HERITAGE” - MARY CHURCH TERRELL

When you think about any of the long-term Black Civil RightS Organizations in Monroe , Louisiana, one of the first that comes to mind is “The National Association For The Advancement of Colored People( NAACP). During Black History Month,if you were to ask anyone about the early days of The NAACP Organization. The two names most commonly mentioned in the African-American community are W.E.B. Dubois and Ida B Wells.Well, I went back and discovered that there was another outstanding Negro female who was also a co-founder of The NAACP Organization. Her name was “Mary Church Terrell.” She was born Mary Eliza Church on September 23, 1863. According to several sources, both of Mary’s parents were of mixed ancestry. Her paternal grandfather was Captain Charles B. Church[ a white steamship owner and operator from Virginia ].Mary’s father, Robert Church, was smart with the money he earned as a steward on his father’s ship. He saved his money and invested in real estate. He made a killing off of the property he bought at the time when the city of Tennessee was “depopulated” and following the 1878 yellow fever epidemic.Need-less-to-say, Robert Church is considered to have been the first African-American millionaire in the South. Mary Church Terrell excelled in school and is famous for being one of the first African-American women to earn a college degree. Not only was She affluent in the English language, but she was also affluent in the French and German languages as well. By the way, in addition to being a co-founder of The NAACP, she also co-founded The Colored Women’s League in 1892( in Washington, D.C.). Interestingly, in 1896, the Colored Women's League and the Federation of Afro-American Women merged to form the National Association of Colored Women[ NACW ], with Mary Church Terrell as the first president. She was also a co-founder of The National Association of College Women in 1923. Mary went on to join the fight for women’s suffrage and civil rights for Negroes . Some of the tactics she used in fighting for equal rights were sit-ins, boycotts, and picketing. Due to her work and affiliation with several of the white citizens of Washington , Mary decided to attend a convention for the National American Woman Suffrage Association ( NAWSA ). It was while attending this NAWSA Convention in the early 1890s that Mary stood up and spoke up for Colored women. Among the speakers on the platform that day was none other than Susan B Anthony. Susan B Anthony asked Mary if she was a member of the NAWSA Organization. Mary said, no she wasn’t, but she hoped that the convention members were open to suggestions from a Colored woman. Mary and Susan went on to work together on many other projects dealing with women’s suffrage. After a life-time of fighting for women’s rights and the civil rights of Negroes, Mary died two months after the famous “Brown vs The Board of Education” decision of The Supreme Court in 1954. Then when you thought that you had heard the last of Mary Church Terrell, she was inducted as a member of “The 2020 National Women’s Hall of Fame” along with Aretha Franklin, Toni Morrison, and Henrietta Lacks{ I urge everyone to please go online and read more about this “Phenomenal Black Woman” & co-founder of The NAACP, Mary Church Terrell }. From my research, it appears to me that while Blacks still have Black organizations in Monroe, Louisiana, just as Blacks did back in Mary’s time. Surprisingly, the Black organizations that we have today don’t seem to all be on one accord. It’s not that they do not get along, it’s that they’re not working together in unison. How are Blacks going to get their fare share of what they are due, if we aren’t going to get on the same page. Sadly, I have yet to see the Black Leaders in Monroe, Louisiana begin to unite & organize the Black citizens of Monroe.We have less than two years to unite the Black citizens of Monroe, so that we can say farewell to Mayor Oliver Ellis!!!