The legacy of Hazel Harvey Peace

The legacy of Hazel Harvey Peace

Published on March 02, 2026

We wanted to take one final look at a local figurehead who set the standard for all, not just Black leaders, here in Fort Worth.

Hazel Bernice Harvey Peace was an educator, activist and humanitarian right here in Fort Worth, Texas. She is the namesake of a local elementary school, municipal building and library youth center.

Born to Allen H. Harvey and Georgia Mason Harvey on Aug. 4, 1907, in Waco, Texas, Peace and her family moved very shortly after her birth to Fort Worth. Peace was an only child to the railroad porter and children's clothing shop owner couple. She was considered a prodigy very early in her life, as she was already reading at the age of 4 years old. She graduated at the age of just 13 years old from the Fort Worth Colored School. She was an avid reader, spending much of her time checking out books at Carnegie Public Library, where she was not welcomed to stay and read them. Something that would receive a poetic twist later in her life.

Peace attended Howard University, a historically Black university in Washington, D.C., where she became an early member of Alpha Kappa Alpha, the first Black sorority in the world (est. 1908). Later graduating in 1923, Peace returned to Fort Worth to teach at her alma mater, which by then was renamed I.M. Terrell High School. Peace worked at I.M. Terrell until 1972 when the school was court-ordered to desegregate. She spent nearly her entire life up to that point at I.M. Terrell between being a student herself and teaching.

Peace worked tirelessly to ensure the students at I.M. Terrell could compete academically with their peers of other segregated schools. Due to her work with this, I.M. Terrell became well known for its college prep curriculum and for producing most of Fort Worth's Black middle class. Also, while teaching at I.M. Terrell, she campaigned for equal pay salaries for Black and white teachers.

Peace held many positions at I.M. Terrell, including a teacher, counselor of girls and vice principal. She was a college administrator at four notable Texas schools, including Paul Quinn College.

In retirement, Peace continued her service through volunteer work and civic leadership, supporting youth, women and underserved residents. She served on numerous boards and organizations, including the Fort Worth Park and Recreation Advisory Board, Fort Worth Public Library Advisory Council, United Way and the NAACP.

Her contributions were widely recognized. Peace received an honorary doctorate from Texas Wesleyan University in 1992, and multiple Fort Worth institutions were later named in her honor. In 2007, she celebrated her 100th birthday with a public celebration at the Fort Worth Public Library. The City of Fort Worth dedicated the Hazel Harvey Peace Center for Neighborhoods in 2009, followed by the opening of Hazel Harvey Peace Elementary School in 2010.

Peace made a lasting impact on Fort Worth and the greater educational community, leaving the proceeds of her estate to Howard University, Texas Wesleyan University, the Fort Worth Public Library Foundation and Our Mother of Mercy Catholic Elementary School.

She died on June 8, 2008, at the age of 100 and was buried alongside her husband at Cedar Hill Memorial Park in Arlington, Texas. Peace's legacy was so well known and respected that she had the first public Black funeral in Fort Worth, and memorials to Hazel Harvey Peace were entered into the remarks of the U.S. House of Representatives.

For more information about Hazel B. Harvey Peace, you can contact the Fort Worth History Center.

Portrait of Hazel Harvey Peace wearing a houndstooth suit with silver floral brooch. Photograph taken by Olan Mills studio. Courtesy of the Fort Worth History Center, Fort Worth Public Library.

Hazel Harvey Peace at her 100th birthday celebration. Courtesy of the Fort Worth History Center, Fort Worth Public Library.

Photo at top: Mrs. Hazel Harvey Peace sits at a desk at I.M. Terrell High School, where she taught for nearly 50 years. Courtesy of the Fort Worth History Center, Fort Worth Public Library.

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