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Ardie Clark Halyard

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Ardie Clark Halyard in 1982, photo by Judith Sedwick

Ardie A. Clark Halyard (1896  – 1989) was a banker, activist and first woman president of the Milwaukee chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).

Biography

Halyard was born in Covington, Georgia.[1] She was the daughter of a sharecropper.[2] Halyard graduated with a degree in education from Atlanta University.[2] She married Wilbur Halyard in 1920.[1] She and her husband lived in Beloit for some time, where they started a NAACP branch there.[3] In 1923, she and her husband moved to Milwaukee.[2] At the time when they had moved to Milwaukee, they discovered white realtors "openly discussed strategies to restrict the city's black population" to certain areas of town.[4]

In 1925, she and her husband co-founded the first black-owned savings and loan in Milwaukee, Columbia Savings and Loan Association.[1] The couple opened the savings and loan with a single ten-dollar bill.[5] This bank allowed black people to apply for loans without facing racial discrimination.[5] It was "virtually impossible for blacks to obtain a mortgage so they could purchase a home" at the time.[3] To make the savings and loan a success, neither she nor Wilbur Halyard "drew a salary" for the first 10 years.[2] Halyard worked as a director at Goodwill Industries for 20 years, while at the same time acting as "bookkeeper and secretary for Columbia."[3] By the late 1960s, their Columbia's assets were valued at $4 million.[6]

Halyard became the first woman president of the Milwaukee chapter of the NAACP in 1951.[5] During her time as president, she "increased dues-paying membership from 39 to 1,416 people."[4] She remained active in the NAACP in other capacities, often as treasurer.[7][8][9]

References

  1. ^ a b c "Historical Figures". The Making of Milwaukee. Milwaukee Public Television. Retrieved 15 February 2016.
  2. ^ a b c d Resler, Jerry (17 February 1989). "Ardie Halyard Was a True Pioneer". The Milwaukee Sentinel. Retrieved 15 February 2016.
  3. ^ a b c Blackwell, Edward H. (25 September 1974). "Columbia S&L: A Black Success". The Milwaukee Journal. Retrieved 15 February 2016.
  4. ^ a b Dougherty, Jack (2004). More Than One Struggle: The Evolution of Black School Reform in Milwaukee. The University of North Carolina Press. pp. 42–43. ISBN 9780807863466. Columbia Savings and Loan Association halyard.
  5. ^ a b c "Ardie Clark Halyard". Wisconsin Women Making History. Retrieved 15 February 2016.
  6. ^ Thompson, William F. (2013). Continuity and Change, 1940-1965: History of Wisconsin. Wisconsin Historical Society Press. p. 316. ISBN 9780870206337.
  7. ^ "State NAACP Renames Young As President". Madison Capital Times. 29 May 1965. Retrieved 15 February 2016 – via Newspaper Archive.
  8. ^ "Racine Official NAACP Chief". Madison Wisconsin State Journal. 24 May 1973. Retrieved 15 February 2016 – via Newspaper Archive.
  9. ^ "State NAACP Re-Elects White". Racine Journal Times. 24 May 1977. Retrieved 15 February 2016 – via Newspaper Archive.
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