Bazoline Estelle Usher (1885-1992) was born in Walnut Springs, Georgia, to Joseph Samuel Usher (1866-1949) and Lavada Usher (1869-1950). She had three siblings: Samuel Cleveland (1888-1980), Eddie Lou (1889-1965), and Daisy Inez (approximately 1894-1934). 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 Inez, died. She earned a Master of Education at Atlanta University in 1938.

Usher served as a teacher, then principal, at Wesley Avenue Grammar School from 1921 to 1926; assistant principal of Booker T. Washington High School from 1926-1932; and principal of David T. Howard Grammar School, the first African American school in Atlanta with an all-Black faculty, from 1932 to 1944. In 1944, Atlanta Public Schools (APS) appointed her Director and Supervisor of African American Schools. Before she retired in 1954, 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; and 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 1988, 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.