Dr. Harry Irving, an African American in his autobiography Uncle Harry's Stories, Looking Back Blackly And Proudly, Growing up in America. tells about his great grandparents, who were slaves and his parents Louise and James Irving, his father was illiterate and his mother who only had a fifth grade education, raised nine children. Dr, Irving attended racially segregrated public schools in the 1940s and the 1950s in his native state of West Virginia. He served honorably in the United States Air Force during the Korean War. Dr. Irving earned his AA degree (1959) Los Angeles City College, BA (1962) and MA (1972) California State University, Los Angeles, and his Doctorate degree (1990) Pepperdine University.
Dr. Harry Irving, an African American, whose great grandparents were slaves, whose father was illiterate, could not read nor write and whose mother only had a fifth grade education, attended racially segregated public schools in 1940s and 1950s in his native state of West Virginia. Although his parents were poor and lacked a good education, they raised nine children and were wonderful parents. After graduating from high school in 1952, he served honorably in the United States Air Force as a non-commission officer. Upon separation from the military in 1956, he attended West Virginia State University. In 1957, he moved to California, where he earned his Bachelor (1962) and Masters (1972) degrees from California State University and a Doctorate (1990) degree from Pepperdine University. After twenty-six years of teaching school with the Los Angeles School District, Dr. Irving retired in 1994. In post-retirement, he has taught school in Seoul, Korea, New York, Georgia, Florida, and Maryland. Dr. Irving is a life long dedicated educator. He enjoys working with our youth, encouraging them and helping to prepare them to become productive, creative, and contributive citizens in our society. He has taught grades K-12. He enjoys writing, reading, computering, cooking, traveling, and hiking.