Eleanor Ragsdale
Eleanor Ragsdale | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | Eleanor Dickey February 23, 1926 |
| Died | May 5, 1998 (aged 72) |
| Alma mater | Cheyney University of Pennsylvania |
| Occupation(s) | Educator, real estate agent, activist |
| Known for | Civil Rights Movement |
| Spouse | Lincoln Ragsdale (m. 1949) |
Eleanor Dickey Ragsdale (February 23, 1926 – May 5, 1998) was an American educator, entrepreneur, and activist in the Civil Rights Movement in the Phoenix area.[1]
Personal life[edit]
Ragsdale graduated from Cheyney University of Pennsylvania in 1947 with a bachelor's degree in education.[2] Shortly after graduating, she relocated to Phoenix, Arizona to accept a position as a kindergarten teacher at Dunbar Elementary School.[1] In 1949 she married Lincoln Ragsdale, her partner in entrepreneurship and activism in Phoenix's segregated communities.
Civil Rights era activism[edit]
Organizations[edit]
Ragsdale was an active member of community organizations and became a charter member of the local National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), Phoenix Urban League, and Greater Phoenix Council for Civic Unity. She also served as a member of The Links, Incorporated and clubs and associations advocating women's rights.[1]
Collaboration with the Mexican American community[edit]
In the 1960s Ragsdale collaborated with Grace Gill-Olivarez to desegregate schools and to promote better educational opportunities for Mexican American, African American, and other minority students. "Eleanor Ragsdale helped Gill-Olivarez solicit funds to defray the costs for a number of Mexican American high school students to attend evening job-training workshops, and she also worked with administrators at ASU to establish financial aid programs for both incoming African American and Mexican American students".[3] Yet, even as Ragsdale and her colleagues won a victory in desegregating Phoenix schools in 1953, enrollment of white students in these schools dropped, leaving minority students in underfunded, poorly administered schools which created new racial tensions between the African American and Mexican American communities. Despite Ragsdale's efforts, no unified coalition was able to form.[4]
References[edit]
- ^ a b c Whitaker, Matthew C (12 February 2007). "Ragsdale, Eleanor Dickey (1926-1998)". BlackPast.org. Retrieved 27 March 2012.
- ^ Osselaer, Heidi. "A Civil Rights Leader". Archived from the original on 2 April 2012. Retrieved 27 March 2012.
- ^ Whitaker, Matthew C. (2005). Race Work. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press. pp. 208. ISBN 9780803248212.
- ^ Whitaker, Matthew C. (2005). Race Work. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press. pp. 210–220. ISBN 9780803248212.
External links[edit]
- Eleanor Ragsdale Archived 2017-09-30 at the Wayback Machine at the Arizona Women's Heritage Trail
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
- 1926 births
- 1998 deaths
- African-American activists
- Schoolteachers from Arizona
- 20th-century American women educators
- Cheyney University of Pennsylvania alumni
- People from Phoenix, Arizona
- Activists from Philadelphia
- 20th-century American educators
- 20th-century African-American women
- 20th-century African-American educators