Women's Equality committee honors local Black activist with its Legacy Award
EVANSVILLE — Sallie Wyatt Stewart spent much of her life focused on improving conditions for Black women and children in Evansville.
For that, Stewart was honored with the Legacy Award Thursday afternoon during Evansville's 21st annual Women's Equality Day luncheon celebrating the 19th Amendment. The event also recognized Nadine Coudret with its Unsung Hero Award and Tamara Skinner with its Inspirational Leader Award.
Stewart, who died in 1951, was dean of girls and head of the English department at Lincoln High School during her 50 years as an educator. She spent 43 of those at Lincoln.
Lana Burton accepted Stewart's award on behalf of the Evansville African American Museum, where the certificates will be displayed.
Burton invited everyone to visit the museum to learn more about the contributions of African American residents in Evansville and around the world.
"Let's continue learning about all women, and truly making our city a city for everyone," Burton said.
Women's Equality Day committee member Roberta Heiman presented the award, highlighting some of Stewart's many accomplishments both locally and abroad.
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"(Stewart) not only inspired a couple generations of young people," Heiman said, "she became an agent of change in Evansville and led nationwide efforts to improve conditions for African American women and children."
Stewart was the:
President of the 100,000-member National Association of Colored Women from 1928-1933;
First Black woman to serve as vice preisdent of the National Council of Women in the United States;
First Black woman to earn a real estate broker's license and own her own firm.
Locally, Stewart worked to fundraise to provide her students with items they might need such as musical instruments for band or uniforms for athletics. She also started a daycare for the kids of Black women who were in the workforce. Heiman noted Black women were a part of the workforce long before white women with children.
Heiman said Stewart worked on scholarship funds for Black students, and if they needed more than that, she arranged it. This included buying students the school books they needed with her own money.
"What are the odds that all of that would be accomplished by a little Black girl who grew up in poverty in Evansville, Indiana in the late 1800s and whose first job was working as a domestic to help her mother support the family?" Heiman said.
Stewart was also one of the founders of Evansville's NAACP branch, and established the Evansville Federation of Colored Women's Clubs in 1916 with a focus on neighborhood improvement, housing and racial equality.
"Her remarkable lifetime of achievement reminds us that the struggle for women's rights, which brings us together today," Heiman said, "is and always has been a civil rights movement in that African American women from the very beginning have been the backbone of the movement."
This article originally appeared on Evansville Courier & Press: Women's Equality committee honors Sallie Stewart with Legacy Award
