Patricia Stephens Due facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Patricia Stephens Due
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Patricia Stephens Due with articles about her civil rights involvement, circa 2000
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Patricia Stephens
December 9, 1939 Quincy, Florida, U.S.
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| Died | February 7, 2012 (aged 72) Smyrna, Georgia, U.S.
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| Occupation | Civil rights activist |
| Known for | Tallahassee jail-in |
Patricia Stephens Due (born December 9, 1939 – died February 7, 2012) was an important African-American civil rights activist. She worked hard for equal rights in the United States, especially in her home state of Florida.
With her sister Priscilla and other activists, Patricia Due took part in one of the first "jail-ins" in 1960. She spent 49 days in jail. This happened because she refused to pay a fine for sitting at a "White only" lunch counter in Tallahassee, Florida. Police used tear gas on students protesting these arrests, and it damaged her eyes. She wore dark glasses for the rest of her life.
Patricia Due held many leadership roles in groups like the CORE and the NAACP. She fought against unfair rules that separated people in stores, buses, theaters, schools, restaurants, and hotels. She also led important efforts to help people register to vote in Florida during the 1960s.
With her daughter, Tananarive, Patricia Due wrote a book called Freedom in the Family: a Mother-Daughter Memoir of the Fight for Civil Rights. This book tells the story of her fight for civil rights. She started as a student at Florida A&M University and later worked for civil rights groups. She often worked with her husband, John D. Due, Jr., who was a civil rights lawyer.
Contents
Early Life and Education
Patricia Stephens was born on December 9, 1939, in Quincy, Florida. She was the second of three children born to Lottie Mae and Horace Walter Stephens.
In 1963, she married John D. Due, Jr., who was studying law at Florida A&M University (FAMU). He later became a well-known civil rights lawyer. They had three daughters together.
Patricia Due's college studies were often stopped because of her protests and arrests. She also traveled to speak and raise money for the civil rights movement. She started at Florida A&M University in 1957 but did not finish her degree until 1967.
Fighting for Civil Rights
Patricia Due and her sister Priscilla began fighting segregation when Patricia was only 13 years old. They insisted on being served at the "white only" window of a local ice cream shop in Belle Glade.
In the summer of 1959, the sisters went to a workshop about nonviolent resistance. This workshop was organized by the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE). They learned how to protest peacefully.
The Tallahassee Sit-ins and Jail-in
On February 20, 1960, Patricia and Priscilla were among eleven FAMU students arrested. They had ordered food at a "white only" Woolworth lunch counter. This was a sit-in, a peaceful protest where people sit in a segregated place to challenge unfair rules.
On March 12, many more students from FAMU and Florida State University were arrested for similar sit-ins. A thousand students then started marching from the FAMU campus towards downtown Tallahassee. Police officers stopped them with tear gas. Patricia Due was at the front of the march and was tear-gassed directly in the face. This caused permanent damage to her eyes.
Patricia Due and the other students who participated in the sit-ins were found guilty on March 17, 1960. Eight of them refused to pay the $300 fine. Instead, they chose to go to jail. These eight students served 49 days in the Leon County Jail. They included Patricia and Priscilla Stephens, John Broxton, Barbara Broxton, William Larkins, Clement Carney, Angelina Nance, and 16-year-old Henry Marion Steele.
This "jail-in" became famous across the country. The students received a supportive message from Martin Luther King Jr.. Patricia Due also sent a letter to baseball legend Jackie Robinson, who published it in his newspaper column. Robinson later sent diaries to the jailed students so they could write about their experiences.
After the jail-in, Patricia Due and the others traveled around the country. They gave speeches to tell people about the civil rights movement. She met important leaders like Eleanor Roosevelt and author James Baldwin. She was also arrested many times as a leader in the movement.
Later Life and Recognition
Patricia Stephens Due passed away in 2012 at the age of 72. She had been battling cancer.
Awards and Honors
Patricia Due received many awards for her important work. These include the Eleanor Roosevelt Award for Outstanding Leadership and the Gandhi Award for Outstanding Work in Human Relations. The NAACP also gave her the Florida Freedom Award.
Her old university, Florida A&M University, gave her an honorary doctorate degree. In 2008, the National Hook-Up of Black Women Inc. honored her at their national meeting. In 2017, Patricia Due was added to the Florida Civil Rights Hall of Fame.
Remembering Her Legacy
- In February 2010, students at Florida A&M University re-enacted the sit-ins, jail-in, and protest march that happened 50 years earlier in Tallahassee.
- The John Due and Patricia Stephens Due Freedom Endowed Scholarship gives $1000 each year to a FAMU student. This scholarship helps students who want to use the lessons of the civil rights movement to make the country better.
- Tallahassee Mayor John R. Marks honored Patricia Due by declaring May 11, 2011, as "Patricia Stephens Due Day."
Images for kids
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Patricia Stephens Due at a memorial service in Gainesville, Florida, June 1991.
See also
In Spanish: Patricia Stephens Due para niños
