RUMFORD — Adelaide Soloman-Jordan, who retired as an educator from Rumford schools in 2020, organized a Black History Butterfly Parade at Rumford Elementary School on Wednesday.

The Rumford resident and school volunteer continues to teach students and others about Black history and the Black experience.

“My philosophy is that American history, inclusive of the history of people of African descent, will tell a more complete story,” she said. “To that end, I focus on ordinary people, no usuals, sports figures or entertainers. Usuals are all of the folks that are cited as heroes, including Martin Luther King Jr., Frederick Douglass, Sojourner Truth.”

Each week she selects a person or topic, tells the children about the person, group or event and shows a short video before having a discussion.

Dan Hodge, Regional School Unit 10 director from Rumford, was the grand marshal for the parade. The grandfather and great-grandfather of biracial children has attended the weekly social gathering of children of color.

Hodge is also a former teacher at Mountain Valley High School in Rumford.

More than 100 children walked the short distance along Lincoln Avenue to the Hope Association, which provides a wide range of services for people with developmental disabilities. Each student carried a stick holding a butterfly cutout with a name of someone famous in Black history.

The butterfly symbolizes transformation, beauty, rebirth, hope, freedom, endurance and love.

Students paraded twice around the clients, many of whom smiled and applauded the children.

The association made up flyers for the parade with photos of famous Black people in history. The association also provided coloring books and toothbrushes.

Three second graders talked about the names on the back of their butterfly sticks.

Amelia Salgado’s butterfly had the name Misty Copeland, the first Black woman appointed principal ballerina for the American Ballet Theatre.

“When she was 13, she learned how to be a ballerina — and I was already a ballerina!” Salgado said.

Benny Danylik and Tyrrell Yates both had the name of George Crum, who created the potato chip.

Danylik said he chose Crum “because my favorite snack is chips.”

Yates said Crum “was trying to make french fries, but it didn’t work out because it was like too thick. And the lady told him to make it thinner, and he did, but he accidentally made potato chips.”

Solomon-Jordan serves on the Maine State Archives Advisory Board and with the Western Maine Anti-Racism Education Advisory. She is education chairwoman for the Maine Holocaust and Human Rights Center, is on the Friends School of Portland Advisory Committee and is curriculum adviser for African American Studies for Portland Public Schools.

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