec. 8 at Brighton Gardens Assisted Living in Columbia. She had Alzheimer's disease.

Mrs. Hill was among the first black teachers in the District to be offered jobs in previously all-white public schools in 1954, according to a press account at the time.

She had taught at four junior high schools (Jefferson, Langley, Garnet-Patterson and Shaw) before settling at Roosevelt High School, from which she retired in 1978.

She was a faculty monitor for the "It's Academic" quiz team and was also known for working with students from difficult home and living conditions.

That inner strength served her well when one of her sons, Darryl, integrated Atlantic Coast Conference football as a running back and receiver at the University of Maryland.

She had attended all his games, but in 1963, he warned her not to travel alone to Clemson University in South Carolina. But her husband, owner of a commercial delivery service, could not attend, so Mrs. Hill took the train south and found herself, ticket in hand, being refused entry to the stadium.

Her son argued on her behalf, but the ticket taker would not relent, and the state troopers nearby would not intervene.

Just then a well-dressed white man arrived, introduced himself as the president of Clemson University, Robert C. Edwards, and invited Mrs. Hill to watch the game with him and his family in the president's box.

Her son caught 10 passes that day, setting a Maryland record.

In a way, she was responsible for Darryl being at the game. While he was attending Xavier College in Cincinnati, Mrs. Hill worked on a longtime dream of her own: an appointment for him to the U.S. Naval Academy.

Her son transferred to Annapolis and became the first black to play for the midshipmen, but he did not see himself in a naval career, so he left after a year for U-Md.

A native Washingtonian, Mrs. Hill was the valedictorian of Dunbar High School, a graduate of Howard University and the recipient in the late 1940s of a master's degree from Catholic University. She had completed all but a dissertation for a doctorate at the school as well.

In addition to teaching, Mrs. Hill served as comptroller for her husband's business, Hill's Transfer Co., one of the largest African American-owned businesses in the area at the time.

Her husband, Kermit Eugene Hill, died in 1992.

Besides her son Darryl, of Scaggsville, Md., survivors include another son, Lorn Hill of Washington; nine grandchildren; and six great-grandchildren.

-- Patricia Sullivan