Anna Arnold Hedgeman

Anna Hedgeman
Personal details
Born	Anna Arnold (1899-07-05)July 5, 1899 Marshall, Iowa, U.S.
Died	January 17, 1990(1990-01-17) (aged 90) New York City, U.S.
Political party	Democratic
Education	Hamline University (BA)

Anna Arnold Hedgeman (July 5, 1899 – January 17, 1990) was an African-American civil rights leader, politician, educator, and writer. Under President Harry Truman, She was the executive director of the National Council for a Permanent Fair Employment Practices Commission; she had worked on Truman's presidential campaign. She was appointed to the cabinet of New York City mayor Robert F. Wagner, Jr., becoming the first African-American woman to hold a cabinet post in New York.

Hedgeman was a major advocate for minorities and the poor in New York City. She served as a consultant for many companies and entities on racial issues; later in her life started Hedgeman Consultant Services. She was among the organizers of the 1963 March on Washington. During many years involved in the civil rights movement, she was the friend of Dorothy Height.

Early life and family

Anna Arnold was born in Marshall, Iowa to William James Arnold II and Marie Ellen (Parker) Arnold. She moved with her family to Anoka, Minnesota; her family was the only African-American family in the small town. However, her family was an active part of the community and she was never made to feel different while growing up. The Methodist church and school were both vital parts of the Arnold family's life. Her father created an encouraging environment which stressed education and a strong work ethic. Anna learned how to read at home but was not permitted to attend school until she was seven years old.

In 1918, Anna Arnold graduated from Anoka High School and continued her education at Hamline University, a Methodist College in Saint Paul, Minnesota. She was the college’s first African-American student. In 1922, she became the first African-American graduate; she earned a B.A. degree in English. While in college, she heard W. E. B. Du Bois speak and it inspired her to be an educator.

In 1936, she and Merritt Hedgeman, a musician with a particular interest in African-American folk music and opera, were married in New York City. They did not have children.

Career before politics

For two years, Anna Hedgeman taught English and history at Rust College, a historically black college in Holly Springs, Mississippi. She had her first experience with segregation there.

Hedgeman began to work in the community in the 1920s becoming the executive director of a black branch of the YWCA in Jersey City, New Jersey. She worked for the YWCA as an executive director in Ohio, New Jersey, Harlem, Philadelphia, and Brooklyn. All of the branches were segregated.

She was also the executive director of the National Committee for a Permanent Fair Employment Practices Commission, the assistant dean of women at Howard University, the associate editor for the New York Age, as well as a consultant for the public relations department of Fuller Products Company and on Harry Truman's 1948 presidential campaign.

Civil rights activism

Throughout the 1930s, Hedgeman remained active in protest activities, her militancy resulted in a forced resignation from the directorship of the black branch of the Brooklyn YWCA. In 1944, she became the executive secretary of the National Council for a Permanent Fair Employment Practice Committee (FEPC). In 1946, Hedgeman served as the assistant dean of women at Howard University.

In 1954, she became the first African-American woman to hold a mayoral cabinet position in the history of New York City. In 1958, she held a position as a public relations consultant for Fuller Products Company. She became an associate editor and columnist for New York Age in 1959. Later she founded Hedgeman Consultant Services in New York City, with her husband.

In 1963, Hedgeman was an organizer of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. She worked alongside activists including Bayard Rustin and A. Philip Randolph. The march brought over 250,000 activists to Washington, D.C. She individually recruited 40,000 Protestants to participate. In 1966 she became a co-founder of the National Organization for Women.

Hedgeman was a teacher, lecturer, and consultant to numerous educational centers, boards, and colleges and universities particularly in the area of African-American studies. She traveled to Africa and lectured throughout the United States, especially in black schools and colleges. She stressed the importance of understanding history as a basis to achieve equality. In the 1970s, she frequently spoke at colleges in Africa and the United States of America.

Hedgeman held memberships in numerous organizations such as the Child Study Association, Community Council of the City of New York, National Urban League, NAACP, United Nations Association, Advisory Committee on Alcoholism, Advisory Committee on Drug Addiction, and the National Conference of Christians and Jews. In 1963, she became the coordinator of Special Events for the Commission of Religion and Race of the National Council of Churches. She communicate to Caucasian Christians about why racism was against the principles of their religion. This was the mode through which she recruited 40,000 Protestants to participate in the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. She retired from the NCC in 1967.

Hedgeman was the author of The Trumpet Sounds (1964), The Gift of Chaos (1977), and she wrote articles in many organizational publications, newspapers, and journals.

Political career

Hedgeman became a consultant about racial problems for New York City's Department of Welfare during the Great Depression; at the time it was called the Emergency Relief Bureau. She investigated major racial issues, including the continuation of underground slavery through the Bronx Slave Markets, as well as studying the living conditions of minorities and encouraging civil service appointments for these under-represented citizens.

In 1957, Anna Hedgeman became the first woman on the cabinet of a New York City mayor, serving for one term under Robert F. Wagner, Jr. After being sworn in at city hall to fanfare, it appeared that the mayor had no intention of employing in any position. She responded by assembling allies throughout the African-American press putting Wagner's potential reneging under the public eye. It was a great success and Hedgeman received her spot on the cabinet, although she was given a basement office. In the role, she served as an intermediary between Harlem and city hall. She also attended events for the mayor as his stand in when he could not make an appearance.

In 1960, she planned to run for United States Congress. She also had an unsuccessful race for City Council President in New York City.

Honors and awards

Hedgeman was a recipient of the Pioneer Woman Award, awarded by the New York State Conference on Midlife and Older Woman in 1983. She received an Extraordinary Woman of Achievement Award from the National Conference of Christians and Jews. She was granted honorary doctor degrees by Howard University and Hamline University.

Her portrait hangs in the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C.

Death

After her husband died in 1987, Hedgeman moved to the Greater Harlem Nursing Home in Harlem. She died on January 17, 1990, in Harlem Hospital at the age of 90.

Works

• The Trumpet Sounds: A Memoir of Negro Leadership (1964). New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston.
• The Gift of Chaos: Decades of American Discontent (1977). Oxford University Press. ISBN 0195021967, 978-0195021967

Further reading

• Bolden, Tonya (1996). The Book of African-American Women: 150 Crusaders, Creators, and Uplifters. Adams Media Corporation. ISBN 1-55850-647-0
• Lanker, Brian (1999). I dream a world: portraits of black women who changed America. Stewart, Tabori & Chang. ISBN 1-55670-888-2
• Scanlon, Jennifer (2016). Until There is Justice: The Life of Anna Arnold Hedgeman. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-024859-8

External links

• Anna Arnold Hedgeman papers, Library of Congress
• Portrait of Anna Arnold Hedgeman, in National Portrait Gallery