People Who Have Shaped Civil Rights

A. Philip Randolph was a labor organizer and one of the most influential political strategists of the twentieth century. His belief in organized labor’s ability to counter workforce discrimination and his skill in planning non-violent protests helped gain employment advancements for African Americans.

Remembered as a remarkable public speaker, Agnes J. Adams actively participated in the Black clubwomen's movement and other Boston organizations dedicated to racial justice.

Alberta Schenck is most notably remembered for her role in the advancement of native rights during a time when segregation against indigenous people ran rampant in her hometown of Nome, Alaska. Her advocacy for native rights played a role in the passing of the Alaska Equal Rights Act of 1945.

A successful dressmaker and clubwoman, Alice Casneau had an active professional and public life in Boston during the turn of the 20th century.

Alice was born around 1875. She was co-founder of the Kentucky Association of Colored Women’s Clubs and Louisville Women’s Improvement Club, a member of the Black women’s suffrage movement, a music teacher in Louisville Colored Schools, and supported the Kentucky Negro Educational Association Scholarship Fund.

A revolutionary social activist, Alice Stone Blackwell played a significant role in women's suffrage movement. Blackwell served as a leader in the Boston and Massachusetts movements, and she raised her voice nationally through her work as editor of "The Woman's Journal." She also participated in other 20th century social justice issues that defended the civil rights and liberties of others.

Amelia was born in Savannah, Georgia on August 18, 1911. She was one of ten children. Her father, George, was a skilled construction worker and owned a wholesale woodlot. Her mother, Anna, was a seamstress. When she wasn't working, Anna traveled to rural Black communities to promote women's suffrage. She often took 10-year-old Amelia with her as she knocked on doors and accompanied women to the polls to cast their votes.

Working for African Americans’ civil and political rights, Arianna C. Sparrow joined Black women’s organizations to protest racial discrimination and support women’s suffrage.

Bayard Rustin was a brilliant strategist, pacifist, and forward-thinking civil rights activist during the middle of the 20th century.

A Black printer and writer for Boston area newspapers, Benjamin Franklin Roberts served as a leader for his community. He printed the "Caution Colored People of Boston" in response to the Fugitive Slave Law, and he advocated for equal schooling for his and other Black children in Boston.