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BIOGRAPHY:  Gloria Fuller-Kimbrough

Dr. Gloria Fuller-Kimbrough was an educator, community leader, social reformer and a women & children's rights advocate.  She was born in Troy, New York to Sadie Louise Jolly-Fuller (a school teacher) and William Wesson Fuller (a truck driver and musician- He was a band member of The “Ink Spots”).  Dr. Fuller-Kimbrough was the eldest sibling of two brothers and one sister.

After graduating from Lansingburgh High School, she moved to Syracuse, New York.  She began her professional career in the Syracuse City School District as an elementary school teacher and continued as an administrator, curriculum coordinator, and an Affirmative Action Officer for the Niagara Falls Board of Education. She received her BA in Education from the State University of New York at Oneonta, her MA in Counseling from Syracuse University, her CAS in Educational Administration from SUNY Oneonta, and her Doctorate in Educational Organization and Administrative Policy from the University of Buffalo.  In 1983 she founded Southside Preparatory Association, Inc., in Syracuse, NY (which was a tutorial school program aimed at inner city children in grades K-7).  The program is still being run today.  

Dr. Fuller-Kimbrough’s role as Curriculum Coordinator with the Niagara Falls Board of Education lead the school system into administering the “Merit Award System” which was a program that recognized the abilities and talents of elementary school students in the Niagara Falls School System.  This program helped alleviate self- esteem issues which were very much a concern.  The program is still being used today.

Dr. Fuller-Kimbrough was the co-founder of The Niagara Movement Coordinating Committee.  She served as President of the Niagara Community Center/ Girl's & Boys Club, and she also served on the Board of International Magnet Schools.  

In addition, Dr. Fuller-Kimbrough and her husband Calvin Kimbrough were responsible for placing a “Commemoration Rock” at Michigan Avenue Baptist Church in Buffalo, NY.    This location was a historical site by which slaves traveled through to get to safe houses.  Numerous slaves passed through Buffalo, NY to get further North into Canada.  Many slaves were freed 100 years prior in Canada.  This location was also part of the Underground Railroad.  

Dr. Fuller-Kimbrough and her husband Calvin Kimbrough also worked on a project called “Footsteps to Freedom”, together they commissioned a famous swimmer called ”Charlie, the Tuna “ to swim across the boarder into Canada to show the difficulty and to honor the slaves who drown in their attempts to cross into Canada to freedom. They honored those who were lost by throwing into the water roses.

Dr. Fuller-Kimbrough was the Founder and President of The Niagara Alliance of Black School Educators and was also the founder of The New York State Alliance of Black School Educators.  She also served on the Board of the Buffalo & Erie County Historical Society.