Mary Church Terrell: Black history icon and early architect of the civil rights movement
Mary Church Terrell was a reserved, yet outspoken activist who laid the foundation for the civil rights movement.
Born in 1863, the year of the Emancipation Proclamation, she lived a bifurcated life of opportunity and oppression. Her father, the biracial son of a white businessman and a formerly enslaved woman, grew a fortune through real estate and pool halls, creating a life of privilege for his family. Those financial advantages afforded Terrell an education. When she earned a bachelor's degree from Oberlin College in 1884, she became one of the first African American women to hold a college degree.
Her exposure to wealth brought the mirage of possibility. She was multilingual, well-read and educated — yet she was also African American in a United States ruled by Jim Crow.
This dichotomy fueled her activism.
Lynching, Jim Crow ruling spur action
When a family friend was lynched by a white mob in Tennessee, and the Supreme Court declared segregation legal in Plessy v. Ferguson in 1896, Terrell refused to remain silent.
She became a social and civil activist, joining or leading many clubs and societies formed to fight for the Black community, often focusing on women’s rights. In 1896, she was one of the founders of what is now the National Association of Colored Women’s Clubs. With the motto, “Lifting as we climb,” the association’s goal was to fight racial and gender discrimination together.
She was a charter member of the NAACP and one of the earliest leaders of Delta Sigma Theta, the prestigious sorority dedicated to public service founded in 1913. Terrell was one of the few Black women in the National American Women Suffrage Association, which she joined after meeting Susan B. Anthony.
One of Terrell’s most significant achievements came late in her life as she helped desegregate Washington, D.C.
The nation’s capital had prohibited discrimination in public places of entertainment in 1869. It was a little-known local law on the books that was all but forgotten.
Using that esoteric law to an advantage, Terrell joined the Coordinating Committee for the Enforcement of the D.C. Anti-Discrimination Laws to file a lawsuit in 1950. The case became known as District of Columbia v. John R. Thompson Co. (Thompson was a restaurant operator that refused to serve Blacks.)
A role model for Rosa Parks, Fannie Lou Hamer
As the case made its way through the courts, she staged quiet protests around the city. Ultimately, her side prevailed. Seventy years ago, on June 8, 1953, the Supreme Court ruled unanimously to end segregation in Washington, D.C., restaurants. Terrell died a year later at age 90.
Terrell can be credited for laying the groundwork of sit-ins, civil disobedience and peaceful protest for the civil rights movement. She was a role model for women such as Rosa Parks, Fannie Lou Hamer and many others.
Her tenacity, intelligence and strength made her a powerful change agent worthy of recognition.
Robin Hamilton is the director of several documentaries, including This Little Light of Mine: The Legacy of Fannie Lou Hamer and Dignity and Defiance: A Portrait of Mary Church Terrell. Her website is aroundrobin.com.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Black History Month: Mary Church Terrell and the civil rights movement
