Roberta Sheridan was the first African American teacher in Baltimore City, and indeed in the State of Maryland. In a time when most women were expected to stay meekly at home and keep house, Sheridan was an independent career woman. She was not afraid to challenge the status quo. She took risks and made her own decisions, sometimes suffering because of them.

White teachers completely dominated black education after the Civil War. When African Americans applied for positions as teachers, they were told that they were not qualified. Leaders in the African American community were outraged, and waged an ultimately successful campaign to install African American teachers in the black public schools. The fight was led by prominent community leaders, including Frederick Douglass, John Locks, and Reverend J. W. Beckett, pastor of the Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church. They achieved success in 1888, with the appointment of Roberta B. Sheridan.

Sheridan began her public teaching career at the Waverly School on Merryman's Lane, near York Road. She was instrumental in bridging the color gap in public education and ending the domination of black education by white teachers. Her appointment was the culmination of a long and arduous struggle to gain admittance for African Americans as public school teachers.

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