Rep. Stell Parker-Selby can trace her family roots to Sussex County – her mother was a Milford native and her father’s family was from Lewes. Born in Milford herself, she and her family lived right down the street from Milton Public School #196-C, the local school for Black children.
But Parker-Selby did not realize, at the time, that the school was a symbol of segregation.
“We got hand-me-down books with pages torn out and that didn’t bother us. We just went right on. I learned so much in that two-room classroom. I never felt like I was a second-class citizen at all,” she said.
Parker-Selby continued learning, with a degree in sociology from what is now known as Delaware State University and had the intention of working as a social worker. But while she was exploring options for both teaching and social work, the rising Cape Henlopen School District called her first. She started as an elementary school teacher but worked her way to teach every grade level in her career and even added administration positions to her repertoire.
That background in education opened the door to Parker-Selby’s first steps into politics, as she served on the Cape Henlopen School Board, the DSU Board of Trustees and eventually the Milton Town Council. With her time on the school board, Parker-Selby was part of the effort that approved building new schools that students are taught in today.
“One of the advantages of Sussex County was that I knew most of the African American families, and over time, I knew all the families in every little town,” she said. “I’d go into homes and sit with families, and just see some of the poor conditions they lived in, and it wasn’t their fault…Parents in the community knew that Ms. Selby would take care of it. I just felt like maybe I could get in there [the board] and help.”
Today, Parker-Selby represents the people of Milton and Lewes in the Delaware General Assembly as the first person of color to represent the Lewes and Milton area of Sussex County. She has been part of a team to pass a law to improve mental health care in Delaware schools, among other bills.
