High school history textbooks love to leave out influential women of color. In fact, even the women textbooks do choose to feature are often painted in a different light, or large parts of their lives are completely ignored. For example, did you know Rosa Parks was a long-time victims’ advocate for sexual assault? Probably not, because all our U.S. history books told us was that she refused to give up her seat on the bus, which sparked the Montgomery Bus Boycott. Rosa Parks spent years investigating sexual violence against black women. She also supported wrongly accused black men, pushed for the desegregation of schools, and was the branch secretary of the Montgomery chapter of the NAACP. As I said, history books leave a lot of stuff out.
Here are five black women that they probably ignored altogether:
1. Hazel Scott (1920-1981)
Musical Prodigy Hazel Scott was born in Spain, later to grow up in Harlem, New York under the influence of Juilliard professor Paul Wagner. In the late 1930s, her career boomed and she became a well known musical performer at New York’s Elegant Dinner Club ‘Cafe Society.’ Scott would later become a star on Broadway and in films after her success at the Cafe. She refused to play traditional black roles in films and insisted on ‘important’ roles and to play the piano. She would later win a discrimination case in 1949 which would grant her fame and a 15-minute musical program. Her show would be the first program with an African American female host.
Photo courtesy of NPR
2. Pauli Murray (1910 – 1985)
Born in Baltimore, Anna Pauline (Pauli) Murray would suffer great losses in her life. Her mother passed away from a cerebral hemorrhage and her father was murdered. She lived with her relatives in North Carolina as a result. She was turned down by Harvard Law and the University of North Carolina law school for being African American and a woman. When challenged with racism and sexism while trying to pursue an education, Murray fought back and became a well-known face in the civil rights and women’s rights movements. In the ’70s, she challenged sexual discrimination and joined the priesthood. She earned her Master’s Degree of Divinity from Yale and made history when she was officially ordained as a priest in 1976.
Photo courtesy of On The Basis of Sex
3. Dorothy Height (1912 – 2010)
Born in 1912, Dorothy Height would become known as one of the most influential civil rights leaders in the country. As a social worker in Harlem, Height quickly became a leader of the Harlem Young Women’s Christian Association. She became a leader nationwide for YWCA. Height would then work with the National Council of Negro Women, becoming the organization’s fourth president in 1957 and serving her term for forty years. Height was a key player for the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom and would later become counsel to such notoriety as Dwight D. Eisenhower and Eleanor Roosevelt. In 1989, for her civil rights efforts, Height received the Citizens Medal Award from President Ronald Reagan. In 2004, she was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal.
Photo courtesy of NPR
4. Dr. Rebecca Lee Crumpler (1831 – 1895)
Born in 1831, Rebecca Crumpler first worked as a nurse before becoming the first African American female physician in the United States. She attended New England Female Medical College in 1864 where she received her doctorate. Crumpler was not a regular physician, she made it a point to help the poor and to work with those who had limited health care access. She made it a point to help freed slaves with medical attention even though the south faced extreme racism postwar. She is also believed to be the first African American to write a medical journal.
Image courtesy of CW39 Houston
5. Shirley Chisholm (1924 – 2005)
Born in Brooklyn, Chisholm would become the first major party African American candidate to run for president. Before that, she became the first African American congresswoman in 1968. When in college, Chisholm would regularly hear from her peers and professors to consider a political career. Not knowing the future, she would reply by saying it wasn’t possible to be in politics as a black female. Discrimination would follow Chisholm for her whole life. When running for president, she was banned from participating in televised debates. After much chagrin, she got to speak once. Chisholm would retire from Congress in 1983. She was offered the position of US Ambassador to Jamaica in the ’90s but declined due to ill health.
Photo courtesy of the Smithsonian Magazine