Sue Bailey Thurman

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For British Paralympic table tennis player, see Sue Bailey (table tennis).

Sue Bailey Thurman
Thurman in 1953
Born
Sue Elvie Bailey

(1903-08-26)August 26, 1903
Pine Bluff, Arkansas
DiedDecember 25, 1996(1996-12-25) (aged 93)
San Francisco, California
NationalityAmerican
Occupation(s)Writer, lecturer, historian, civil rights activist
Years active1926–95

Sue Bailey Thurman (née Sue Elvie Bailey; August 26, 1903 – December 25, 1996) was an American author, lecturer, historian and civil rights activist. She was the first non-white student to earn a bachelor's degree in music from

Civil Rights Movement, she served as spiritual counselors to many on the front lines, and helped establish the first interracial, non-denominational
church in the United States.

Thurman played an active role in establishing international student organizations to help prevent foreign students feeling isolated while studying abroad. She organized one of the first international scholarship programs for African-American women. She studied racism and the effects of prejudice on various people throughout the world, making two round-the-world trips in her lifetime. She wrote books and newspaper articles to preserve black heritage, and initiated the publishing efforts of the

Museum of Afro-American History in Boston
in 1963.

Thurman and her husband retired in San Francisco in 1965. She worked with the San Francisco Public Library in 1969 to develop resources for black history of the American West. In 1979 she was honored with a Centennial Award at Spelman College, sharing the recognition with UNESCO director Herschelle Sullivan Challenor. After her husband's death in 1981, Thurman took over the management of the Howard Thurman Educational Trust, which funded research for literary, religious and scientific purposes and assisted in scholarships for black students. On her death in 1996, she left the couple's vast archives to numerous universities.

Early years

Oberlin College

Sue Elvie Bailey was born on August 26, 1903, in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, to Reverend Isaac and Susie (née Ford) Bailey.[1] She attended primary school at Nannie Burroughs' School for Girls in Washington, D.C.[2] In 1920, she graduated from the college preparatory school, Spelman Seminary (now Spelman College)[1] in Atlanta, Georgia.[3] She continued her education at Oberlin College in Oberlin, Ohio, graduating in 1926 with bachelor's degrees in music and liberal arts.[1] Despite citations that Sue Bailey Thurman was the first black student to earn a music degree from Oberlin,[4] the music program's first black graduate was Harriet Gibbs Marshall in 1889. [5] While a student at Oberlin College, Bailey developed a friendship with Louise Thompson, who would become a central figure in the Harlem Renaissance movement, and encouraged Langston Hughes, inventor of jazz poetry, to read poetry there.[6] She traveled with a quintet giving concerts in Cleveland, New York, and Philadelphia, as well as London and Paris.[7]

Early career

After graduating, Thurman took a post as a music teacher at the

National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), complaining about conditions at the college under the predominantly white administration. Although Bailey was suspected of writing the letter after Du Bois published it in the NAACP's journal The Crisis, she did not betray Thompson but instead invited Langston Hughes to Hampton for a poetry reading and moral support.[6] Nevertheless, she left Hampton in 1930[4] to become a traveling National Secretary for the Student Division of the YWCA.[7] She lectured throughout Europe and established the first World Fellowship Committee of the YWCA.[8] On June 12, 1932, in the dining hall at Lincoln Academy, Kings Mountain, North Carolina, Bailey married Howard W. Thurman (1900–1981), a minister, who would become a social critic, writer and dean of several prominent US universities.[9][10] At the time of their marriage, he was serving as Dean of Rankin Chapel and Professor of Systematic Theology at Howard University in Washington, D.C.[7]

Asia

hymns. Thurman both sang and taught songs to local choirs.[19] She also commented on art, having acquired knowledge on the subject during an earlier trip to Mexico.[20]

The couple met with Mahatma Gandhi, becoming the first African Americans to have an audience with him.[1][3][4] When Thurman asked him to take his message to the United States, he demurred as his work in India and his personal quest there were not finished.[21] One important aspect of the meeting was a discussion of how non-violent resistance could be used as a means of creating social change.[1] The meeting had a profound effect on the couple, changing the direction of their lives.[22] Though they would remain Christians, the meeting with Gandhi led them to consider establishing a church free of prejudice, transcending racial, social, economic and spiritual boundaries. After they returned to the United States, Howard received a letter from A. J. Muste on behalf of Alfred Fisk who was looking for someone to establish a church in San Francisco which crossed the racial and spiritual divides. Muste was hopeful that Rev. Thurman might know of a divinity student interested in the position. Instead, Howard decided to take up the challenge himself, securing a leave of absence in order to found the church. Thurman went with him bringing their two daughters, as she strongly believed in the cause.[23]

Mid-career

Scholarly work and San Francisco

Thurman established the Juliette Derricotte Scholarship in the late 1930s, which allowed African-American undergraduate women of high academic achievement to study and travel abroad.[24] The first two recipients of the scholarship were Marian Banfield of Howard University and Anna V. Brown of Oberlin College.[25] Banfield was a goddaughter of Howard Thurman.[26] The following year the recipients of her scholarship were Elizabeth McCree from Boston, who attended Fisk University,[27] and Margaret Bush Wilson of Talladega College.[24]

Mary McLeod Bethune Council House

In 1940, Thurman founded the Aframerican Women's Journal, the first publishing vehicle of the National Council of Negro Women (NCNW), which she edited from 1940 until 1944.[1] In 1941, an archive committee was formed to design a plan for collecting works about the achievements of African-American women. Though their plans focused primarily on written records and professional accomplishment and would thus reflect middle-class life, the committee initiated work on collecting historical records of black women. In 1944, Thurman became the committee's chair and her mother donated $1,000[28] toward creating the National Council of Negro Women's National Library, Archives, and Museum.[1] On June 30, 1946, they held an archive drive, printing notices in newsletters and asking ministers, organizations, librarians and others to help them acquire photographs, books and mementos.[28] They opened the first facility of the library at what is now the Mary McLeod Bethune Council House National Historic Site.[29]

In 1943,

Navajos.[23]

people of color played in the proceedings and pointed out that the large populations of developing countries would become a force to be reckoned with.[33] Thurman, as a representative for the NCNW, attended the Primer Congreso Interamericano de Mujeres held in Guatemala City, Guatemala, in 1947.[34] The congress addressed many of the issues she supported such as women's rights, internationalism, and peace initiatives.[35] In 1949,[36] she led a delegation of members from the Church for the Fellowship of All Peoples to Paris for the Fourth Plenary Session of UNESCO.[7]

After researching black history in California, Thurman wrote eight articles for the San Francisco Sun Reporter as part of a series entitled "Pioneers of Negro Origin in California".

Delilah L. Beasley in 1919—and filled a gap caused by a lack of academic interest.[38] History in America, at the time, was written about men and almost exclusively about white men.[39] Neither of the women who wrote about the history of blacks in California was a native Californian.[38]

Boston

Civil Rights Movement, but they believed their commitment was to addressing the spiritual needs of those who were visible, rather than participating in marches, protests and demonstrations.[44] Among the papers of MLK were many letters from people such as Homer A. Jack,[45] who co-founded the Congress of Racial Equality; Lillian Smith,[46] author of the novel Strange Fruit; Glenn E. Smiley, national field secretary of Fellowship of Reconciliation,[47] as well as King's own acknowledgement, which credited their spiritual guidance.[48][49]

Thurman continued her writing work in Boston. In 1958, she published The Historical Cookbook of the American Negro, which not only gave recipes but included black history. It retold stories of professional women and history to counter the belief that all black women were maids and domestics at a time when African Americans were excluded from basic civil rights.[50] She recognized that in order to tell their history, a new approach was needed as there was no market for histories of the African Americans. In the preface to her book, she explained she was creating "palatable history", testifying to her shrewd marketing ability.[51]

The African Meeting House

During the 1960s, the Thurmans traveled widely, making various trips to study racial barriers that prohibited creation of community.[40] A two-year sabbatical granted from Boston University made their travels possible.[52] In 1962, they journeyed to Saskatchewan, Canada, to meet with tribal leaders about discrimination[53] and in 1963, they embarked on a trip that included Nigeria, Israel, Hawaii, and California.[54] In Nigeria, Howard Thurman lectured at the University of Ibadan. The couple's second round-the-world tour took them to Japan, the Philippines and Egypt.[40]

Black Heritage Trail was adapted from Thurman's original idea.[58]

While in Boston, in 1962, Thurman arranged for the sculptor

Meta Warrick Fuller to create a commissioned "freedom plaque" for Livingstone College, of Salisbury, North Carolina. Bailey was an invited speaker at Livingstone in 1963 and at that time, in honor of United Nations Day, she donated a collection of dolls representing the member nations to the college.[59] As far back as the 1930s, Thurman had collected ethnic dolls and given them to universities to promote understanding of cultural differences.[3] In 1967, Livingstone awarded her with an honorary doctorate.[60]

San Francisco return

Howard Thurman took retirement from Boston University in 1965 and the couple moved back to San Francisco.[52] Thurman continued to pursue historic preservation. She worked with the San Francisco Public Library in 1969 to develop resources for black history of the American West.[61] In the 1970s, the couple took a trip to the Pacific basin.[62] In 1979 she was honored with a Centennial Award at Spelman College, sharing the recognition with UNESCO director Herschelle Sullivan Challenor.[63]

After her husband's death, in 1981, Thurman took over the management of the Howard Thurman Educational Trust,

Victor Wong.[66]

Thurman died on Christmas Day, 1996, at the San Francisco Zen Buddhist Hospice Center.[32]

Legacy

After her death in 1996, she and Howard's vast archives were donated per their wishes to numerous universities. The largest collection of their documents is housed at Boston University.[8] There are additional collections of their writings and works at Oberlin,[7] Emory University[67] and several other institutions like the National Council of Negro Women's archives in Washington, D.C and libraries in Arkansas named for her mother, Mrs. Susie Ford Bailey.[7] The collection at Emory University includes the correspondence between the Thurmans and Mrs. Bailey, their personal libraries, and nearly one thousand photographs.[68]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g "Sue Bailey Thurman". Boston University. Boston, Massachusetts. Archived from the original on 8 July 2017. Retrieved August 4, 2015.
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  5. ^ ...General catalogue of Oberlin college, 1833 [-] 1908. Including an account of the principal events in the history of the college, with illustrations of the college buildings. Oberlin, OH: Oberlin College. 1909. p. 366.
  6. ^
    ISBN 978-0-199-88226-7
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  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j "RG 30/353 – Rev. Howard W. & Sue B. Thurman(1900–1981, 1901–1996)". Oberlin College Archives. Oberlin, Ohio: Oberlin College. Archived from the original on September 24, 2015. Retrieved August 4, 2015.
  8. ^ a b c d e f "The Legacy Begins: Howard & Sue Bailey Thurman at Boston University". Boston, Massachusetts: Howard Gotlieb Archival Research Center, Boston University. Retrieved August 4, 2015.
  9. ^ "Nuptial Set for Thurman-Bailey" New York Amsterdam News (May 25, 1932): 4.
  10. ^ "Y. W. C. A. Secretary Pretty Bride of Howard Thurneau" Chicago Defender (July 2, 1932): 6.
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  18. ^ Dixie & Eisenstadt (2011), p. 147.
  19. ^ Dixie & Eisenstadt (2011), pp. 131, 153.
  20. ^ Dixie & Eisenstadt (2011), p. 140.
  21. ^ Dixie & Eisenstadt (2011), p. 179.
  22. ^ Dixie & Eisenstadt (2011), p. 178.
  23. ^ a b c Burden, Jean. "Howard Thurman". Nathaniel Turner. Archived from the original on March 13, 2019. Retrieved August 11, 2015.
  24. ^ a b DiMauro, Susan (March 27, 2013). "The Juliette Derricotte Scholarship: From the Desk of Margaret Bush Wilson". Washington University Libraries. St. Louis, Missouri: Washington University. Retrieved August 4, 2015.
  25. ^ "Derricotte Committee Awards 2" (PDF). Pittsburgh Courier. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. March 11, 1939. Retrieved August 13, 2015.
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  31. ^ a b c Wallace, Bill (December 28, 1996). "OBITUARY – Sue Bailey Thurman". San Francisco Gate. San Francisco, California. Retrieved August 4, 2015.
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  34. ^ Flores Asturias, Ricardo (June 6, 2011). "Las Mujeres no Votan Porque Sí: Congreso Interamericano de Mujeres, 1947". Politica y Sentido Comun (in Spanish). Guatemala City, Guatemala: Ricardo Flores Asturias. Retrieved August 4, 2015.
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  37. ^ a b Daniels, Douglas Henry (1991). "Pioneer Urbanites". California Digital Library. Berkeley, California: UC Press E-Books Collection, 1982–2004. p. 220. Retrieved August 14, 2015.
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  41. ^ Thurman (1979), p. 184.
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  43. ^ "Howard Thurman Film". Howard Thurman Film. Retrieved August 14, 2015.[permanent dead link]
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  46. ^ Carson (1997), p. 19.
  47. ^ Carson (1997), pp. 20, 177.
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  49. ^ Ruggirello, Samantha (2014). "Creating a 'Palatable History': African-American Cookbooks as Political Texts" (PDF). Washington, DC: American University. p. 12. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 July 2016. Retrieved August 4, 2015.
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  53. ^ Phillips, B. M. (October 1, 1963). "Thurmans Abroad". Baltimore Afro-American. Baltimore, Maryland. p. 20. Retrieved August 14, 2015.
  54. ^ "Mrs. Howard Thurman and Daughter: Team Charts Boston Freedom Trails", New Pittsburgh Courier (February 8, 1964): 11.
  55. ^ "President Harold C. Case of Boston University". The Crisis. 71 (3). New York: NAACP: 203. March 1964. Retrieved August 14, 2015.
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  59. ^ "Husband and Wife Honored". Washington Afro-American. Washington, DC. June 13, 1967. p. 17. Retrieved August 14, 2015.
  60. ^ "History of Black America Launched at Library", Sun Reporter (June 14, 1969): 13.
  61. ^ "Morehouse Pays Tribute to Dr. Thurman". The Afro American. January 3, 1970. p. 14. Retrieved August 15, 2015.
  62. ^ "Sue Bailey Thurman Cited", Sun Reporter (May 10, 1979): 21.
  63. ^ Chiang, Harriet, "Anne Spencer Thurman", San Francisco Chronicle (June 4, 2001).
  64. ^ "Sue Thurman, Widow of Noted Theologian Howard Thurman", Los Angeles Sentinel (February 19, 1997): A21.
  65. ^ Pulley, Michael. "The Last Days of Victor Wong", Sacramento News & Review (October 18, 2001).
  66. ^ "I.G. Bailey and Thurman family papers, circa 1882–1995". Robert W. Woodruff Library, Emory University. 28 February 2005. Retrieved August 4, 2015.
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Further reading
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