Lucy Randolph Mason facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Lucy Randolph Mason
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| Born | July 26, 1882 Alexandria, Virginia, US
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| Died | May 6, 1959 (aged 76) Atlanta, Georgia, US
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Lucy Randolph Mason (born July 26, 1882 – died May 6, 1959) was an important American activist in the 20th century. She worked hard to improve conditions for workers and supported the civil rights movement. Lucy was a strong voice for fairness and equality for everyone.
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Lucy Randolph Mason's Early Life
Lucy Randolph Mason was born on July 26, 1882, in Virginia, near Alexandria. She grew up close to Richmond. Her father, Landon Mason, was an Episcopal minister. Lucy was one of five children.
Her family had a long history in America. She was a descendant of George Mason, who helped write the Virginia Declaration of Rights. This document was a model for the Bill of Rights, which protects important freedoms for Americans. She was also related to famous figures like John Marshall and Robert E. Lee.
Growing up in a religious family, Lucy learned strong values about helping others. After high school, she taught herself office skills. During this time, she became very interested in women's rights, especially the right to vote. She also wanted to improve life for working people and fight against unfair treatment based on race, especially in the Southern states.
Working for Social Change
In her twenties, Lucy worked as an office assistant. She spent all her free time volunteering for social causes and the movement for women's voting rights.
In 1914, the Richmond YWCA hired her. She worked there until 1918, helping women. When her mother passed away, Lucy left her job to care for her sick father. Even then, she continued to volunteer. She led the Richmond Equal Suffrage League, which fought for women's right to vote. She also became president of the Richmond League of Women Voters.
After her father died in 1923, Lucy returned to the YWCA. She created new programs to help young women, both white and Black, learn skills and advance in their careers. She also worked to get public support for laws that would make workplaces safer, stop child labor, raise minimum wages, and shorten work hours. Lucy even traveled through the South to promote fair labor standards. She wrote a special guide called Standards for Workers in Southern Industry in 1931.
Lucy was also part of the Union Label League. She often spoke about the importance of buying products made by union workers. During World War I, she was chosen to lead a committee focused on women in industry.
A National Voice for Consumers
Lucy's hard work caught the attention of other important reformers, like Florence Kelley and Eleanor Roosevelt. In 1932, Lucy was chosen to lead the National Consumers League (NCL). She moved to New York and worked closely with social workers. The NCL worked to pass laws that protected workers. They also encouraged people to buy goods only from companies that paid fair wages and offered good working conditions.
Under Lucy's leadership, the NCL helped pass new state labor laws. They also pushed for better labor rules in the 1933 National Industrial Recovery Act. Most importantly, they helped ensure the passage of the 1938 Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). This law set national minimum wage, overtime pay, and child labor standards. During this time, she became close friends with Eleanor Roosevelt.
Championing Workers in the South
In 1937, Lucy met John L. Lewis, the president of the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO). He helped her get a job as the CIO's public relations representative for the South. At 55, Lucy moved to Atlanta. For the next 16 years, she became the CIO's "roving ambassador."
Lucy believed the CIO could help Southern workers learn about their rights and bring more democracy to the South. She saw it as a way to fix economic and racial injustices. Lucy traveled alone to small towns where union organizers faced danger. She spoke with sheriffs, judges, newspaper editors, and politicians. She explained workers' rights to organize and bargain under new federal laws.
People called her "Miss Lucy." Because she came from an old, respected Virginia family, she could often talk to important leaders when others couldn't. Her calm but strong personality helped her succeed. She also brought civil rights violations to the attention of federal officials, including President Franklin D. Roosevelt. For example, she convinced Roosevelt to send an investigator to Memphis in 1940 after union organizers were attacked.
After 1944, Lucy worked with the CIO Political Action Committee (CIO-PAC) in the South. She helped register union members, both Black and white, to vote. She also worked to end the poll tax, which made it harder for poor people and minorities to vote.
Lucy also built strong connections between labor groups and religious groups. In 1938, she convinced the Southern Baptist Convention to support workers' rights to organize and earn fair wages. In the 1940s, she organized groups in Southern cities that brought together different faiths and unions. These groups worked to build understanding between labor and churches.
Lucy was deeply committed to ending white supremacy in the South. She was a founding member of the Southern Conference for Human Welfare. She often spoke at meetings that included both Black and white people.
In 1952, Lucy Randolph Mason's life story, To Win These Rights, was published. Her close friend, Eleanor Roosevelt, wrote the introduction. In 1953, Lucy retired from her union work due to poor health. She passed away in an Atlanta nursing home in 1959.
Awards and Recognition
- 1952: Social Justice Award from the National Religion and Labor Foundation
Lucy Randolph Mason's Writings
- The Shorter Day and Women Workers - 1922
- Standards For Workers in Southern Industry - 1931
- Work, Wages, and Security - 1933
- The Industrial South - 1936
- To Win These Rights: a personal story of the CIO in the South - 1952.
