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Frances Mary Albrier

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Frances Mary Albrier
Born(1898-09-21)September 21, 1898
Mount Vernon, New York
DiedAugust 21, 1987(1987-08-21) (aged 88)
NationalityAmerican
EducationTuskegee Institute
Alma materHoward University
Occupationcivil rights activist
Known forBerkeley Unified School District
Awards"Fight for Freedom" Award

Frances Mary Albrier (September 21 1898, Mount Vernon, New York-August 21 1987) was a civil rights activist and community leader.

Early life

Albrier was born in Mount Vernon, New York, and raised in Tuskegee, Alabama by her grandparents. She attended the Tuskegee Institute through high school. She received a B.A. from Howard University in 1920, and moved to Berkeley, California.[1]

Career

She became active in local politics in Alameda County, California, where she served as a Democratic Central Committeewoman. She also founded the East Bay Women's Welfare Club of mothers.[2]

In 1942, Albrier trained as a welder, in order to contribute to the World War II war effort. Initially the Boilermakers Union was unwilling to accept her as a member. However, the union eventually accepted her dues as a result of pressure from the community. She became the first African American woman hired at Kaiser Shipyards in Richmond, California.[3]

Albrier played an important role in eliminating discrimination against hiring African-American teachers in the Berkeley, California public schools.[4]

She received the NAACP "Fight for Freedom" Award in 1954.[4]

References

  1. ^ Frances Mary Albrier : Determined Advocate for Racial Equality : an Interview Conducted by Malca Chall, 1977-1981. Cambridge, Mass.: Black Women Oral History Project, Schlesinger Library, Radcliffe Institute, Harvard University. p. xiv. Retrieved 26 February 2016.
  2. ^ "Visionaries, Dreamers, Iconoclasts, And Rebels: Women of California". Bene Legere, Newsletter of the Library Associates. No. 68, Fall 2005. University of California Berkeley Library. Retrieved 2016-02-26.
  3. ^ "Albrier, Frances Mary (1898-1987)". Black Past.org. Retrieved 26 February 2016.
  4. ^ a b "Black Women Oral History Project Interviews, 1976–1981, Interview Transcripts & Audio: Frances Albrier". Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America, Radcliffe University. Retrieved 26 February 2016.