Zachary L. Cooper, an educator and lecturer who worked tirelessly to impart the importance of education and a sense of worth to children, died on Nov. 1. He was 71.
“In his community he was somewhat of a hero,” said Joyce Boggess, executive director of the Early Childhood Learning Center, where Cooper served as president of the board of directors. “The kids all loved him here, and they will miss him terribly. They’ve already begun to write poems and letters to Dr. Cooper in his honor.”
Cooper was widely known as one of the state’s most prominent chroniclers of African-American history.