This article alone is worth a Prime subscription. Thank you, TPM.
This is utter bullshit.
I’m black and I’m familiar with Mary Church Terrell. She was a principal of a DC high school, and there was even school named after here.
Perhaps your title ought to be: “The Black Woman Who Led the Fight to End Jim Crow and Why White People Never Heard of Her.”
If no one has ever heard of her, why is there a Wikipedia page on her?
Well I’ve never heard of her, so I’m glad for this article.
When the boss is a historian, even a wonky insider political blog can take you where you never expected to be.
This is a timely article and very well done. thanks tpm!
The unintended slights of African-American people just keep coming, don’t they.
I agree with your suggested change in title. This is one white guy who had never heard of Mary Church Terrell. Keep the Prime articles coming!
Fascinating article, and a heart-breaking US counterpart to an article I used to assign as a history professor. In my Philosophy of History class, where I was trying to show students how gender and race could affect the disciplines, we would read “The Disappearing of Hannah Kudjoe,” a post-colonial figure in Ghana. https://history.artsci.wustl.edu/files/history/imce/allman_hannah_kudjoe.pdf
Well researched and informative. Thanks.
You have heard Mrs Clinton and Mrs Obama mention Seneca Falls, NY. Have you taken the time to find out what happened in Seneca Falls? The answer is well worth the 2 minute search.
Even If you are correct in saying most blacks are familiar with her and maybe the headline should read “The Black Woman Who Led the Fight to End Jim Crow and Why White People Never Heard of Her,” it still doesn’t hurt to put a spotlight on her and educate us whites about the other black heroes and heroines we are unfamiliar with, so no it is never “utter bullshit” to enlighten people.
And you’re probably white, which proves my point.
Yeah, you’re right; a negro such as myself would only know about my own kind. Pity me.
From a user standpoint, you should rethink the decision to make subscriber-only content into banner headlines on the main page.
8 out of 10 Americans are either non-Hispanic white or Hispanic, which makes for a lot of us who had never previously been introduced to this remarkable woman. Make that 85% of Americans when you add in Asian descent. I get your point and I’m happy to hear that you knew about Ms. Terrell (school? family?), but many of us who should have didn’t. Thanks, Josh. I’m delighted to have been introduced.
Well done. Thanks.
It’s pretty easy to forget about the sea of male, white privilege that we live in. This is a good reminder that the course of history is shaped by many.
What a wonderful article of history! Thank you so much for sharing the many contributions of Mary Church Terrell! I would love to share this rich history with family and friends. Thank you!
Wow. Calm down! I’m black and from the West Coast, and I’ve never heard of her. And having a wiki page doesn’t mean that EVERYONE has heard of something/someone.
Wow!
Found the article most interesting. And on an ironic point I joined TPM after reading how the discussions would be civil and in depth and the first comment I read is just like Facebook.
I’m a Prime member, and I assume I’m signed in, since my username appears in the upper right corner of my screen under the Prime logo. So how come the text fades out in the “Yet while almost every student…” paragraph, and I get the ad to sign in to Prime? Since I’ve paid my money, I’d like to be able to read the ‘Prime members only’ features.