Mary’s “Did You Know?”: Mary Church Terrell
My husband attended Terrell Junior High on First & K Streets, NW, not far from the Capitol, and I’ve often wondered for whom it was named. Well, now I know: an educator named MARY CHURCH TERRELL, who said:“I cannot help wondering sometimes what I might have become and might have done if I had lived in a country which had not circumscribed and handicapped me on account of my race, that had allowed me to reach any height I was able to attain.”
Born Mary Eliza Church on September 23, 1863, in Memphis, Tennessee, she was the daughter of small-business owners Robert Reed Church and his wife, Louisa Ayers, former slaves who taught her the value of a good education. They sent her to Antioch College Model School in Yellow Springs, OH, for early and secondary education. She became one of the first African-American women to earn a college degree, with a bachelor’s degree in 1884 and in 1888, a master’s degree in education, both at Oberlin College. She studied in Europe for two years, where she became fluent in French, German, and Italian.
Shortly after receiving her second degree, in Washington, she met Robert Heberton Terrell, a talented attorney, and they were married in Tennessee in 1891. They lived in Washington, where she became an influential educator, and he eventually became Washington’s first black municipal judge. In 1949, she was the first African American to be admitted to the Washington chapter of the American Association of University Women.
At DC’s M Street High School, she was teacher and later principal of this top academic high school. She taught also at historically black Wilberforce College in Ohio. Founded by Methodists, it was eventually owned and operated by the African Methodist Episcopal Church.
In addition to her outstanding career in education, Terrell was an activist and suffragist. In 1896, she founded the National Association of Colored Women and became its first president. At W.E.B. DuBois’ suggestion, she was also a charter member of the NAACP.
In 1950, at age 86, Mrs. Terrell was refused service by a whites-only restaurant. She and other activists filed a lawsuit which eventually led to a ruling that all segregation in restaurants in the city were unconstitutional. Her activism also earned her a place on a committee that investigated alleged police mistreatment of African Americans.
On July 24, 1954, in Annapolis, MD, Mrs. Terrell died after witnessing and being a part of some life major civil rights changes, including the U.S. Supreme Court’s historic Brown v. Board of Education ruling on May 17, 1954, which ended segregation in schools.
Today, Mary Church Terrell’s home located at 326 T Street in LeDroit Park, has been named a National Historic Landmark.
And now you know: Mary Church Terrell — outstanding educator/activist/suffragist.
Sources: SPARTACUS-EDUCATIONAL.COM; Wikipedia
(Contributing Writer: Mary Bates-Washington)