Black History Month Reflection: Mississippi Women Freedom Fighters

This past November, I had the pleasure of visiting the Smith Robertson Museum and Cultural Center in Jackson, Mississippi. This small local museum was formerly Smith Robertson School, Mississippi’s first public school for Black students. Built in 1894, the school was named after Smith Robertson, a respected community leader and Jackson’s first black alderman. 

Interesting fact: Richard Wright was one of the school’s graduates. 

One of the exhibits focused on the role of Mississippi women during the Civil Rights Movement. An entire room was filled with pictures and quotes from these freedom fighters. I took pictures of some of the women’s quotes. Unfortunately, the picture with the quote that struck me the most was not as clear as the others, so I’ll simply share her words. Frankye Johnson said, “You might not be a legend or a hero; your name might not be recorded in the annals of history as a major player, but just do your part to make the world a better place.”

I previously knew nothing about any of these ladies, which led me to thinking about women that played a critical role during the early civil rights era.  So, I did some research and want to share the names of other women who contributed to the movement in Mississippi who are barely, if at all, known for their involvement. 

Ella Baker worked with well-known civil rights leaders, W.E.B. DuBois, Thurgood Marshall, A. Philip Randolph and Martin Luther King Jr.. She mentored future leaders of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC).

Baker helped southern civil rights activists develop voter registration campaigns and address local injustices in Mississippi, Georgia, and Alabama. She helped organize the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party (MFDP) whose influence helped many Mississippi Democratic leaders get elected.  

The nonprofit organization, Ella Baker Center for Human Rights, in Oakland, California, calls for “a shift away from a culture of policing and punishment and towards schools, housing, employment, and healthcare for communities hit hardest by mass incarceration.”

Septime Poinsette Clark was an educator and an activist whose teachings linked education to political empowerment. Thousands of Mississippi residents qualified to vote after attending one of the citizenship schools she organized to teach literacy and citizenship rights to adults throughout the South. Many of these rural community schools were located in back rooms to escape confrontation from racist whites. 

In the early 1960s, Victoria Gray Adams, a native of Hattiesburg, Mississippi, convinced her pastor to let SNCC use his church as a place for members to work. Victoria taught many Blacks to read, write and understand the Constitution so they could register to vote. She helped organize a boycott against Hattiesburg businesses. An advocate for women’s leadership, she was one of the first Black women to run for a U.S congressional seat representing Mississippi. 

Many other women influencers played a part in Mississippi civil rights history. Unita Blackwell served as Mississippi’s first Black woman mayor. Annie Device and Doris Ladner organized voter drives and helped coordinate the efforts of 1964’s Freedom Summer. Religious leader, Clarie Collins Harvey, co-founded Womanpower Unlimited and provided financial and spiritual support to jailed activists and civil rights workers. 

These women were ordinary, tireless, behind-the-scenes and frontline leaders who persistently performed extraordinary, dangerous work. They hosted meetings in their homes, risked their jobs and faced threats to register voters and build community trust. Their efforts sustained the Civil Rights Movement emotionally, financially, and strategically.

I urge you to visit local Black History museums, not only during Black History Month but anytime, and challenge you to share what you learn about locals heroes and heroines.