Melnea Cass facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Melnea Agnes Cass
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Melnea Cass
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| Born |
Melnea Agnes Jones
June 16, 1896 |
| Died | December 16, 1978 (aged 82) |
| Nationality | American |
| Occupation | Social activist |
| Spouse(s) |
Marshall Cass
(m. 1917; died in 1958) |
Melnea Agnes Cass (born June 16, 1896 – died December 16, 1978) was an amazing American activist. She worked hard for her community and for civil rights. Civil rights are the basic rights that all people should have.
Melnea Cass was involved in many groups in Boston, Massachusetts. She helped start a local group for the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters. This was a union for African American railroad workers. She also fought to end segregation in Boston schools. Segregation meant keeping people of different races separate.
She was the president of the Boston chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). This group works for equal rights for all people. When she was young, she helped women register to vote. This was after the Nineteenth Amendment gave women the right to vote. People lovingly called her the "First Lady of Roxbury."
Melnea Cass's Early Life
Melnea Cass was born Melnea Agnes Jones. Her father was a janitor and her mother was a domestic worker. A domestic worker is someone who cleans and cooks in other people's homes. When Melnea was five, her family moved to the South End of Boston.
When she was eight, her mother passed away. Melnea and her sisters were raised by their father and their Aunt Ella. Aunt Ella was like a second mother to them. Later, their aunt moved the girls to Newburyport, Massachusetts. There, they were cared for by Amy Smith.
Melnea started school in Boston. After finishing elementary school in Newburyport, she went to Girls' High School in Boston for one year. Then, her aunt sent her to St. Frances de Sales Convent School. This was a Catholic school for Black and Native American girls in Virginia. Melnea graduated in 1914 as the best student in her class. She then returned to Boston.
Melnea looked for jobs in stores. But there were not many jobs for Black people in Boston at that time. So, she had to work as a domestic worker. She did this until she married Marshall Cass in December 1917. While her husband was serving in the military, their first child, Marshall, was born. After the war, they had two more children, Marianne and Melanie. Her husband passed away in 1958.
Melnea Cass started to get involved in community projects. In 1920, the Nineteenth Amendment was approved. This gave women the right to vote. Melnea helped organize Black women to register and cast their first votes. She continued to work for women's voting rights throughout her life. She also attended talks by William Monroe Trotter. He was a famous civil rights leader. She also read the Boston Guardian newspaper regularly.
Melnea Cass's Career and Activism
In the 1930s, Melnea Cass began a lifetime of volunteer work. She helped at the Robert Gould Shaw House. This was a community center that helped people. She also started the Kindergarten Mothers group.
Over the years, she was part of many different groups. These included the Pansy Embroidery Club and the Harriet Tubman Mothers' Club. She also helped form the Boston local of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters. During World War II, she helped start Women In Community Service. This group later helped young people find jobs through the Job Corps.
In 1949, she helped create Freedom House. This organization worked to improve life in the Roxbury neighborhood. A year later, Boston Mayor John Collins chose her to be on the Action for Boston Community Development (ABCD) board. This group helped people who lost their homes.
From 1962 to 1964, Melnea Cass was the president of the Boston branch of the NAACP. From 1975 to 1976, she led the Massachusetts Advisory Committee for the Elderly.
In 1933, William Monroe Trotter organized a protest. He wanted African American businesses to hire African American workers. Melnea Cass joined this protest. It was her first public demonstration.
Today, a street in Boston's Roxbury neighborhood is named Melnea Cass Boulevard. There is also a swimming pool and recreation center named after her. On May 22, 1966, the city declared it Melnea Cass Day.
She received special honorary degrees from three universities. These were Northeastern University (1969), Simmons College (1971), and Boston College (1975).
Melnea Cass passed away in 1978. Her life and work are remembered on the Boston Women's Heritage Trail.
