Bazoline Estelle Usher (1885-1992) was born in Walnut Springs, Georgia, the eldest of four children born to Lavada Smith (1869-1950) and Joseph Samuel Usher (1866-1949). In 1892 she started her studies at Atlanta University's Normal School, and in 1906, she graduated from Atlanta University (later called Clark Atlanta University). After graduating, she taught school in Lawrenceville, Virginia, for ten years, before returning to Atlanta in 1915. Usher adopted her niece, Lavada Johnson Smith (1923-1997), after her sister, Daisy Johnson (1894-1930) died. She rose through the administrative ranks in the Atlanta Public Schools (APS) while earning a Masters in Education at Atlanta University, which she completed in 1938.

Usher served as principal at David T. Howard Grammar School for 15 years, the first African American school in Atlanta with an all Black faculty. In 1954, APS appointed her Director and Supervisor of Negro Schools. Before she retired in 1945, she oversaw the opening of seven elementary schools. Following her retirement, Usher taught for three years at Spelman College. In 1943, she and Grace Towns Hamilton (1907-1992) spear-headed the introduction of the Girl Scouts to Black girls in Atlanta; the Atlanta Girl Scouts elected her to their board in 1952. Usher was also a founding member of the Uplifters Club, an auxiliary of Friendship Baptist Church, that focused on fundraising, elder assistance, and cultural events. In 1989, APS renamed Harwell Road Elementary School in Collier Heights Bazoline Usher Elementary School. In 2014, she was inducted into the Georgia Women of Achievement Hall of Fame.