What does it take to be an effective teacher? To answer this question we often look around us for role models. Beloved educators are the teachers who by their example, whether intentionally or unintentionally, directly or indirectly, inspire us to become our best selves. The authors of Beloved Educators, experienced educators themselves, identified women from their own lives who stood out as role models. In extended interviews they tried to discover why each woman had chosen as a profession to invest her talents and her future in other people's children; what helped her persevere; what gave her joy; what she learned. From these interviews stories emerged. These stories are enlightening, inspirational, and real. These stories are rarely told and yet, in ways quiet and bold, these women were trailblazers and pathfinders. Their stories are candid descriptions of teaching in northeastern urban schools in the decades immediately before and after the US Supreme Court declared "separate but equal" public schools unconstitutional. They exemplify hope, resilience, and aspiration. Individually, each profile traces one teacher's career; collectively, the profiles provide a richly textured look at teachers and teaching. On the surface the seven African American women profiled seem to have little in common. These differences make each woman's story unique; however, beneath the surface there are striking similarities that reveal the triumphs, as well as shared challenges, of African American women in public education. Those preparing for careers in education will find much in these stories to guide their early experiences in the profession. Practitioners in the field will discover new insights and, perhaps, new role models for what is possible.