Gloria Blackwell: Difference between revisions
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Gloria Blackwell (March 11, 1927 – December 7, 2010) was an African-American civil rights activist and educator. She taught at Clark Atlanta University for 20 years and was at the center of the civil rights movement in Orangeburg, South Carolina, attracting national attention and a visit by Martin Luther King.
Biography
Blackwell was born in Little Rock, South Carolina to Harrison Benjamin Blackwell, a barber, and Lurline Olivia Thomas Blackwell, a teacher at the Little Rock Colored School.[1] Blackwell attended Mather Academy in Camden, South Carolina and graduated high school in Sumter, South Carolina in 1943. At the age of 16, she enrolled[2] in Claflin College in Orangeburg but left in 1944 to get married, living for a time in Chicago, Illinois.[1] The marriage ended in divorce and she returned to Orangeburg with two small daughters.[3] She re-enrolled at Claflin, graduating with a Bachelor of Science degree in 1953.[1] Her second husband, a professor at South Carolina State University, Larney G. Rackley, addopted her daughters, Jamelle and Lurma Rackley.[3]
Blackwell received a Master of Arts degree in education from South Carolina State University[1] and her doctorate in American studies[1] from Emory University in 1973.[3] She taught at Clark Atlanta University for 20 years, retiring in 1993.[4]
Civil rights activity
Blackwell became active in the civil rights movement early on, volunteering and recruiting for the NAACP.[1] In the early 1960s, she was arrested for sitting in the whites only waiting area of Orangeburg hospital with her daughter, Jamelle, whom she had taken to the emergency room for an injured finger.[3] She had been directed to the "colored" waiting area, which turned out to be a pile of crates next to a soda machine. She thought it was a joke, so she and her daughter returned to the whites-only area, which caused a stir, leading to her arrest.[3] She was defended in court by Matthew J. Perry, whose defense of her led to him being charged with contempt of court. Blackwell filed a civil lawsuit against the officials of the hospital, asserting that the operation of separate facilities violated her constitutional rights. Blackwell won her suit and the criminal case was dropped.[3] Orangeburg attracted attention from both the nation and Martin Luther King, who paid a visit.[1]
References
- ^ a b c d e f g "Gloria Blackwell (Rackley) Biography" The History Makers. Retrieved June 3, 2011
- ^ Richard Reid, "The Gloria Rackley-Blackwell story" The Times and Democrat, (February 22, 2011). Retrieved June 3, 2011
- ^ a b c d e f Carolyn Click, "Orangeburg civil rights icon, and Claflin alumna Dr. Gloria Rackley Blackwell dies" Claflin University (December 10, 2010). Retrieved June 2, 2011
- ^ "State civil rights leader dead at 83" The Augusta Chronicle (December 10, 2010). Retrieved June 3, 2011