Mabel Byrd
| Mabel Janet Byrd | |
|---|---|
| Born |
1895-07-03 Canonsburg, Pennsylvania, United States |
| Died |
1988-05-03 Saint Louis, Missouri, United States |
| Education |
University of Oregon, 1917-1919 University of Washington, B.A., 1921 |
| Known for | Early civil rights activism |
| Spouse(s) | L. Simington Curtis |
| Children | Twin sons[1] |
Mabel J. Byrd (July 3, 1895 – May 20, 1988) was born in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania, in the United States on July 3, 1895. Her father Robert Byrd was a bricklayer who moved his family to Portland, Oregon, when Mabel was a youth. In 1917 she was the first African American to enroll at the University of Oregon. At that time, she was also the only African American in Eugene, Oregon. Majoring in economics at Oregon, she transferred to the University of Washington in 1919, and in 1921 she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Liberal Arts.[2][3]
A research assistant for the president of Fisk University, and later for economist Paul Douglas at the University of Chicago, Byrd was hired under Franklin Roosevelt's National Recovery Act to "observe possible exploitation of colored workers" during implementation of minimum wage laws.[4][5] She was an early activist in the Civil Rights movement, collaborating with national leaders like W. E. B. DuBois.[2]
References
- ↑ DuBois, W.E.B. (1997). Aptheker, Herbert, ed. The Correspondence of W.E.B. DuBois, Volume 3. University of Massachusetts Press. p. 201. ISBN 978-1-55849-105-2 – via Google Books.
- 1 2 "Untold Stories: Black History at the University of Oregon - UO Special Collections and University Archives Blog". blogs.uoregon.edu. UO Special Collections and University Archives. February 4, 2016. Retrieved February 4, 2016.
- ↑ General Catalog. University of Washington. 1921.
- ↑ "What the press said about Miss Byrd when she was appointed". The Afro American. Google News. December 16, 1933. Retrieved March 11, 2016.
- ↑ Anderson, Lauren Kientz (2012). "A Nauseating Sentiment, a Magical Device, or a Real Insight? Interracialism at Fisk University in 1930". In Gasman, Marybeth; Geiger, Roger L. Higher Education for African Americans before the Civil Rights Era, 1900-1964, in Perspectives on the History of Higher Education. 29. New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Publishers. pp. 75–111. ISBN 9781412847247.