Alumni Profile
Jessie M. Spears and Gloria Y. Spears Wright
MS'65 and MS'65
Retired teachers, Chicago and Baton Rouge, La.
"We've always done things together and we've always had fun together."
Jessie M. Spears and Gloria Y. Spears Wright
The Spears sisters stick together. From their childhoods to their studies at Indiana University to their annual participation in IU's Mini University, Jessie M. Spears and Gloria Y. Spears Wright have always been there for one another.
The youngest of six children, Jessie and Gloria grew up together on their father's farm in Clinton, La. When Jessie began working in the fields, Gloria, 20 months younger than Jessie, did too. Their mother dressed them as twins. And their parents fostered a caring environment that the sisters treasure to this day. "I thank God every day for the closeness in this family," Jessie says. "We just have a wonderful — some people say unusual — family."
Gloria and Jessie learned a lot from their parents, whose knowledge surpassed their formal educations, which ended in elementary school. Their mother studied a book called The Self-Educator and taught her children the value of, as Jessie says, "figuring things out for yourself."
After Gloria finished high school, the family moved to Baton Rouge, La., where Gloria, Jessie, and two of their siblings enrolled in Southern University. All four graduated in 1957. Jessie and Gloria earned bachelor's degrees in education.
Jessie began teaching at an elementary school in Chicago, while Gloria became a middle-school teacher in Louisiana.
Soon their desire to further their educations brought them back together. Gloria spearheaded their college search, requesting and receiving catalogs from 16 universities throughout the nation.
"I very carefully looked through all of them," she says. "And of course IU was at the top of the list. And it was close to where Jessie lived. After reading and looking at all the other universities, there was no doubt in my mind that IU was the place for me to complete my studies."
From 1962 to 1965, Gloria and Jessie took summer courses in education at IU Bloomington, helping each other along the way.
"I worked in the Chicago public school system, and our school would not be out until the end of June," says Jessie, who taught for 34 years at William Claude Reavis, Walter Scott, and Nathanael Greene schools. "The summer sessions at IU would begin sooner than that. So the professors would permit Gloria to sit in the classes and take notes for me until I got out of school."
The Spears sisters share many memories from their IU summers: learning from education professors such as Edward Buffie, enjoying the beauty of campus, and attending the opera and "Cosmopolitan Night," which celebrated the many cultures at IU. The highlight of the sisters' time at IU was the 1965 Commencement, when their mother traveled to campus to see them receive their degrees.
Jessie and Gloria still spend their summers at IU. By their count, they have attended Mini University — the weeklong learning vacation held each June at IU Bloomington — at least 21 of the last 25 years.
Life members of the IU Alumni Association, Gloria and Jessie enjoy visiting with other Mini U participants, seeing a show at the Brown County Playhouse, and, of course, sharpening their intellectual skills and learning about new topics. They are annual attendees of the Mini U course taught by James Weigand, whom they know from their graduate-school days.
"Mini University gives me a chance to listen and share with others," said Gloria, who taught for 37 years, including 29 years at the Southern University Laboratory School. "It will always be one of the high points of my life. I liken it to a light that will never go out."
Now retired, the Spears sisters continue to pursue their many interests. Both are active in their churches and their communities. Jessie has been a season subscriber to the Lyric Opera of Chicago for more than 30 years, and Gloria sits on the board of the Greater Baton Rouge Federation of Churches and Synagogues. They attend — together, of course — the annual conference of the National Council for the Social Studies.
The sisters like to travel, and they see their brothers and sisters regularly — a continuation of the exceptionally strong connection that was nurtured in them.
"We owe it all to our parents and to God," Gloria says, "because the love that they had and the love that they showed for one another and for us, it is deeply instilled within us.
"We've always done things together and we've always had fun together."