ecifically to uplift black womanhood. Under Terrell's leadership, the NACW established kindergarten programs, day care centers, and women's clubs. Members of the organization were afforded numerous opportunities to share information about parenting, household management, and later social and economic concerns. Terrell also campaigned to establish schools for domestic science, and the NACW worked tirelessly to develop homes for girls, the aged, and the sick. In 1895, she became the first woman of color in American to be appointed to the District of Columbia Board of Education. She resigned in 1901, was reappointed in 1906, and held the post until 1911. In 1909, she and journalist Ida B. Wells-Barnett became the only two black women invited to become charter members of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). Always outspoken, Terrell became even more vocal during the last 20 years of her life and was considered a militant activist. In an attempt to end discrimination everywhere, particularly in Washington, D.C., she often picketed, boycotted, and participated in sit ins until the judicial system finally ruled that segregated eating places were unconstitutional in 1953. Terrell lived to see the U.S. Supreme Court mandate the desegregation of public schools in the Brown vs. Board of Education case in 1954, but died two months later at the age of 90. Mary Terrell is best known for her piece “What Role is the Educated Negro Woman to Play in the Uplifting of Her Race?” She also wrote for different papers including The Crisis and The Independent. ...
