Alfreda Duster
Alfreda Duster | |
|---|---|
.jpg) | |
| Born | Alfreda Barnett September 3, 1904 |
| Died | April 2, 1983 (aged 78) Billings Hospital, Chicago, Illinois |
| Notable work | Crusade for Justice: The Autobiography of Ida B. Wells |
| Parent(s) | Ida B. Wells Ferdinand L. Barnett |
Alfreda Duster (1904 – 1983) was a social worker and civic leader in Chicago.[1][2] She is best known as the youngest daughter of civil rights activist Ida B. Wells and as the editor of her mother's autobiography, Crusade for Justice: The Autobiography of Ida B. Wells.
Biography
Alfreda Barnett Duster was the youngest daughter[3] of civil rights activists Ida B. Wells and Ferdinand L. Barnett.[1][2][4] Duster graduated from the University of Chicago in 1924 with a bachelor of philosophy degree.[1][2][4] She married Benjamin C. Duster Jr., who was a clerk in her father's law firm, and worked as a homemaker and mother to her five children until she was widowed at age 40 and went back to school for social work.[1][2] Duster served as a juvenile delinquency prevention coordinator for the state of Illinois and the administrator of the girls' program for underprivileged city children at Camp Illini.[1][2] Duster was also secretary to Democrat Charles Jenkins, a black member of the Illinois legislature.[2] She was awarded "Mother of the Year" in 1950 and 1970; the Bootstrap Award from the Opportunity Centers of Chicago; Citation for Public Service from the University of Chicago Alumni Association; and honorary doctorate of humane letters from Chicago State University.[1][2][4]
Duster edited and published Ida B. Wells' autobiography, Crusade for Justice: The Autobiography of Ida B. Wells, which she worked on for twenty-five years after her mother's death.[1][3][5][6] For this book, Duster won the National Council of Negro Women Award for Literary Excellence and Outstanding Humanitarian Contributions.[2]
The Alfreda Barnett Duster Apartments, public housing in Chicago, Illinois, are named after Duster.[3]
Alfreda Duster died from a brain hemorrhage at age 78.[2]
Further reading
Schultz, Rima Lunin and Adele Hast. “Women Building Chicago 1790-1990: A Biographical Dictionary.” Indiana University Press, 2001.
References
- ^ a b c d e f g "Black Women Oral History Project Interviews, 1976–1981: Biographies". Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America research Guides. Retrieved 7 May 2020.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Derr, Mary Krane. "Duster, Alfreda Barnett". African American National Biography. Oxford University Press. Retrieved 12 May 2020.
- ^ a b c "Alfreda Barnett Duster Apartments". Chicago Housing Authority. Retrieved 12 May 2020.
- ^ a b c "Rites fro civic leader Alfreda Duster, 78". Chicago Tribune. 4 April 1984. Retrieved 12 May 2020.
- ^ Black, Patti Carr. "Ida B. Wells: A Courageous Voice for Civil Rights". Mississippi History Now. Retrieved 12 May 2020.
- ^ "Alfreda Wells discusses her mother, Ida B. Wells-Barnett and her book "Crusade for Justice"". The WFMT Studs Terkel Radio Archive. Retrieved 12 May 2020.
External links
- Alfreda Duster Interview Transcript, 1976-1981 OH-31. Schlesinger Library, Radcliffe Institute, Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass.