Cora Catherine Calhoun Horne (November 1865 – September 23, 1932) was an suffragist, civil rights activist, and an Atlanta

socialite A socialite is a person from a wealthy and (possibly) aristocratic background, who is prominent in high society. A socialite generally spends a significant amount of time attending various fashionable social gatherings, instead of having traditio ...

. She was an African-American woman. She was an early member 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) and a founding member of the

National Association of Colored Women The National Association of Colored Women's Clubs (NACWC) is an American organization that was formed in July 1896 at the First Annual Convention of the National Federation of Afro-American Women in Washington, D.C., United States, by a merger of t ...

(NACW). She was the grandmother of entertainer

Lena Horne Lena Mary Calhoun Horne (June 30, 1917 – May 9, 2010) was an American dancer, actress, singer, and civil rights activist. Horne's career spanned more than seventy years, appearing in film, television, and theatre. Horne joined the chorus of th ...

and raised Horne when she was young.

History

Horne was born in November 1865 in

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

, to parents Atlanta Mary (née Fernando) and Moses Calhoun. She was the oldest of two children, her younger sister was named Lena. Her father had been the

house slave A house slave was a slave who worked, and often lived, in the house of the slave-owner, performing domestic labor. House slaves performed largely the same duties as all domestic workers throughout history, such as cooking, cleaning, serving meals, ...

butler to Andrew Bonaparte Calhoun, of Georgia. Moses later opened a small grocery, followed by a restaurant, boardinghouse, and land ownership, which ushered the family into the Black middle class. She and her sister attended Storrs Elementary School in Atlanta. She was baptized as a

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

, but the family later attended First Congregational Church, which like her school was associated with the

American Missionary Association The American Missionary Association (AMA) was a Protestant-based abolitionist group founded on in Albany, New York. The main purpose of the organization was abolition of slavery, education of African Americans, promotion of racial equality, and ...

(AMA). She was later confirmed at St. Benedict the Moor Church. Calhoun attended

Atlanta University Clark Atlanta University (CAU or Clark Atlanta) is a private, Methodist, historically black research university in Atlanta, Georgia. Clark Atlanta is the first Historically Black College or University (HBCU) in the Southern United States. Founde ...

and studied education, graduating in 1881. Horne was a socialite, active in Atlanta Society. She and Edwin Horne (1859–1939) married on October 26, 1887, in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama (state song), Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery, Alabama, Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville, Alabama, Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County, Al ...

. Together they had four children Errol Stanley (1889–1918), Edwin "Teddy" Fletcher (1893–1970), Frank Smith (1899–1974), and John Burke (1905–1971). After marriage, the couple moved to

Chattanooga Chattanooga ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Hamilton County, Tennessee, United States. Located along the Tennessee River bordering Georgia, it also extends into Marion County on its western end. With a population of 181,099 in 2020, ...

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 ...

. In 1896, they became disillusioned with the South and the segregation and moved to the West 50s Streets in New York City, which was known as "Black Bohemia" at the time. Later the family settled down at 189 Chauncey Street in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

. In the 1890s, she was a founding member of the Horne

(NACW). The Hornes were early members of the

(NAACP). She was additionally active in many other organizations including the Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA, starting in 1913), Brooklyn League on Urban Conditions (1918), the Big Brother and Big Sister Federation (1918), and the National Republican Women's Auxiliary (c.1924). Horne was the paternal grandmother to

, who, along with her spouse primarily raised Lena when she was a child in the 1920s. When her granddaughter was living with her, Horne took her to NAACP meetings starting at age 2 and immersed her in learning about civic causes.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Horne, Cora Catherine Calhoun 1865 births 1932 deaths Activists from Atlanta People from Brooklyn NAACP activists Atlanta University alumni American socialites African-American suffragists American suffragists YWCA leaders 20th-century African-American people 20th-century African-American women