Political black womens memorial

www.PoliticalBlackWomensMemorial.org

The Political Black Women’s Memorial of Pennsylvania

About the Memorial



About the Memorial

• The Political Black Women’s Memorial of Pennsylvania celebrates the work and lives of black women elected or appointed to positions in the three branches of government of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.


• The memorial will be located at 54th and Vine Streets, in the Haddington section of West Philadelphia, in the side garden, at the former home of Crystal Bird Fauset, the first African-American woman elected to serve in a state legislature in the United States.


About the Memorial

• The Pennsylvania Historical and Museums Commission designated the Crystal Bird Fauset House a historic landmark in 1991, and this was the first step in chronicling the history of black women and their successes in statewide politics.


About the Memorial

• The women honored here were educators, businesswomen, physicians, lawyers and homemakers representing the needs and concerns of the citizens of Pennsylvania.


About the Memorial

• Their legacies established an indelible precedent for other women to follow. The Political Black Women’s Memorial of Pennsylvania is to be created in their honor.


About the Memorial

• The memorial is a part of a three component project that also focuses on establishing an archive of the history of African-American women in Pennsylvania politics and the renovation of the Vine Street property to its former Victorian splendor.


About the Memorial

• The final layout and design of the memorial will be solicited through a design competition among African-American female students in Pennsylvania colleges and universities.


About the Memorial

The Honorees



The Honorees

Legislative Branch

• Crystal Bird Fauset

• Susie Monroe

• Sarah A. Anderson

• Frances E. Jones

• Ruth B. Harper

• Roxanne Joneswww.PoliticalBlackWomensMemorial.org

Crystal Bird Fauset

Executive Branch

• C. Delores Tucker

• Dr. Ethel Allen

Judicial Branch

• Juanita Kidd Stout

• Crystal Bird Fauset, born in Princess Anne, Maryland, was the first African-American woman elected to serve in a state legislature in the United States.

• She served in the Pennsylvania State Legislature from 1938-1941.


Crystal Bird Fauset

• She grew up in Boston but she spent most of her adult and political life in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

• She attended public schools and between 1914 and 1918 she worked as a public school teacher in Philadelphia.


Crystal Bird Fauset

• Fauset graduated from Teachers College, Columbia University in 1931.

• As a social worker for the YWCA in New York and Philadelphia she gained a reputation an eloquent and persuasive speaker.


Crystal Bird Fauset

• Fauset was named executive secretary of the Institute of Race Relations at Swarthmore College in 1933.

• That same year Crystal Bird married sociologist and political thinker Arthur Fauset and they became a dynamic political couple.


Crystal Bird Fauset

• Five years later the Democratic Party in Philadelphia asked Fauset to run for a seat in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives from the 13th district.

• She won the position, becoming one of three women serving at that time.


Crystal Bird Fauset

• Later, Fauset was appointed to Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal Council and worked alongside Mary McLeod Bethune to affect social and political equity.

• She helped found the United Nations Council of Philadelphia, which later became the World Affairs Council.


Crystal Bird Fauset

• She served as chair of the Philadelphia Negro Woman’s Democratic League, was on the board of trustees of Cheyney State Teachers College, and was on the board of directors of the Small Business Opportunities Corporation of Philadelphia.

• Fauset was also an accomplished pianist.


Crystal Bird Fauset

• Always on the vanguard of the women’s rights movement, Fauset’s career helped to pave the way for many women engaged in local, national and international public service.

• Crystal Bird Fauset died March 27, 1965 in Philadelphia.


Crystal Bird Fauset

Susie Monroe

• Susie Monroe a dressmaker and retired Philadelphia school teacher, was first elected to the Pennsylvania House of Representatives in 1948.


Sarah A. Anderson

• Sarah A. Anderson a former teacher, who served seventeen years in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives starting in 1954.

• Anderson was the first African-American woman to preside over the General Assembly.


Frances E. Jones

• Frances E. Jones, funeral director, succeeded her husband to the Pennsylvania House of Representatives in 1950 and was reelected four times.


Ruth B. Harper

• Ruth B. Harper, was first elected a state representative in 1976, representing the old 196th Legislative District in North Philadelphia.

• She retired from the legislature in 1992.


Roxanne Jones

• Roxanne Jones, a former welfare recipient, achieved a milestone in 1986 when elected to the Pennsylvania State Senate.

• She was the first black to serve in the Pennsylvania State Senate and served for ten years.


C. Delores Tucker

• C. Delores Tucker, as an activist, led efforts to make Pennsylvania one of the first states to pass the Equal Rights Amendment.

• In 1971, she was appointed Secretary of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and thus became the first black female to serve in such a capacity in the United States.


Dr. Ethel Allen

• Dr. Ethel Allen was appointed Secretary of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in 1979.

• Dr Allen, a graduate of the Philadelphia College of Osteopathy, was a long-time advocate for women’s rights, fair housing, and environmental issues. She also triumphed as the first African-American councilwoman elected to an at-large seat on the Philadelphia City Council.


• Juanita Kidd Stout was the first African-American elected to a judgeship in the United States in 1959.

• She also served as a Justice of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania from 1988 until she mandatorily retired.


Juanita Kidd Stout

In conclusion


The Honorees

• These are only a few of the women singled out for their advocacy and commitment to social change in Pennsylvania.

• Also included are Rosa Simpson, appointed to the Pennsylvania State Industrial Board; Alice Jones the Drug Device and Cosmetic Board; and Mary Murray appointed as the Superintendent of Inheritance Tax.


The Honorees

• These women were businesswomen, educators, physicians, lawyers and homemakers representing the needs and concerns of the citizens of Pennsylvania.

• Their legacies established an indelible precedent for other women to follow. The Political Black Women’s Memorial of Pennsylvania is to be created in their honor.


The Honorees

Crystal Bird Fauset

Distinguished Service Award



• This distinguished service award was established as a component of The Political Black Women’s Memorial of Pennsylvania


Crystal Bird Fauset Distinguished Service

Award

• To recognize women of African descent, currently in an elected or appointed position in one of the three branches of Pennsylvania government, who exhibit outstanding and distinguished achievements in a public service.


Crystal Bird Fauset Distinguished Service Award

• The awardee is selected by a panel review of nominations solicited statewide. The initial recipient will be announced in the spring of 2012.


Crystal Bird Fauset Distinguished Service Award

• The three story twin townhouse was built in the Victorian Italianate style towards the end of the 19th Century in the Haddington section of West Philadelphia.


The Crystal Bird Fauset House

• The multilevel house features flat roofs, wide cornices with single and paired decorative brackets, and narrow two-over-two double-hung shuttered windows with curved window caps



• The side bay window has inset wooden panels and corner boards. The house also has a side porch that faces the garden.



• Over the years the decorative elements have been lost from the porch and rear section of the home.



• The bay window was shirted with stucco. A carriage house was at the rear of the property but has since been demolished.



• The exterior renovation of the Vine Street property that will return it to its former Victorian splendor will consist of reinstating the cornice and decorative brackets.



• Rebuilding and restyling the bay window; recreating the porch and adjusting the addition to conform with the overall improvements; as well as re-framing the windows in period style.



• The Political Black Women’s Memorial of Pennsylvania will be in the side garden for viewing.



• And there are plans to have the property re-zoned to accommodate a bed and breakfast and convert the front parlor and library into small museum exhibiting portraits, political and personal memorabilia.



• Research continues into Pennsylvania’s politics to chronicle the history and contributions of Black women.

• Available information is scant, hidden in archives of old publications, and scattered across the internet in fragments or in fading memories.


Political Black Women’s Archives

• This project will consolidate pertinent information on past and current elected and appointed African-American women in Pennsylvania government.



• The Political Black Women Memorial of Pennsylvania is designed to bring to the public’s attention the contributions of key black women who dedicated their lives to the service of their communities.



• Additionally, and maybe even more importantly, it will be a repository of information on not just the careers of women who served on the state level, but also the lives of all political Black women from community grassroot to the executive level.



• It is intended to also include all black women throughout the commonwealth in local, state, county and community positions, and incorporate a comprehensive database and library, entirely available on one valuable website.



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Political black womens memorial