Lucy Randolph Mason, Ella Baker and Women's Leadership and Organizing in the Struggle for Freedom
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W&M ScholarWorks Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects Theses, Dissertations, & Master Projects 2000 "Neither bedecked nor bebosomed": Lucy Randolph Mason, Ella Baker and women's leadership and organizing in the struggle for freedom Susan Milane Glisson College of William & Mary - Arts & Sciences Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.wm.edu/etd Part of the African History Commons, American Studies Commons, United States History Commons, and the Women's Studies Commons Recommended Citation Glisson, Susan Milane, ""Neither bedecked nor bebosomed": Lucy Randolph Mason, Ella Baker and women's leadership and organizing in the struggle for freedom" (2000). Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects. Paper 1539623990. https://dx.doi.org/doi:10.21220/s2-q70f-yn72 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Theses, Dissertations, & Master Projects at W&M ScholarWorks. 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Reproduced with with permission permission of the of copyright the copyright owner. owner.Further reproductionFurther reproduction prohibited without prohibited permission. without permission. “NEITHER BEDECKED NOR BEBOSOMED”: LUCY RANDOLPH MASON, ELLA BAKER AND WOMEN’S LEADERSHIP AND ORGANIZING IN THE STRUGGLE FOR FREEDOM A Dissertation Presented to The Faculty o f the Department o f American Studies The College o f William and Mary in Virginia In Partial Fulfilment Of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy by Susan M. Glisson 2000 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. UMI Number. 9999051 UMI__ ® UMI Microform 9999051 Copyright 2001 by Bell & Howell Information and Learning Company. All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. Bell & Howell Information and Learning Company 300 North Zeeb Road P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. APPROVAL SHEET This dissertation is submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree o f Doctor of Philosophy Author Cj Approved, December 2000 idy Hahamovitch Leisa Meyer, Chair Cam Walker Charles Reagan Wilson, Diversity of Mississippi Center for the Study o f Southern Culture Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Dedicated to the memory o f Chris Fullerton, 1967-1997. My coach and my friend. Leaving Home Whose light is this that is mine, that in the shine o f the rain flashes from every leaf and brightens the rows where the young stalks rise, as if bidden by a knowing woman’s hand? This is no time to go. The new building stands unfinished, raw boards geometric in the air, a man’s design climbing out o f the ground like a tree. When I go I will carry away its dream. The light that is mine is not mine. Were I, like all my kind, to go and not come back, this light would return like a faithful woman until the pent stalk rose to the shattering o f its seed. No time is a time to go, and so any time is. Do not wait to know whose light this is. Once the heart has felt the ever-wakening woman’s touch o f the light, there are no more farewells. Wendell Berry iii Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS v ABSTRACT vii INTRODUCTION 2 CHAPTER I. A SWEETER, BONDER PLACE: LUCY RANDOLPH MASON 31 CHAPTER E. “THE REST OF US”: MISS LUCY AND THE CIO 105 CHAPTER m . CONNECTING THE MOVEMENTS: ELLA JO BAKER 159 CHAPTER IV. JUST ONE IN A NUMBER: CREATING A MOVEMENT 226 CHAPTER V. THE OTHER SIDE OF FREEDOM 258 CONCLUSION 300 AFTERWARD 316 BIBLIOGRAPHY 323 Lv Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Dissertations, like activism, are collective efforts. I have received a wealth of support which I can never repay. My dissertation committee, which shepherded me through comprehensive exams and the dissertation process, has been invaluable. From my advisor, Leisa Meyer, I have learned to be careful about race, class, and gender distinctions. Most importantly, Leisa taught me to be fearless about including my own voice to make the dissertation more compelling. Cindy Hahamovitch prodded me to ask hard questions about race and the labor movement and she showed me how to be more economical and less pedantic in mywriting style. Cam Walker cautioned me to discern between the accomplishments and the pitfalls experienced by the Movement, making sure to leaven the former with the latter. Charles “C Dub” Wilson grounded me with a sensitivity to the importance o f culture and region in defining a person and he has created an environment that makes my campus activism possible. Along the way, as well, Mel Ely advised me not to be distracted by the successes or failures of the women examined here and instead to focus on what could be learned by studying their lives-that admonition changed the course o f my dissertation. On my own, I have learned organizingthat is extremely difficult and requires a variety o f approaches. I have learned that I cannot do it alone and that neither could Lucy Mason or Ella Baker. If all of these lessons are not apparent in the writing, the failure is my own and not that o f my committee. Since I sought the credibility a PhD. might bring for my activism far more than for an academic career, the completion o f this project has seemed at times to be a pyrrhic victory. Whatever benefit has come from it has been through the good graces o f the people mentioned here. I’ve had some phenomenal professors along the way, in addition to my committee: Wayne Mixon got me hooked on Southern history, and Michael Cass, Tom Glennon, Walter Shurden, Diana and Jay Stege, Tom Trimble, Bob Brinkmeyer, Vaughn Grisham, Ted Ownby, and Jay Watson round out my academic panopoly. I ended up in Mississippi through the good counsel (and periodic swift kicks) of Dr. Joe and Miss Betty Hendricks, and Will D. Campbell. I am there still because o f the monumental example o f service, faith, and commitment to justice that ‘Dr. Joe” and “Will D.” have shown me. Whatever I do, the standard for my life will be measured by their own work, and their love and guidance insure that I have the tools to attain it. My father died when I was very young; the good Lord provided me two gentle men to replace Him. No one person should be so fortunate as I have been in having wonderful friends and supporters. There are no words to describe adequately the deep affection I have for each of the folks mentioned here: Debbie Rossman Snover (my fellow traveller); Marcus Durham (first always); Leslie and Marty Jones; Charlie and Ed Thomas; Rob and Liza Sumowski; David Burtner; Chuck and Leigh Yarborough; Christopher Renberg; John and Olga Spivey; Aimee Schmidt and Sarah Brainerd; Miss Eunice Benton; Ron Numberg, v Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. and Lynn McKnight (the High Council); Joe Osgoode; Mary Hartwell and Beckett Howorth (for thousands o f years, good meals and conversation); Billy and Marcie Ferris; Jay and little Jennifer Bryant Langdale (love ya! mean it!); Barry and Natalie Gildea; Felix Brown; Jean Brown; Sam Chaltain (my sacred tool); Kelly Mason; Crystal Anderson; Leni Sorenson; Whitney Battle; Justin “Poppy” Anderson; Kerry Taylor; William Thomas; Paul Beezley; Mary Brandon and Jeff Bransford; Ted Smith; Linda Griffin; Susannah Dakin; Mary Stewart; Jackson “Ding” Sasser; Scott ‘K id Wicked” Small; Elizabeth Payne; Katie McKee and John Samonds; Michael Bertrand; Billy Barrios; Robbie Ethridge; Sarah Dixon Pegues; Bert Way; Lucky Pete Slade (partner in crime); and Molly McGehee. Sometimes, affection comes at great cost; for two who no longer grace my life—I did learn from you and I treasure the lessons. Chris Fullerton, o f everyone, pestered me to finish this project. It was immeasurably hard to go on without him The celebration is incomplete without him here. I have been unexpectedly fortunate to have my “subjects” welcome me into their midst and undertake my continued training.