Ickeringill, Nan, 45–46, 47
I’m Just Saying (Hughes), 113
integration. See racism and race relations; segregation
Intermediate School 201, 91–92.
See also community control
intersectionality: and business, 99, 107; of Dorothy, 62, 64, 67, 69, 73–75, 77–78, 109; at West 80th Street Day Care Center, x, 4, 45–46, 47, 50, 101; and women’s movement, 66, 70–71, 118
investments, 101, 102, 105, 108. See also businesses, African American
Irish Republican Army (IRA), 29, 36
Jackson, Esther Cooper, 23
Jackson, Jacqui, 66
Jacksonville (Florida), 116–17
Jacksonville Community Garden Projects, 79, 117–18
James Meredith march, 39
Jet (magazine), 20–21, 33, 83
John Brown Coordination Committee, 38
Johnson, Charles S., 10, 12
Johnson, Cheryl, 83
Johnson, Lyndon B., 49, 50, 95, 130n63
Jones, Angela, 58
Jones, William P., 16
Kaminsky, Wallace, 54
Kennedy, Flo: beauty pageant protests, 80, 89, 133n1; and Dorothy, influence on, 37, 62; erasure of, historic, 64; marriage of, 37, 131n3; and Gloria Steinem, 68
Kennedy, John F., 49, 50
Killens, John Oliver, 30–31, 35
King, Martin Luther, Jr., 50, 51
King, Rodney, 101–2
Ku Klux Klan (KKK), 11–12, 17, 68
labor, forced, 57–58. See also welfare
Lanham Act (1941), 42. See also childcare
LeRoy, Warner, 28–29
Liberty Hall (NYC), 106–7
“Lift, Don’t Separate” (fundraiser), 118
Lindsay, John, 51, 56–57, 58, 87
Linley, Sheri, 84, 88
Los Angeles, 101–2
lumber industry, 15–17, 18, 20
Lumpkin (Georgia), 3, 8, 19–20, 39
Lumumba, Patrice, 41
lynching, 10–11. See also racism and race relations
Malcolm X: and Dorothy, influence on, 36, 37, 101; murder of, 36, 39, 41; and National Memorial African Bookstore, 96; and OAAU, 35, 36, 127n41
Manhattan Borough Development Corporation (MBDC), 109
March for Children’s Survival, 58
Marks, Albert A., Jr., 83, 89
Mart 125, 98. See also businesses, African American
Maxwell’s Plum, 28–29
McCall’s (magazine), 70, 72–73, 74–75
McGuire, Danielle, 22
McKissick, Floyd, 33, 40
McMurray, Georgia, 57
Mead Corporation, 115–16
media representation, 69–73, 74–76, 80–82, 133n1
memory, importance of, 35. See also history
Mendelson, Jane, 110
Michaux, Lewis, 95–96
Miss America pageants: and Dorothy’s activism, 5, 79–80, 83–89; integration of, increased, 82–83, 89; protests against, 80–82, 89–90, 133n1
Mitchell, Loften, 30–31, 34–35
The Moon Is Blue (Preminger), 30
Morgan, Robert Duke, 81
Morrison, Toni, 73
Moses, Robert, 93
Mount Olive Primitive Baptist Church, 3, 8, 13–14. See also Charles Junction (Georgia)
Moynihan, Patrick, 49
Ms. (magazine), 4, 75–76, 77
Myerson, Bess, 87
My Life on the Road (Steinem), 64
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAAC P), 19–20, 81, 89
National Black Feminist Organization (NBFO), 73–74
nationalism, 36–38, 107
National Memorial African Bookstore, 95–96
National Organization for Women (NOW), 66, 73, 76. See also women’s liberation movement
National Welfare Rights Organization, 58
Nation of Islam, 36. See also Malcolm X
Native American removal, 19–20. See also racism and race relations
The Negro Family (Moynihan), 49
The Negro Motorist Green Book, 100. See also segregation
New York Action Corps, 46
New York City, 51, 93–94, 135n9. See also Harlem; West Side (NYC)
New York Municipal Slave Market, 107
New York Radical Women, 64–65, 80
New York Times: on childcare movement, 58; on Deacons for Defense and Justice, 39; on gentrification in Harlem, 106; on Miss Black America, 81; on West 80th Street Day Care Center, 45–46, 54, 56
Nixon, Richard, 53, 57, 94–95
Non-Sexist Child Development Project, 77. See also childcare
Office of Economic Opportunity (OEO), 44, 45, 50, 52, 95, 129n19
Organization of Afro-American Unity (OAAU), 35, 36, 127n41
organizing. See community organizing
pageants. See Miss America pageants
paper industry, 115. See also Charles Junction (Georgia)
Pazge, Veronica, 85
Penthouse (magazine), 89–90
Phelps, Elizabeth Stuart, 80
Phoenix City (Alabama), 21–22
Photo 44 Production Studio, 85, 86
Pitman, Bill, 29, 36–37, 38, 41, 68–69
Pitman Hughes, Dorothy. See Hughes, Dorothy Pitman
Pittsburgh Courier, 81–82
Pogrebin, Letty, 76, 77
police violence, 35–36, 37, 101–2. See also protests and direct action
Porter, Michael, 105–6
poverty: and childcare, 4, 43, 47, 49–50, 53, 56–58; and
EZs, 101; and food prices, 47, 67; and gentrification, 53, 93–94; and housing, 44, 55, 67; in Jacksonville, 117; NYC Council Against, 85; and racism, intersection of, 9–10, 12, 124n4; and sharecropping, 17; War on, 49, 95, 130n63
Powell, James, 35, 37
Preminger, Otto, 30
prison labor, 97. See also businesses, African American
privilege, 64, 74, 75. See also women’s liberation movement
protests and direct action: for childcare, 4, 42, 56–57, 58; and CORE, 31, 41, 70; for education, community-controlled, 91–92; against gentrification, 94; and militant self-defense, 37–38, 39, 51; against Miss America, 80–82, 89–90, 133n1; against police violence, 35–36, 37, 101–2
proverbs, African American, 14–15
Public Welfare Amendments (1962), 50
Quinn, Patrice, 36, 41, 45, 68–69, 77, 87–88
racism and race relations: and Black Power, 36, 39–40; and businesses, 96–99, 103–4, 106, 111, 113; and childcare, 49–50, 57–58; and class, intersection of, 9–10, 12, 19, 124n4; and education, 20, 38, 39, 41, 51, 56, 70, 92; and employment, 15–16, 23, 24, 43, 126n9; and extralegal violence, 10–12; in Miss America, 79–84, 86–90; and police violence, 35–36, 37, 101–2;
in relationships, intimate, 29, 36–37; and sexualized violence, 22; and travel, 99–100; and US navy, 68; and wealth generation, 107–8; in women’s movement, 3, 64–67, 69–71, 73–75, 118
Rangel, Charles, 91, 98, 101, 102, 104
Reagan, Ronald, 3, 57
redevelopment. See gentrification
Renewal Communities. See Upper Manhattan Empowerment Zone (UME Z)
republicanism, 16–17
Rich, Marvin, 33–34
Ridley, Lessie (née White): Dorothy’s pregnancy, acceptance of, 27; home remedies of, 26; life of, 13; music of, 8, 14; values and teachings of, 9, 10, 12, 14–15, 22–23
Ridley, Melton Lee “Ray,” 8, 12, 13, 15–18
Ridley, Roger, 27–28
Ridley-Malmsten, Delethia, 27, 43, 83, 86, 95
riots, 32, 35–36, 50, 101–2
Rockefeller, Nelson, 57
Roger and the Ridley Sisters, 27–28
Roth, Benita, 124n19
Rules for Radicals (Alinsky), 4
school reform movement, 92. See also education
Schwerner, Michael, 35
“second wave,” use of term, 75, 133n51
segr
egation: in education, 20, 38, 39, 41, 70, 92; and sexualized violence, 22; and travel, 99–100. See also racism and race relations
self-defense, 37–38, 39, 51. See also Black Power movement
self-determination. See Black Power movement; community control
self-love, 14, 15
sexism: and business ownership, 96, 98–99, 103–4, 110; and employment, 43, 66; in film industry, 33; and race, intersection of, 66, 89–90; and women’s movement, 65, 73–74, 76–77, 118
sexual health, 26
sexualized violence, 22
sexual revolution, 28, 30
sharecropping, 17
Shaw, Nate, 16
sisterhood, interracial, 64, 73, 74, 118
sit-ins. See protests and direct action
slave trade, 107
small businesses. See businesses, African American
Smith, Barbara, 61–62
Social Gospel doctrine, 15
socialization, 76–77, 83. See also childcare
Sojourner Bed and Breakfast, 99, 108–10
Soli, Christine, 86
Sophia Smith Collection of Women’s History, x, xi
Spitzer, Eliot, 91, 112
Springer, Kimberly, 64
squatter movement, 55, 94
Staples, 5, 110. See also Harlem Office Supply
Steinem, Gloria: and Dorothy, collaborative activism of, 8, 47, 63–64, 67–68, 74–76, 118; Dorothy, first meetings with, 4, 62–63; Dorothy’s projects, support for, 100, 109, 115; iconic photo of, ix, 1–2, 67, 79, 118; media coverage of, 2, 69–70, 72–73, 74, 75; on Miss NYC pageant, 79–80; personal papers of, x, xi, 69; on West 80th Street Day Care Center, 46, 47; on women’s movement, 64–65, 66–67, 70–71
stock market, 107–8
street vendors, 98. See also businesses, African American
Sugarman, Jule, 56, 130n63
Tax Reform Act (1976), 100
Tell Pharaoh (Mitchell), 31
Terry, Lloyd, 85
Thomas, Marlo, 77
Till, Emmett, 20–21
timber industry, 15–17, 18, 20
Ture, Kwame, 39, 66, 92
Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA), 106–7
Upper Manhattan Empowerment Zone (UME Z): background on, 101–2; corporate perspective of, 102, 105–6, 111, 138n96; denial of Dorothy’s loan requests, 104–5, 108–9, 110, 138n96; Dorothy’s criticism of, 5, 91, 102–5, 107
Urban Gem Guest House, 110
urban renewal. See gentrification
US Naval Academy, 68
Van Matre, Jim, 38–40
Vietnam War, 4, 42–43, 62, 80
violence, extralegal, 10–11. See also protests and direct action
Wake Up and Smell the Dollars! (Hughes), 113
Walker, Alice, 100
Wall Street, 106, 107–8
War on Poverty, 49, 95, 130n63. See also poverty
Webb, Johnnie, 11
welfare, 4, 11, 43, 44, 47, 49, 55; day care as a form of, 48-49, 50; Dorothy’s activism about, 3, 61, 63, 67; government view of, 57; hotels, 44, 55, 67; laws and legislation, 50, 53, 57; National Welfare Rights Organization, 58; rights, 5, 58; women on, 50, 58, 100. See also poverty
West 80th Street Day Care Center: budget and rent of, 45; community control of, 47–48, 50, 52, 54, 58–59; community organizing at, 46–47, 52–53, 94–95; curriculum of, 48, 58–59; descriptions of, 44–46, 53; early plans for, 42, 43; and Free to Be (Thomas), 77; funding practices of, 47, 49–50; fundraising for, 46, 53–54, 63; growth of, 43–44; integrated environment of, 45–46, 47, 50, 101; intersectional work of, x, 4, 67; national ranking of, 52; new location and incorporation of, 54
West India Labor Day, 93
West Side (NYC), 4, 28, 42–46, 54–55. See also Harlem
West Side Community Alliance, 40, 54–55, 56, 84, 85, 88–89. See also West 80th Street Day Care Center
white supremacy, 10–12, 22, 38, 39. See also racism and race relations
Wilcox, Preston, 106
Williams, Vanessa, 89–90
Winters, Shelley, 33, 40
Winter Soldiers, 31–32, 40
“Woman of the Year,” 72, 75
women: domestic labor and exploitation of, 23–24; and economic empowerment, 96, 103–4; history of, x, xi, 2–3; religion and restriction of, 8, 13–14
Women Initiating Self-Empowerment (WISE), 103–4
For Women Only (talk show), 63
Women’s Action Alliance (WAA), 76–77
women’s liberation movement: and childcare, 48–49, 50, 57, 67, 76–77; and civil rights movement, 40, 64–65, 66, 71; Dorothy and Gloria’s work in, 47, 63–64, 67–68, 74–76; Dorothy’s relationship to, 61–62; historical representation of, xi, 2, 4–5, 69–75, 80–82, 124n19, 133n1; and Miss America pageants, 80, 81–82, 89–90; racism and race relations in, 3, 64–67, 69–71, 73–75, 118
World’s Fair, 41, 70
World War I, 10, 21
World War II, 17, 42, 49, 50, 128n4
Wright, Deborah, 104–6
writing and activism, 30–31, 34–35
Zinsser, Judith P., 2–3
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Laura L. Lovett is an associate professor of history at the University of Pittsburgh, where she teaches the Global History of Childhood and Youth, Women’s History, and the Global Histories of Gender, Sex, and Sexuality. She attended UCLA as an undergraduate where she studied English and history. She earned a master’s degree at the University of California at San Diego in English and American literature before attending UC Berkeley, where she earned her PhD in history. As an historian, she specializes in twentieth-century US gender, sexuality, and women’s history and in the history of children and youth.
She is the author of Conceiving the Future: Pronatalism, Reproduction, and the Family in the United States, 1890–1930 (University of North Carolina Press, 2007) and co-editor of When We Were Free to Be: Looking Back at a Children’s Classic and the Difference It Made (University of North Carolina Press, 2012). She was a founding co-editor of the Journal of the History of Childhood and Youth and is the deputy editor for North America of Women’s History Review. She also co-edits a series entitled Childhoods for the University of Massachusetts Press.
Before moving to Pittsburgh, she was a faculty member at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, Dartmouth College, and the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. She has been a fellow at the Yale Agrarian Studies Program, the director of the Five College Women’s Studies Research Center, and secretary of the Berkshire Conference of Women Historians. She served as the director of Diversity Advancement for the College of Humanities and Fine Arts at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, 2013–2016. In 2017, she was selected to be a Distinguished Lecturer for the Organization of American Historians.
Dorothy Pitman Hughes and Gloria Steinem. 1971.
Lessie Ridley. No date.
Dorothy Pitman Hughes and children from the West 80th Street Day Care Center demonstrating on the street in New York City. No date.
The United Federation of Parents, Teachers, and Students called the African American community together for an event that exemplified the kinds of activities in which Dorothy took part in the late 1960s. In addition to speakers from the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, Flo Kennedy was featured and Dorothy was listed as a singer.
Contact sheet for Dan Wynn photo session with Gloria Steinem and Dorothy Pitman Hughes. 1971.
Miss Greater New York City contestants. 1979.
Dorothy Pitman Hughes. 1980s.
Dorothy Pitman Hughes and Gloria Steinem revisit their iconic photograph. 2013.
BEACON PRESS
Boston, Massachusetts
www.beacon.org
Beacon Press books are published under the auspices of the Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations.
© 2021 by Laura L. Lovett
All rights reserved
Text design and composition by Kim Arney
Names: Lovett, Laura L., author.
Title: With her fist raised : Dorothy Pitman Hughes and the transformative power of black community activism / Laura L. Lovett.
Description: Boston : Beacon Press, [2021] | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2020011361 (print) | LCCN 2020011362 (ebook) | ISBN 9780807008898 (hardcover) | ISBN 9780807008973 (ebook) Subjects: LCSH: Hughes, Dorothy Pitman. | African American feminists—Biography. | African American women civic leaders—Biography. | African American businesspeople—Biography. | Feminism—United States. | United States—Social conditions—1945- | United States—Race relations. | United States—Politics and government.
Classification: LCC HQ1413.P58 L68 2021 (print) | LCC HQ1413.P58 (ebook)
DDC 305.42092 [B]—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020011361
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020011362
With Her Fist Raised Page 19