Category: Women - The Gardens Gazette

The Gardens Gazette

Zora Neale Huston

3/14/2017

African American Women in US History
Zora Neale Hurston

Zora Neale Hurston, born in Alabama 1891, produced four novels, several plays, numerous short stories and essays. Her most famous novel, Their Eyes were Watching God, turns 80 this year.

She was educated at Morgan State University and Columbia, spoke several languages, and obtained a degree in anthropology. Much of her writing is a result of her studies, since she explored the folklore of the Caribbean and the American South. She wrote articles for newspapers, which helped to free an African American woman who had killed a white doctor because of continued sexual abuse.

She was not a fan of Roosevelt and the New Deal, and she called Truman the “Butcher of Asia” because of his decision to release the Atom Bomb on Japan.

Alice Walker re-discovered Hurston in the 70’s, and her work was revived as she became more and more well-known. Her most famous novel, Their Eyes were Watching God, is a story of a woman who sought love at four different times in her life.

Zora Neale Hurston’s life was rich and complicated. A literary giant, her religious and political beliefs were uniquely her own.

by Mieke Tazelaar
Read more at Wikipedia
and the Official Website

TheGardensGazette.org
Blogs > Culture and Society: Zora Neale Hurston
Revised March-14-2017

Introduction to African American Women

3/14/2017

Introduction
African American Women in US History

This document is a continuation of the article in the March issue of Straight Arrow News, which featured Claudette Colvin and Wilma Rudolph, whose picture was not included:

The articles of these twelve amazing African-American women touch on the highlights, a mere introduction into the lives of these amazing people. There is so much more to know, as well as the stories of many other Black women who also shaped the history of this country.

The March issue of the Straight Arrow News is also in thegardensgazette.org, under: NEWS > AGRC Newsletter.

Mieke Tazelaar

Culture and Society series includes these African American Women blogs so far:

Introduction
Zora Neale Hurston (1891–1960)
Sojourner Truth (1797–1883)
Ida B. Wells (1862–1931)
Hattie McDaniel (1895–1952)
Esther Jones (d. 1934)
Bessie Coleman (1892–1926)
Bessie Smith (1894–1937)
Josephine Baker (1906–1975)
Madame CJ Walker (1867–1919)
Rebecca Crumpler (1831–1895)

Additional Resources:
BlackPast.org
NW African American Museum (Seattle)
Black Heritage Society of Washington State
African American Women in Arts
PBS: Black Women in History
African-American Firsts: Women

TheGardensGazette.org
Blogs > Culture and Society:
Introduction to African American Women
Revised March-14-2017

Sojourner Truth

3/14/2017

African American Women in US History
Sojourner Truth

Born in 1797, Sojourner lived a long, amazing life. She was born into slavery, but escaped with her infant daughter in 1826. She went to court two years later and recovered her son, the first African-American woman to win such a case against a white man.

She gave herself her famous name after she became convinced that she was following God’s calling. During the Civil War, she gave a speech entitled “Ain’t I a Woman?” The speech was written down by a different person with a Southern accent that Sojourner did not speak, since she was brought up by a Dutch family in New York. During the war, she helped recruit Black soldiers to fight for the Union Army. After the war, she tried unsuccessfully to secure land grants for former slaves.

She fell in love with a slave from a neighboring farm, but they were caught by her owner, who savagely beat the young man, whom she never saw again. She later married an older man, a slave named Thomas. They had five children.

A converted Methodist, she started traveling and preaching about the abolition of slavery. Once, someone interrupted a speech and accused her of being a man. Truth opened her blouse and proved that she was a woman.

She preached for women’s right to vote. She dictated her memoirs which were published under the name, The Narrative of Sojourner Truth, a Northern Slave. She became famous for her speeches against abolition and as a suffragist. Whenever there was dissent during one of her speeches, Truth would break into a religious song, and it usually quieted the crowd.

Sojourner Truth is best remembered for her great oratory for the causes she believed in.

by Mieke Tazelaar
Read more at Wikipedia

TheGardensGazette.org
Blogs > Culture and Society: Sojourner Truth
Revised March-14-2017

Ida B. Wells

3/13/2017

African American Women in US History
Ida B. Wells

Ida Bell Wells-Barnett, an African-American journalist, newspaper editor, suffragist, sociologist, feminist, and early leader in the Civil Rights movement, was one of the founders of the NAACP.

After her parents died, she kept her family of younger siblings intact by becoming a teacher, while her grandmother watched the younger children during the day.

Her major activist role was documenting lynching in the United States, the often-used way to control or punish Blacks who competed with whites. Her first active role as a protester was when, in 1884, she refused to give up her seat on a train. She was dragged out off the train and hired an African-American lawyer to sue the railroad. After the lawyer was paid off by the Railway, she hired a white attorney and won her case with a $500 award. But the railway company appealed to the Tennessee Court, which overturned the lower court’s decision.

The murder of friends drove Wells to document lynchings, and she learned that Blacks were lynched for failing to pay debts, not giving way to whites, competing with whites economically, and being drunk in public. She found no evidence to back up the claim that Black men were being punished for abusing white women.

Wells continued to investigate lynching, despite threats on her life. Her book on the subject contributed to making the public more aware of the horrors of lynching.

by Mieke Tazelaar
Read more at Wikipedia

TheGardensGazette.org
Blogs > Culture and Society: Ida B. Wells
Revised March-14-2017

Hattie McDaniel

3/13/2017

African American Women in US History
Hattie McDaniel

Born in 1895, Hattie McDaniel was an actress, singer-songwriter, and comedian. She won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, the first ever given to an African American. She was also the first Black woman to sing on US radio. She appeared in over 300 films and received screen credits for 80. She has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, one for radio and one for motion pictures. In 1975, she was inducted into the Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame, and in 2006, became the first Black Oscar winner on a US postage stamp.

When she joined the Screen Actors Guild in 1934, she landed more frequent film roles – at first, in cameo performances like “Bojangles” and “The Little Colonel.” By 1935, she was playing prominent roles in “China Seas” and “Show Boat,” singing a verse in “Can’t Help Lovin’ Dat Man.”

She was friends with many of Hollywood’s most famous stars. The role she is best known for was as “Mammy” in “Gone with the Wind.”

She began being criticized by the Black community for the roles she accepted to stay in favor of the Hollywood elites. When she was chosen for “Gone with the Wind,” the NAACP fought to have certain racial epithets removed and some of the historical accuracies corrected. They believed that the film celebrated the slave system.

When she received her Academy Award, she gave one of the best acceptance speeches in the Academy’s history.

by Mieke Tazelaar
Read more at Wikipedia

TheGardensGazette.org
Blogs > Culture and Society: Hattie McDaniel
Revised March-14-2017

Esther Jones

3/13/2017

African American Women in US History
Esther Jones

Esther Jones, more commonly known as “Baby Esther,” was known for her “baby” singing style. She performed in the 20’s at the Cotton Club in Harlem. Helen Kane adopted her style of singing, with the famous “boop-boop-boop” in a recording of “I Wanna Be Loved by You” Jones’ style went on to become the inspiration for the voice of the cartoon character, Betty Boop.

However, it is generally known that the face of the cartoon character was that of Helen Kane, who tried to claim that the voice was also hers.

In truth, it was Kane who adopted Jones’ voice after she heard her sing at the Cotton Club.

Kane tried to sue the company, saying that hers was the voice of the Betty Boop cartoon, but it was proved to be Esther’s voice.

As for the face, well, you be the judge.

by Mieke Tazelaar

TheGardensGazette.org
Blogs > Culture and Society: Esther Jones
Revised March-13-2017

Bessie Coleman

3/9/2017

African American Women in US History
Bessie Coleman

Born to a sharecropper family in 1892, Bessie Coleman, one of 13 children, was the first woman of African American and Native American descent to earn an international pilot’s license. She attended a small segregated school and spent one year at Langston University, then went to work in Chicago, where she became fascinated with stories of pilots returning from World War I.

Neither women nor blacks were being accepted in US flight schools, so she received financial backing to go to France. She learned to fly in a Nieuport bi-plane. She found out that she could fly in air shows in the US, because there was no prejudice at those events, and she became a daring barnstorming stunt flier. She went back to Europe, and met with Anthony Fokker, a distinguished Dutch aircraft designer, and received additional training.

In the US, she became known as “Queen Bess, the world’s greatest woman flier.”

Sadly, she was killed in a plane crash while testing a new aircraft in 1926 so her dream of establishing a school for African American fliers was never realized.

by Mieke Tazelaar
Image source: Wikipedia
Further reading: Wikipedia

TheGardensGazette.org
Blogs > Culture and Society
Bessie Coleman
Revised March-9-2017

Women Nobel Prize Winners

3/9/2017

Amazing Nobel Prize awarded women
who changed the world: 2015->1903
click to play media
goes fast - use the pause button
click arrows in lower right to fill screen

Here are all the amazing #NobelPrize awarded women who changed the world! #WomensDay #WomenInScience @smrtgrls pic.twitter.com/1C441wkclJ
— The Nobel Prize (@NobelPrize) March 8, 2017

Bessie Smith

3/8/2017

African American Women in US History
Bessie Smith

Bessie Smith, called Empress of the Blues, was the most popular female blues singer of the 1020’s and 1930’s. Born in 1892 , though the 1910 Census has her official date as 1894.

Her father was a part-time preacher, but died early in her life. By the time Bessie was nine, her mother and brother had also died, and her older sister Viola became caregiver to Bessie and her other siblings. In order to earn money for the household, Bessie and her brother Andrew began busking on the streets of Chattanooga.

She became a dancer, and performed on the Black-owned Theater Owners Booking Association, which, in 1923, landed her a recording contract with Columbia Records. She became the highest-paid Black entertainer, touring in her own custom-built railroad car with as many as 40 troupers.

Her first record was “Downhearted Blues.” In 1923, she was to Columbia Records by Frank Walker, a talent agent. She made 160 recordings, often accompanied by notable artists, like Louis Armstrong and Coleman Hawkins. Billie Holiday credits Bessie as being a major influence on her career.

Down Hearted Blues (1923)

by Mieke Tazelaar
Image source: Van Vechten Collection
Further reading: Wikipedia

TheGardensGazette.org
Blogs > Culture and Society
Bessie Smith
Revisions
March-14-2017 Added Youtube

Josephine Baker

3/7/2017

African American Women in US History
Josephine Baker

Josephine Baker was an African-American expatriate who renounced her US citizenship to become a French national. Her early career as an erotic dancer at the Folies Bergere in Paris earned her fame all over Europe, as she performed in a costume consisting of only a girdle of bananas. In later performances she sometimes appeared with Chiquita, her pet cheetah. She became a favorite of famous Americans living in Europe, namely Ernest Hemingway, who called her “the most sensational woman anyone ever saw.”

She refused to perform for segregated audience in the United States, but contributed greatly to the Civil Rights Movement.

She became renown for her role in the French Resistance during World War II. Using her charm, she gathered information about German troop locations from people she met at parties. Josephine received the French military honor, the Croix de Guerre, and was given an official honor by General Charles De Gaulle.

She did not attain the popularity in the United States that she so enjoyed in Europe, and, heartbroken, she returned to Paris.

Later, she was received well here for a while, but, ever an activist for people’s rights, she fell out of favor again with certain people, and was revered by others.

In 1963, she spoke at the March on Washington at the side of Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. After King’s assassination, Coretta Scott King went to the Netherlands, where Baker now lived, and asked her to lead the Civil Rights Movement. She declined for the sake of her children.

by Mieke Tazelaar
Image source: Wikipedia
Further reading: Wikipedia

TheGardensGazette.org
Blogs > Culture and Society
Josephine Baker
Revised March-07-2017

Madame CJ Walker

3/6/2017

African American Women in US History
Sarah Breedlove, AKA Madame C.J. Walker

Born in 1867, Sarah Breedlove, later knows as Madame C.J. Walker, developed a business that made her the first female American millionaire. She became not only the wealthiest American woman in the country, but the world’s most successful female entrepreneur of her time.

Her parents and older siblings were slaves, but she was the first child born free after the Emancipation Proclamation. She was orphaned at the age of seven, and found work as a domestic, while living with her sister.

Sarah married Charles Joseph Walker in 1906, but they divorced six years later. She kept the last name, becoming Madame C.J.Walker.

She took on several jobs to make a living, but soon became interested in hair care that would be good for the scalp. She developed and marketed a line of beauty and hair products for Black women through Madame C.J. Walker Manufacturing Company.

She started selling cosmetic creams as well, going door to door, teaching Black women to groom and style their hair. One might say she was the first Avon Lady! Her business grew through her expert marketing techniques, and she built a beauty school to train sales agents. By 1917, she had trained nearly 20,000 women.

Madame C.J. Walker was known for her philanthropy and activism, making donations to numerous organizations, and she became a patron of the arts. Her lavish estate in Irvington-on-Hudson New York became a social gathering place for the African American community.

This is only part of her story. Her philanthropy is legendary.

by Mieke Tazelaar
Image source: Wikipedia
Further reading: Wikipedia

TheGardensGazette.org
Blogs > Culture and Society
Madame CJ Walker
Revised March-06-2017

Rebecca Davis Lee Crumpler

2/28/2017

African American Women in US History
Rebecca Davis Lee Crumpler

Our country’s first African-American woman physician, Rebecca Davis, was born in 1831 and lived with an aunt who cared for ailing neighbors.

Care for poor Blacks was almost non-existent in Delaware, but when she married Wyatt Lee, she moved to Charlestown, Massachusetts, where she became employed as a nurse until she was accepted into the New England Female Medical College in 1860, which was very rare for Black women. She received a degree of “Doctress of Medicine.”

Rebecca Davis Lee became the first African-American woman in the US to earn a Doctorate in Medicine. Her practical experience in medicine, and her studies, led her to write A Book of Medical Discourses, a guide for women for dealing with their families’ medical challenges. She sought every opportunity to, in her words, to “relieve the suffering of others.”

After the Civil War, she moved to Richmond, Virginia, with her second husband, Arthur Crumpler, so her name now became Rebecca Davis Lee Crumpler. In Richmond, she served a community of over 30,000 Blacks. She worked for the Freedmen’s Bureau to provide care for freed slaves. Here, she met with racism and misogyny, since doctors and pharmacists snubbed her.

But when she moved back to Boston, to a predominantly African-American community, she was able to continue her practice with renewed enthusiasm.

She died in 1895. The Rebecca Lee Society was named in her honor.

by Mieke Tazelaar
Image source: Kate Bogert's Rampage
Further reading: Wikipedia.

TheGardensGazette.org
Blogs > Culture and Society
Rebecca Davis Lee Crumpler
Revised Feb-28-2017