Florence Ruth LeSueur
(March 17, 1898 – June 27, 1991)
She was a prominent African-American civic leader and activist, notable for being the first woman to serve as president of an NAACP chapter. She dedicated her life to championing black rights in employment and education. Here is a reformatted version of her biography:
Early Life:
- Florence Ruth Barrett was born on March 17, 1898, in Pennsylvania, to parents Frank C. and Maude (née Lawson) Barrett.
- She pursued her education at Wilberforce University and later relocated to Boston in 1935, where she became a long-time resident of the South End neighborhood.
Career:
- Florence LeSueur made history by becoming the first person to lead a Boston-wide education committee under the NAACP.
- From 1948 to 1951, she held the prestigious position of president in the Boston branch of the NAACP, a remarkable achievement as the first woman to lead an NAACP branch nationwide.
- In 1950, during the 41st Annual NAACP Convention, Florence LeSueur’s groundbreaking role as the first female president of an NAACP branch was officially recognized.
- Notable attendees at the conference included Boston mayor John B. Hynes and Lieutenant Governor Charles E. Jeff Sullivan, where crucial topics such as “The Church and the NAACP” and “Registration and Voting” were discussed.
- She played a vital role in the founding of METCO (Metropolitan Council for Education Opportunity) alongside Ruth Batson, aiming to desegregate Boston’s schools by busing inner-city students to suburban schools.
- Florence LeSueur strongly opposed the Rankin bill, H.R. 314, alongside fellow NAACP members in Congress. This bill aimed to create a segregated veterans hospital in Franklin County, Mississippi. Their argument was that veterans should not face segregation after fighting for their country.
- During her tenure with the NAACP, she played a pivotal role in securing positions for six black men as drivers at the Boston Elevated Railway, the precursor to the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. She organized demonstrations and led delegations to advocate for better job opportunities for black individuals, resulting in the hiring of black drivers at a higher job level.
- For over two decades, she served as a director of the NAACP branch.
- In 1959, Florence LeSueur assumed the role of president at the Harriet Tubman House, now part of United South End Settlements.
- In the 1970s, together with her daughter, The Rev. Leota Ruth Santos, she founded “The United Church of The First Born” in the basement of her home in Brockton, Massachusetts. The church later moved to a location in Hanson, Massachusetts.
Personal Life:
- Florence LeSueur passed away on June 27, 1991, at the age of 93, in a nursing home located in Brockton, Massachusetts.
- She was a mother to eleven children and a grandmother to fifty-two grandchildren.
- Notably, she formed a close friendship with Eleanor Roosevelt while both were actively engaged in the civil rights movement.