Uncrowned Community Builders

Elwyn Ellison Welch, retired professor and former Chairman of the Department of English and Foreign Languages at Langston University, represents a third generation of Black educators. In the 1880ââ?¬â?¢s her grandmother, Mrs. Fannie Ellison, directed a private school for elementary children in Helena, Arkansas. Her mother, Mrs. Ora Ellison, was a primary teacher in Helena before she moved to Oklahoma. Her father, Joseph E. Ellison graduated from Fisk University in 1910 and taught science in Guthrie, Oklahoma and at Prairie A&M College in Texas.

Born in Guthrie, Dr. Welch graduated valedictorian from Faver High School. She received her bachelorââ?¬â?¢s degree, Cum Laude, from Fisk University. She received her masterââ?¬â?¢s degree and doctorate from Oklahoma State University.

During her tenure at Langston University, she was named an Outstanding Educator of America. She coordinated the campus Consortium on Research Training in the humanities and social sciences. She also published articles in the Sooner Woman and Educational magazines.

Dr. Welch has been affiliated with many community serving organizations including the NAACP and over fifty-year membership in the Oklahoma Federation of Colored Womenââ?¬â?¢s Clubs. A member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, she was a charter member of the Oklahoma City chapters of Jack and Jill of America and The Links, Inc. She is a life member of the Fisk Alumni Association. For five years she was on the Board of Directors for the Langston University Development Fund.

Since her retirement, Dr. Welch has funded an endowed scholarship at Fisk University and with her late husband, R.B. Welch, set up a similar scholarship at Langston University. She has provided many other scholarships for graduates of Guthrie High School and members of her church, First National Baptist, of which she is a trustee. Her main endeavors are to encourage African American youth to stay in school and graduate from college or technical school.

From her first marriage to Dean Inman A. Breaux, Dr. Welch became the mother of two sons: Inman A. Breaux, Jr., who served as a lieutenant in the Navy during the Vietnam War and has a masterââ?¬â?¢s degree from the University of California at Berkeley and Dr. Barry E. Breaux, who has an M.D. from the Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons. She has four grandchildren.