Your slave task for Monday September 19th 2022
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♀️ Feminist Friday ♀️
Anna Arnold Hedgeman
Through her work with various local and national organizations, Anna Arnold Hedgeman always fought for equal opportunity and respect, particularly for African American women. Throughout her long life, Hedgeman advocated for civil rights, education, social justice, poverty relief, and women.
Anna Arnold Hedgeman was born on July 5, 1899 to Mary Ellen Parker and William James Arnold II in Marshalltown, Iowa. From an early age, her father emphasized education and a strong work ethic, and she learned to read at home. When Hedgeman was you ng, her family moved to Anoka, Minnesota where her family was the only African American family in the community. After graduating from high school in 1918, Hedgeman became the first African American person to attend Hamline University in St. Paul. While in college, she attended lectures by famous speakers, including W.E.B. Du Bois. Listening to Du Bois inspired her to become a teacher. She graduated in 1922 with a B.A. in English and immediately began looking for teaching jobs.
Despite her degree, Hedgeman could not find a teaching job in St. Paul public schools because she was African American. Instead, she accepted a job teaching History and English at Rust College in Holly Springs, Mississippi, the oldest historically Black college and universities (HBCU) in the country. On her train trip to Mississippi, Hedgeman confronted her first experience with Jim Crow. While she was able to ride the interracial cars from St. Paul to Chicago, the conductor informed her that once the train reached Cairo, Illinois she would have to move to the “colored car” at the back of the train. The car was dirty and overcrowded, but Hedgeman did not have a choice. She taught at Rust College for two years and then returned to Minnesota.
Upon her return in Minnesota, still unable to find a teaching job, she switched careers. Hedgeman began working with the Yo ung Women’s Christian Association (YWCA), first as the executive director of the African American branch in Springfield, Ohio. Between 1924 and 1938, Hedgeman worked for various YWCA branches across the country: Jersey City, Brooklyn, Philadelphia, and Harlem. While with the YWCA, she helped develop international programs in education. She settled in Harlem and married Merrit A. Hedgeman, an interpreter of African American folk music and opera, in 1936. The couple were married until Merrit’s death 54 years later.
In 1944 she was appointed executive director of the National Council for a Permanent Fair Employment Practices Committee (FEPC), where she led the fight against employment discrimination and lobbied for a permanent FEPC agency. She also got directly involved with politics, working on President Harry Truman’s reelection campaign in 1948.
Hedgeman continued to work in politics at the local level in New York City. In 1954, she became the first African American woman to hold a position in a New York Mayoral cabinet. She worked in Mayor Robert F. Wagner Jr.’s administration until 1958, when she left after growing frustrated with gender discrimination and Wagener’s inaction on progressive housing policies. Rather than be discouraged, Hedgeman took matters into her own hands. In 1959 she worked as an associate editor and columnist for the New York Age and entered politics as a candidate herself. In 1960 she ran for Congress as a Democrat to represent the East Bronx and in 1965 she ran for New York City Council President. While both runs were unsuccessful, she brought attention to the issues of poverty in the city as a candidate.
Hedgeman remained a fearless advocate, never resting and always looking to put her efforts towards issues surrounding social justice and civil rights. Given her long history advocating for equal opportunity and employment, it is not surprising that she served on the planning committee organizing the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom that took place on August 28, 1963 and brought over 250,000 people to the Lincoln Memorial. Hedgeman was the only woman included on the planning committee and she consistently urged the male leaders—such as A. Philip Randoph and Bayard Rustin—to include women in the day’s events. When they did not, she became furious and read a statement highlighting the role African American women had played in the Civil Rights Movement and what a shame it would be to ignore their efforts. Her arguments were successful, and Daisy Bates ended up speaking.
Hedgeman’s work did not stop in 1963. A religious woman, Hedgeman joined the staff of the Commission on Religion and Race of the National Council of Churches (N.C.C.), meant to mobilize resources of Protestant and Orthodox churches to work against racial injustice in U.S. As the Coordinator of Special Events for the Commission of Religion and Race of the N.C.C., Hedgeman also recruited over 40,000 Protestants who participated in March on Washington.
She was also a founding member of the National Organization of Women (NOW). She wrote two books: The Trumpet Sounds: A Memoir of Negro Leadership (1964) and The Gift of Chaos: Decades of American Discontent (1977).
Anna Arnold Hedgeman died at the age of 90 in Harlem, New York. During her long life of advocacy, she received honors from the National Urban League, NAACP, Schomburg Collection, National Council of Negro Women, and the AFL-CIO. She received honorary doctoral degrees from both Hamline University and Howard University. Hamline University dedicated The Hedgeman Center for Student Diversity Initiatives and Programs in her honor in April 2011.
Your slave task for Friday September 16th 2022
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Your slave task for Monday September 12th 2022
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♀️ Feminist Friday ♀️
Maggie Lena Walker
At the turn of the century, Maggie Lena Walker was one of the foremost female business leaders in the United States. She gained national prominence when she became the first woman to own a bank in the United States. Walker’s entrepreneurial skills transformed black business practices while also inspiring other women to enter the field.
Walker was born to enslaved parents on July 15, 1864 in Richmond, Virginia. After the Civil War, her mother worked as a laundress and her father as a butler in a popular Richmond hotel. Walker’s father was killed and she had to help her mother financially by working. Although his death was ruled a suicide, Walker later revealed that she believed he had been murdered. She attended a local school in Richmond and upon graduation, began teaching. She stepped down from teaching after she married a successful brick maker.
When Walker was 14, she joined the Independent Order of St. Luke’s, an African American benevolent organization that helped the sick and elderly in Richmond. Within the organization, Walker held many high-ranking positions. In 1902, she began publishing the organization’s newspaper, The St. Luke Herald. She encouraged African Americans in Richmond to harness their economic power by establishing their own institutions through the newspaper.
Walker had always focused her efforts on accounting and math. Her first business endeavor was a community insurance company for women. From there she continued her entrepreneurial pursuits. In 1903, she founded the St. Luke Penny Savings Bank. Walker was the first woman of any race to charter a bank in the United States. The bank was a powerful representation of black self-help in the segregated South. The Penny Savings Bank not only attracted adults but Walker worked to appeal to children by passing out banks which encouraged them to save their money.
In 1915, Walker’s husband was killed by her son, after he mistook him for a burglar. Her husband’s passing left her in charge of a large estate. She continued working for the Order of St. Luke's but also held leadership positions in other civic organizations, including National Association of Colored Women (NACW). She also served as the Vice President of the Richmond chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).
By 1924, the Penny Savings Bank had spread to other parts of Virginia and included more than 50,000 members. While other banks collapsed during the Great Depression St. Luke’s Penny Saving survived. The bank eventually consolidated with two other large bank and moved to downtown Richmond. It is still in operation today.
After an illness in 1928, Walker was fo rced to use a wheelchair. Although limited in movement, Walker remained a leader in the Richmond African American community. She fought arduously for women’s rights as well. For much of her life Walker served as board member of the Virginia Industrial School for Girls.
On December 15, 1934, Walker died from complications due to diabetes. Walker’s house in Richmond has since been designated a National Historic Site by the National Park Service.
Your slave task for Friday September 9th 2022
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Your slave task for Monday September 5th 2022
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