Rowena Moore (September 10, 1910 – December 15, 1998) was an African-American union and civic activist, and founder of the

Malcolm X Malcolm X (born Malcolm Little, later Malik el-Shabazz; May 19, 1925 – February 21, 1965) was an American Muslim minister and human rights activist who was a prominent figure during the civil rights movement. A spokesman for the Nation of Is ...

Memorial Foundation in

Omaha, Nebraska Omaha ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Douglas County. Omaha is in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's 39th-largest cit ...

. She led the effort to have the

Malcolm X House Site The Malcolm X House Site located at 3448 Pinkney Street in North Omaha, Nebraska, marks the place where Malcolm X first lived with his family. The site was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984 and is also on the Nebraska list ...

recognized for its association with the life of the national civil-rights leader. It was listed on both the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

and the Nebraska register of historic sites.

Early life

Moore was born in

Meridian Meridian or a meridian line (from Latin ''meridies'' via Old French ''meridiane'', meaning “midday”) may refer to Science * Meridian (astronomy), imaginary circle in a plane perpendicular to the planes of the celestial equator and horizon * ...

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 ...

. When her father got a job in the meatpacking industry in 1924, her family moved to Omaha, Nebraska. She first worked in a packing plant at age 15, though she claimed to be 16 to get a job scraping fat off animals' hindquarters.

Career

During

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 ...

Moore noticed that while many women were given jobs in the meatpacking industry,

African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...

women were discriminated against. Moore organized a union called the Defense Women’s Club of black women who were committed to securing employment and supporting the war effort. Their goals were to promote

war bonds War bonds (sometimes referred to as Victory bonds, particularly in propaganda) are debt securities issued by a government to finance military operations and other expenditure in times of war without raising taxes to an unpopular level. They are a ...

and

food rationing Rationing is the controlled distribution of scarce resources, goods, services, or an artificial restriction of demand. Rationing controls the size of the ration, which is one's allowed portion of the resources being distributed on a particular ...

child care Child care, otherwise known as day care, is the care and supervision of a child or multiple children at a time, whose ages range from two weeks of age to 18 years. Although most parents spend a significant amount of time caring for their child(r ...

for working mothers, and securing jobs for black women. They wrote letters to the federal

Fair Employment Practices Committee A fair (archaic: faire or fayre) is a gathering of people for a variety of entertainment or commercial activities. Fairs are typically temporary with scheduled times lasting from an afternoon to several weeks. Types Variations of fairs incl ...

. An official came to Omaha to order the

South Omaha South Omaha is a former city and current district of Omaha, Nebraska, United States. During its initial development phase the town's nickname was "The Magic City" because of the seemingly overnight growth, due to the rapid development of the Union S ...

packing houses to stop discriminating against black women. Soon after, Moore and some 400 other women were hired. Moore worked in the meatpacking industry for twenty years, managing to retain her position after veterans returned from the war. Moore rose to become secretary of the meat cutters’ local union. In 1948, she became secretary of the Omaha Metropolitan Labor Council. She further challenged discrimination in the 1950s, when the meatpacking plants attempted to restrict employment. These actions led to Moore's getting fired from the plants; however, she maintained her passion to fight for social justice. Moore was elected chairwoman of the Douglas County Democratic Central Committee in 1971. She was the first black woman to run for the

Omaha City Council The City Council of Omaha, Nebraska, is elected every four years on a nonpartisan basis. The next election will occur in 2025. Omaha has a strong mayor form of government. Members are elected by district. Currently seven city council districts a ...

. Inspired by listening to Malcolm X’s speeches, Moore decided to start an organization to benefit African-Americans. When she learned her father had lived in the house where Malcolm X had first lived and her family still owned the property, Moore became the founding president of the Malcolm X Memorial Foundation. Her family made their five lots the basis of the foundation's site, eventually acquiring more than 60 lots for the center. She led an effort to have the site recognized (the house was torn down in 1965 before the family recognized its association with the life of Malcolm X.) Today the Foundation works to advance cultural and educational issues. The Foundation has preserved the

, 3448 Pinkney Street, and gained its recognition as a Nebraska historical heritage site and listing on the National Register of Historic Places. The Foundation has plans to develop the property as a park and link it to a nearby municipal park. Moore continued to look for ways to honor Malcolm X's legacy. In 1989 she proposed renaming the

North Omaha Freeway U.S. Highway 75 (US 75) is a part of the United States Numbered Highway System that runs for from Dallas, Texas to Kittson County, Minnesota where it ends just short of the Canada–United States border. Within the State of Nebraska it is a sta ...

as the Malcolm X Freeway. She led an early 1990s gathering with the African-American Progressive Action Network and the National Malcolm X Commemoration Commission to celebrate Malcolm X's life. In addition to her work in meatpacking and her public life, Moore owned a grocery store in the 1950s, managed several musical quartets and produced a movie, "The Sacred Beauty," which starred another Omaha woman.

Personal life

In 1927, she married. She and her husband, who later divorced, had a son.

Early life

Career

Personal life

See also

References

Further reading