Betty Hill (1876–1960) was an early 20th-century civil rights and women’s rights leader. Her efforts were significant in making certain that segregation and racial discrimination were unable to gain a foothold in Southern California as they did in the South.
Early life
Betty Hill was born Rebecca Jane Lapsley around 1876 in
Nashville
Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and the ...
,
Tennessee
Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...
. Her father built the first school for African Americans in
Davidson County, Tennessee. It is believed that her grandfather purchased his wife out of
slavery
Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...
. She attended her father's school and later attended public school in Nashville. She studied religion at
Roger Williams University
Roger Williams University (RWU) is a private university in Bristol, Rhode Island. Founded in 1956, it was named for theologian and Rhode Island cofounder Roger Williams (theologian), Roger Williams. The school enrolls over 5,000 students and e ...
, an all-black institution in Nashville that was founded in 1866. It originally opened as a college for ex-slaves, and one of its founders was her (probable) uncle Daniel L. Lapsley, an attorney and justice of the peace who was forced to leave the state due to racial persecution. Roger Williams University was closed in 1905, reopened in 1909, and merged with LeMoyne-Owen College in Memphis in 1927.
By 1898 she was married to a
Buffalo soldier
Buffalo Soldiers originally were members of the 10th Cavalry Regiment of the United States Army, formed on September 21, 1866, at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. This nickname was given to the Black Cavalry by Native American tribes who fought in th ...
, also from Nashville, named Abraham Houston Hill, a sergeant in Company B of the
24th Infantry Regiment. At that time he was stationed in
Oklahoma
Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...
, but soon took part in the
Spanish–American War
, partof = the Philippine Revolution, the decolonization of the Americas, and the Cuban War of Independence
, image = Collage infobox for Spanish-American War.jpg
, image_size = 300px
, caption = (clock ...
. After a brief return to the United States he took part in the
Philippine–American War
The Philippine–American War or Filipino–American War ( es, Guerra filipina-estadounidense, tl, Digmaang Pilipino–Amerikano), previously referred to as the Philippine Insurrection or the Tagalog Insurgency by the United States, was an arm ...
of 1902. His wife, Betty went with him. In 1905, Sgt. Hill was noted as a distinguished marksman and expert rifleman who made the top score at the infantrymen’s competition for the United States Army, and his skill was reported in newspapers across the country.
Later, after the retirement of their mutual friend Lt. Col.
Allen Allensworth, the chaplain of the 24th Infantry, she reportedly briefly took over chaplain duties until a new chaplain was assigned for duty. If so, it is uncertain when exactly this was. Allensworth retired from the Army on April 7, 1906, and his replacement, Rev. Washington E. Gladden of Denver, took over chaplain duties in early May, but Allensworth was reported to have been relieved from duty with his regiment and forced to retire on July 1, 1905. According to Claude Hudson, a long-time president of the Los Angeles NAACP, she held this role for a period of about nine months.
In 1908 the couple was living at
Madison Barracks
File:Madison Barracks.jpg
File:Madison Barracks02.jpg
File:Madison Barracks Stone Tower.jpg
File:Madison Barracks Stone Tower 02.jpg
Madison Barracks was a military installation established in 1813 or 1815 at Sackets Harbor, New York, Sackets Harb ...
, in
Jefferson County, New York
Jefferson County is a county on the northern border of the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2020 census, the population was 116,721. Its county seat is Watertown. The county is named after Thomas Jefferson, third President of the United Stat ...
. Sgt. Hill retired from the Army in 1913 and the couple moved to
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
, where Lt. Col. Allensworth retired to in 1905. The Hills chose a modest home at 1655 W. 37th Place in Los Angeles, near the intersection of Exposition Blvd. and Western Ave., in the West Jefferson District. It is less than a mile and half from the
University of Southern California
The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in C ...
(USC) and
Exposition Park. (Today the house and homesite are listed as a Los Angeles Cultural Monument.)
Meanwhile Col. Allensworth participated in the formation of the historically black town of
Allensworth in
Tulare County
Tulare County ( ) is a county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 473,117. The county seat is Visalia. The county is named for Tulare Lake, once the largest freshwater lake west of the Great Lakes. ...
, in central
California
California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
. Many of the earliest residents of the town of Allensworth were retired members of the 24th Infantry. The Hills were among those who purchased land in Allensworth. Today the land is used for growing crops.
Life in Los Angeles
After moving to Los Angeles, Mrs. Hill quickly became involved in a local church and taught Sunday school. She also became a political activist. Although she greatly respected
Booker T. Washington
Booker Taliaferro Washington (April 5, 1856November 14, 1915) was an American educator, author, orator, and adviser to several presidents of the United States. Between 1890 and 1915, Washington was the dominant leader in the African-American c ...
and his emphasis on self-reliance, she also supported the move to political action promoted by
W. E. B. Du Bois. In 1913, Dr.
John Somerville (who, along with his wife Vada, were the first two black graduates of the University of Southern California
SCSchool of Dentistry) wrote a letter to the headquarters of the
NAACP
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is a civil rights organization in the United States, formed in 1909 as an interracial endeavor to advance justice for African Americans by a group including W. E.&nb ...
in New York saying that there was great interest in starting a chapter in Los Angeles. One of those mentioned was Rebecca Hill. The Los Angeles branch was founded in the home of the Somervilles the following year. The founders were the Somervilles, E. Burton Ceruti, Charles Alexander, John Shackelford, Betty Hill, Rev. Joseph Johnson, W. T. Cleghorn, and Dr. Charles Edward Block. Dr. Block became its first president and Ceruti, its legal advisor.
On September 14, 1928, the Somervilles opened the Hotel Somerville on 4225 S. Central Ave. It was built to accept black visitors since other hotels in Los Angeles did not. Abraham Hill served on the advisory board when stock was issued on the hotel. Betty Hill was in attendance at its grand opening, which attracted about 5000 people. After the 1929 stock market crash, it was sold and renamed the
Dunbar Hotel
The Dunbar Hotel, originally known as the Hotel Somerville, was the focal point of the Central Avenue African-American community in Los Angeles, California, during the 1930s and 1940s. Built in 1928 by John Alexander Somerville, it was known for ...
(after poet Paul L. Dunbar). It was the site for the first NAACP convention in the western United States. Next to the Dunbar Hotel lay the famous
Club Alabam, originally the Club Apex and founded by musician Curtis Mosby. Performers, which not only included world-famous musicians but actors and sports figures, stayed at the Dunbar while they visited the Club Alabam.
In 1920, Betty Hill helped form the Westside Homeowner’s Association to fight acts of bigotry and self-protection. Later she would use her position in this association to create a major victory in her battle for equal rights in Los Angeles. After the Los Angeles Playground Commission initiated a policy of discriminating against African Americans, Hill went into action. The Playground Commission created a policy where African Americans could only use the new city swimming pool in Exposition Park on "colored" days. Determined to win through persistence, she went to court and in 1931 Judge Walter S. Gates ruled against the racist policy. When the City Council was on the verge of appealing Judge Gates’ decision, Betty Hill lobbied each city councilperson individually until the time for an appeal ran out. This became known as the infamous "swimming pool case".
On November 28, 1929, Hill founded the Women’s Republican Study Club. Political study clubs were fairly common for middle and upper-class white women during the early 20th century, but this was the first of its kind for black women in California. Political study clubs existed since the late 19th century, growing in prominence as the passage of the twentieth amendment neared. Mrs. George Bass began Democratic study clubs in 1919, and the Republicans quickly followed suit.
Jeannette Carter (1886–1964), a
Washington, D.C.
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
attorney, founded the first Republican study club for women, called the Women’s Republican National Political Study Club, in 1923. Carter published two magazines in support of the club’s positions, ''The Political Recorder'' in 1925, which was supplanted by her The Women’s Voice in 1939. Carter’s club faltered by 1940.
Betty Hill’s Women’s Republican Study Club was, as Catherine Rymph writes, "one of the more vocal clubs." It not only sought to promote African Americans and fight racial discrimination, it also fought against the New Deal and policies that were seen as collectivist and advanced the cause of the Republican Party. Being a realist, however, after the mass migration of African Americans from the Republican to the Democratic Party in the 1930s, she changed the name to the Women’s Political Study Club.
During her 1945 visit to Washington, D.C., she was appalled by the racial conditions that existed in the capital city of the United States. This was toward the end of
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, after her friend Charlotta Bass and others had led the
Double V campaign
The Double V campaign was a slogan and drive to promote the fight for democracy in overseas campaigns and at the home front in the United States for African Americans during World War II. The Double V refers to the "V for victory" sign prominen ...
to end racial segregation in the military and at home. In response to what she saw, she composed a bill to end racial discrimination in the nation’s capital. Bill 5629 was sent to Congressman Gordon McDonough on February 28, 1946, who submitted it. It never made it to a committee and died. However, through Mrs. Hill’s Women’s Political Study Club, she was selected to go to Washington in person as an envoy to present President
Harry S. Truman
Harry S. Truman (May 8, 1884December 26, 1972) was the 33rd president of the United States, serving from 1945 to 1953. A leader of the Democratic Party, he previously served as the 34th vice president from January to April 1945 under Franklin ...
with a resolution condemning bias in the Capital. The resolution, signed by whites and African Americans, not only called for an end to bias in Washington but pointed out that many foreign diplomats leave the country with an impression that discrimination is government policy.
Seeking support from what she believed were allies in the same cause, in September 1946 Hill sent a copy of the resolution to the president of the California Council of Republican Women, Barbara Whittiker. Unsure what to do, she consulted an advisor who said, "Leave it to Betty Hill to bring up with some headache." Hill’s resolution was never brought up for discussion and the matter was dropped.
Many of her efforts are responsible for the elimination of the Jim Crow dining room at Los Angeles General Hospital, securing the placement of the first Black intern there, the first Black in the Department of History, and the first resident physician of internal medicine at Los Angeles General Hospital; the first Black instructor in the Riverside public school system; and the first Black in the Los Angeles County Department of Charities, Collection Department, the first black deputy sheriff, and the first black on the County Board of Morticians.
Although officially President
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...
ended racial discrimination in the military, it still existed at that time. When the military refused to bring back World War II fighter pilot Captain William R. Melton to active duty, Betty Hill, the WPSC, and California Congressman Gordon L. McDonough went to work and got results. On February 6, 1949, Captain Melton received his orders to report to duty.
Hill encouraged furthering the education of young people. Afternoon tea parties raised money and facilitated funding scholarships for students to further their education. Some of these tea parties were given by the WPSC. However, a number of these scholarships were given through her active participation and as a supporter in
Zeta Phi Beta
Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc. () is a historically African American sorority. In 1920, five women from Howard University envisioned a sorority that would raise the consciousness of their people, encourage the highest standards of scholastic achie ...
sorority.
Betty Hill was a founding member of the Los Angeles branch of the,
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is a civil rights organization in the United States, formed in 1909 as an interracial endeavor to advance justice for African Americans by a group including W. E. ...
(NAACP), which was formed in 1913. She served as a Vice President for over 12 years. Beyond her activities with the NAACP and the WPSC, she helped initiate the
Urban League
The National Urban League, formerly known as the National League on Urban Conditions Among Negroes, is a nonpartisan historic civil rights organization based in New York City that advocates on behalf of economic and social justice for African Am ...
's Los Angeles chapter; was a Republican State Central Committeewoman of Southern California, 63rd District; was active with the Eastside Settlement House, and the National Council of Women; was the first chairperson of Girls Reserve of the
YWCA
The Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA) is a nonprofit organization with a focus on empowerment, leadership, and rights of women, young women, and girls in more than 100 countries.
The World office is currently based in Geneva, Swi ...
, 12th Street Branch; the Vice-President of the Organization of National Defense, West Coast; and was also a delegate to the
1940 Republican National Convention
The 1940 Republican National Convention was held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, from June 24 to June 28, 1940. It nominated Wendell Willkie of New York for president and Senator Charles McNary of Oregon for vice president.
The contest for the 19 ...
in Philadelphia (the first African American female west of the Rockies to serve as a delegate).
Hill was probably the first African American to run a political campaign. In 1932, Senator
Samuel M. Shortridge
Samuel Morgan Shortridge (August 3, 1861January 15, 1952) was a Republican Senator from California.
Early years
He was born in Mount Pleasant, Iowa and moved to California as a child with his family, which settled in San Jose in 1875. He pr ...
, the state's junior senator (the senior senator was
Hiram Johnson
Hiram Warren Johnson (September 2, 1866August 6, 1945) was an American attorney and politician who served as the Governor of California, 23rd governor of California from 1911 to 1917. Johnson achieved national prominence in the early 20th century ...
), ran an uphill battle for re-election. After he supported a federal judgeship for a judge unpopular in Black America, Senator Shortridge lost a great deal of support among California's African American community. In a desperate move, he asked Hill to manage his bid for re-election. She was never able to find sufficient support and he lost his seat in the Republican primary. Despite his loss, that Shortridge chose Betty Hill is an indication of her power and influence. Additionally, it was a huge risk for a white senator to ask an African American woman to run a campaign while America was still in the throes of Jim Crow. (The next African American woman to manage the campaign of a major white politician was not until 2000, when
Donna Brazile
Donna Lease Brazile (; born December 15, 1959) is an American political strategist, campaign manager and political analyst who served twice as acting Chair of the Democratic National Committee (DNC). She is currently an ABC News contributor, ...
became Vice President
Al Gore
Albert Arnold Gore Jr. (born March 31, 1948) is an American politician, businessman, and environmentalist who served as the 45th vice president of the United States from 1993 to 2001 under President Bill Clinton. Gore was the Democratic Part ...
's campaign manager.)
Legacy
On May 16, 1980, with the support of Councilman Robert Farrell, the Denker Building at the Denker Senior Citizen Center was renamed the Betty Hill building in her honor. Then on June 6, 1980, the Denker Senior Citizen Center was renamed the Betty Hill Senior Citizen Center. Located at 3570 S. Denker Ave., Los Angeles, it is less than a mile from her house on 37th Place. On April 13, 2005, after a vote of 12-0 before the Los Angeles City Council, and through the efforts of her great-grandniece, Betty Hill’s home at 1655 West 37th Place was designated Los Angeles Cultural Monument number 791 (see
).
Sources
*Beasley, Delilah L. ''The Negro Trailblazers of California.'' (Los Angeles: Times Printing and Binding House, 1919).
*Flamming, Douglas. ''Bound For Freedom: Black Los Angeles in Jim Crow America.'' Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 2005.
*Freeman, Jo. ''A Room at a Time: How Women Entered Party Politics.'' Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2002.
*Ramsey, Eleanor M., and Janice S. Lewis. "Black Americans in California." ''Five Views: An Ethnic Historic Site Survey California.'' (Sacramento: California Department of Parks and Recreation Office of Historic Preservation, 1988). Online at: https://web.archive.org/web/20080502214050/http://www.nps.gov/history/history/online_books/5views/5views2h7.htm
*Royal, Alice, with Mickey Ellinger and Scott Brady. ''Allensworth: The Freedom Colony.'' Berkeley, CA: Heyday Books, 2008.
*Rymph, Catherine E. ''Republican Women: Feminism and Conservatism Through the Rise of the New Right.'' Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2006.
*Schubert, Irene Kettunen, and Frank N. Schubert. ''On the Trail of the Buffalo Soldier II: New and Revised Biographies of African Americans in the U.S. Army, 1866-1917.'' Lanham, Md. : Scarecrow Press, 2004.
*
Terborg-Penn, Rosalyn. ''African American Women in the Struggle for the Vote, 1850-1920.'' Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1998.
External links
The Betty Hill Historical FoundationColonel Allensworth State Historic Park
* https://web.archive.org/web/20090508171340/http://parks.ca.gov/pages/583/files/ColonelAllensworth.pdf
Colonel Allensworth SHPOn this date, we celebrate the founding of Allensworth, California in 1908.Allen Allensworth (1842 - 1914) - Find A Grave MemorialBetty Hill (1882-1960) - Find A Grave Memorial(Note: Find a Grave gives birth year of 1890).
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hill, Betty
Women civil rights activists
African-American history of the United States military
History of the San Joaquin Valley
1870s births
1960 deaths
LeMoyne–Owen College alumni
Activists from Nashville, Tennessee
24th Infantry Regiment
People from Tulare County, California
NAACP activists
Activists from Los Angeles