Alfreda M. Duster (née Barnett; September 3, 1904 April 2, 1983) was a social worker and civic leader in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

. She is best known as the youngest daughter of civil rights activist

Ida B. Wells Ida B. Wells (full name: Ida Bell Wells-Barnett) (July 16, 1862 – March 25, 1931) was an American investigative journalist, educator, and early leader in the civil rights movement. She was one of the founders of the National Association for ...

and as the editor of her mother's posthumously published autobiography, ''Crusade for Justice: The Autobiography of Ida B. Wells'' (1970).

Biography

Alfreda Barnett was born in 1904, the youngest daughter of civil rights activists

and Ferdinand L. Barnett. She graduated from the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...

in 1924 with a bachelor of philosophy degree. 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. Duster served as a juvenile delinquency prevention coordinator for the state of

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

and the administrator of the girls' program for underprivileged city children at Camp Illini. She was also secretary to Democrat Charles Jenkins, a black member of the Illinois legislature. 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 Chicago State University (CSU) is a predominantly black public university in Chicago, Illinois. Founded in 1867 as the Cook County Normal School, it was an innovative teachers college. Eventually the Chicago Public Schools assumed control of t ...

. Duster edited and in 1970 published

' autobiography, ''Crusade for Justice: The Autobiography of Ida B. Wells'', which she worked on for 25 years after her mother's death. For this book, Duster won the

National Council of Negro Women The National Council of Negro Women (NCNW) is a nonprofit organization founded in 1935 with the mission to advance the opportunities and the quality of life for African-American women, their families, and communities. Mary McLeod Bethune, the f ...

Award for Literary Excellence and Outstanding Humanitarian Contributions. The Alfreda Barnett Duster Apartments, public housing in

Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, are named after Duster. Alfreda Duster died from a brain hemorrhage at the age of 78, on April 2, 1983.

References

External links

Alfreda Duster Interview Transcript, 1976–1981
OH-31. Schlesinger Library, Radcliffe Institute, Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass. {{DEFAULTSORT:Duster, Alfreda Black Women Oral History Project 20th-century African-American women 20th-century African-American people Social workers University of Chicago alumni 1904 births 1983 deaths 20th-century American people

Biography

Further reading

References

External links