Students educated at the American Missionary Association's (AMA) normal schools supplied a steady stream of new teachers for the AMA's schools. Willis N. Pitts Jr. was educated at Ballard Normal School in Macon, Georgia, and at Talladega College in Talladega, Alabama. Both schools were operated by the AMA. Pitts taught history and social science at Ballard and he later served as the school’s librarian.