Q: Who was the D.C. resident who became a founding member of the NAACP, the first black woman appointed to the D.C. Board of Education, president of the National Association of Colored Women’s Clubs and integrated the local chapter of the American Association of University Women?
A: The daughter of two slaves, Mary Church Terrell was a Washington, D.C. teacher who helped work for civil rights and women’s suffrage. She was appointed to the D.C. Board of Education in1895, becoming the first black woman in the U.S. to hold such a position. The next year, she became the first president of the newly formed National Association of Colored Women’s Clubs and she also founded the National Association of College Women, which later became the National Association of University Women.
In 1909, she became a founding member of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. She also served as president of the Women’s Republican League during Warren G. Harding’s 1920 presidential campaign. In the 1950s, she led a campaign to integrate restaurants in the District, picketing, boycotting and sitting-in until segregated eating places were ruled as unconstitutional.
After turning 80, Terrell continued to picket and protest. She also persuaded the local chapter of the American Association of University Women to admit black members.
