Alfreda Duster
Alfreda Duster | |
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| Born | Alfreda Barnett September 3, 1904 |
| Died | April 2, 1983 (aged 78) Billings Hospital, Chicago |
| Notable work | Crusade for Justice: The Autobiography of Ida B. Wells (1970) |
| Spouse | Benjamin C. Duster Jr. |
| Children | 5, including Troy Duster |
| Parent(s) | Ida B. Wells (mother) Ferdinand L. Barnett (father) |
Alfreda M. Duster[1] (née Barnett; September 3, 1904 – April 2, 1983) was an American social worker and civic leader in Chicago.[2][3] She is best known as the youngest daughter of civil rights activist Ida B. Wells and as the editor of her mother's posthumously published autobiography, Crusade for Justice: The Autobiography of Ida B. Wells (1970).
Biography[edit]
Alfreda Barnett was born in 1904, the youngest daughter[4] of civil rights activists Ida B. Wells and Ferdinand L. Barnett.[2][3][5] She graduated from the University of Chicago in 1924 with a bachelor of philosophy degree.[2][3][5] She married Benjamin C. Duster Jr., who was a clerk in her father's law firm, and worked as a homemaker and mother to her five children until she was widowed at the age of 40 and went back to school for social work.[2][3]
Duster served as a juvenile delinquency prevention coordinator for the state of Illinois and the administrator of the girls' program for underprivileged city children at Camp Illini.[2][3] She was also secretary to Democrat Charles Jenkins, a black member of the Illinois legislature.[3] She was awarded "Mother of the Year" in 1950 and 1970; the Bootstrap Award from the Opportunity Centers of Chicago; Citation for Public Service from the University of Chicago Alumni Association; and honorary doctorate of humane letters from Chicago State University.[2][3][5]
Duster edited and in 1970 published Ida B. Wells' autobiography, Crusade for Justice: The Autobiography of Ida B. Wells, which she worked on for 25 years after her mother's death.[2][4][6][7] For this book, Duster won the National Council of Negro Women Award for Literary Excellence and Outstanding Humanitarian Contributions.[3]
The Alfreda Barnett Duster Apartments, public housing in Chicago, Illinois, are named after Duster.[4]
Alfreda Duster died from a brain hemorrhage at the age of 78, on April 2, 1983.[3]
Further reading[edit]
Schultz, Rima Lunin and Adele Hast, "Women Building Chicago 1790-1990: A Biographical Dictionary", Indiana University Press, 2001.
References[edit]
- ^ "Alfreda M. Duster". press.uchicago.edu. Retrieved 2021-03-08.
- ^ a b c d e f g "Black Women Oral History Project Interviews, 1976–1981: Biographies". Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America Research Guides. Retrieved May 7, 2020.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Derr, Mary Krane. "Duster, Alfreda Barnett". African American National Biography. Oxford University Press. Retrieved May 12, 2020.
- ^ a b c "Alfreda Barnett Duster Apartments". Chicago Housing Authority. Retrieved May 12, 2020.
- ^ a b c "Obituaries: Rites for civic leader Alfreda Duster, 78". Chicago Tribune. April 4, 1984. Retrieved May 12, 2020.
- ^ Black, Patti Carr (February 2001). "Ida B. Wells: A Courageous Voice for Civil Rights". Mississippi History Now. Retrieved May 12, 2020.
- ^ "Alfreda Wells discusses her mother, Ida B. Wells-Barnett and her book 'Crusade for Justice'". The WFMT Studs Terkel Radio Archive. Retrieved May 12, 2020.
External links[edit]
- Alfreda Duster Interview Transcript, 1976–1981, OH-31. Schlesinger Library, Radcliffe Institute, Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass.
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