Grace Baxter Fenderson (November 2, 1883 – March 21, 1962) was an American educator and clubwoman based in Newark, New Jersey. A teacher at Monmouth Street School in Newark for over 40 years, Fenderson was a co-founder of the Newark chapter 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 ...

and served as president of the Lincoln-Douglass Memorial Association. In 1959, Fenderson received the Sojourner Truth Award from the New Jersey chapter of the National Association of Negro Business and Professional Women's Clubs (NANBPWC).

Early life

Grace Baxter was born in Newark, the daughter of James Miller Baxter and Pauline Louisa Mars Baxter. Her father was a teacher born in Philadelphia, and the first Black school principal in Newark. Her mother, from Brooklyn, was a caterer. Her brother J. Leroy Baxter was a dental surgeon and New Jersey state legislator. She graduated from

Newark Normal School Kean University () is a public university in Union and Hillside, New Jersey. It is part of New Jersey's public system of higher education. Kean University was founded in 1855 in Newark, New Jersey, as the Newark Normal School. Initially establis ...

in 1906, trained as a teacher.

Career

Fenderson taught at Monmouth Street School in Newark for over 40 years, one of the first Black teachers in the Newark public schools. Many years later, a Polish-born former student recalled, "I didn't speak a word of English, and I was very frightened. She would say, 'Sit down, we're going to do good work today.'" The former student added, "She'd come to my house to see if I was studying, She came for visits, for holidays. I never forgot her." Fenderson co-founded the Newark chapter of the

in 1914; both she and her brother J. Leroy Baxter held leadership roles in the chapter, and she was elected to serve on the national Board of Directors in 1936. In 1922 she organized an anti-lynching parade in Newark. In 1940, she ran for a state assembly seat. She was active with the national and local NAACP through the 1940s and 1950s. In the 1940s Fenderson was president of the Lincoln-Douglass Memorial Association. She was also active in the Newark YWCA, The New Jersey Urban League, the New Jersey Mental Health Association, the New Jersey Education Association, and the Schoolwomen's Club of Newark. She supported efforts to educate Black women voters, to protect migrant farm workers, and build a community hospital. In 1959, the North Jersey chapter of the National Association of Negro Business and Professional Women's Clubs presented their first Sojourner Truth Award to Fenderson. In 1961, she narrated a Negro History Week program at a church in Belleville, New Jersey.

Personal life

Grace Baxter married Walter E. Fenderson in 1917. Grace Baxter Fenderson died in 1962, aged 78 years, in Philadelphia. Congressman Hugh Joseph Adonizio read a tribute to Fenderson into the ''Congressional Record'', shortly after her death.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Fenderson, Grace Baxter 1883 births 1962 deaths 20th-century African-American educators African-American women educators 20th-century American educators 20th-century American women educators Kean University alumni People from Newark, New Jersey