Mary Church Terrell: An Original Oberlin Activist

Civil Rights

In almost everything she did, Mary Church Terrell strived to improve the lives of her people: she answered “The Call” and became a charter member of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP); she argued for equal treatment of “colored” students at Oberlin College when it was allowing segregated housing; and she battled with the American Association of University Women (AAUW) when the District of Columbia chapter sought to bar her membership. 
 
In 1949, at age 86, Terrell became Chair of the Coordinating Committee for the Enforcement of the D.C. Anti-Discrimination Laws, a group which took the fight against segregation of stores and restaurants in Washington, D.C. , to the streets and to the courts.
 

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