Ida B. Kinney

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Ida B. Kinney (née Ford; May 25, 1904 – January 1, 2009) was an African-American civil rights activist.

Early life[edit]

Ida Ford, the granddaughter of slaves, was born in Lafayette County, Arkansas, the only child to Henry B. Ford and Bessie White.[citation needed] From age three, Ida lived with her grandparents, James T. and Anna Mariah White, who were former slaves that bought themselves out of slavery with the sale of cotton.[1] They were very industrious people who taught her valuable lessons about the ethics of life and putting God first.[citation needed] During the early 1900s, women were not allowed to read or write so Kinney, a young girl, taught her grandmother to read and write, using the Bible.[2]

In 1920 Kinney, then 16, moved to California.[3] Kinney and her mother lived in Santa Monica until she graduated from Santa Monica High School.[3] She attended Philander Smith College in Arkansas for one year.[4]

Kinney returned to the old Vermont Campus of the University of California, Los Angeles for her second year of college where she met her first husband, Carl Binion, who died a decade later from a war injury from World War I.[3] She moved to the San Fernando Valley in 1940, and returned to school to continue her education where she graduated with a bachelor's degree from what was then-San Fernando Valley State College.[3]

Activism and career[edit]

Having been refused a teacher's license, Kinney protested and petitioned the California governor Pat Brown for help, which resulted in her receiving her credentials by order of the governor within ten days.[citation needed] Her 84-year journey for civil rights began, which would include marches, protests and associations, with the likes of, among others, Rosa Parks, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Medger Evers.[citation needed]

In December 1942, Kinney became a pioneer member of Great Community Missionary Baptist Church in Pacoima under the leadership of the late Rev. T.G. Pledger, Organizer/Pastor.[citation needed] In 1952, she met and married Perry Kinney.[4] They were married for over 50 years until his death at age 104 in 2004.[citation needed]

Kinney was an elementary school teacher, first as a substitute in Ken County and then for the Los Angeles Unified School District.[5] She was influential in the struggle to allow black women in the hospital located in Van Nuys, California.[3] In addition, she started the Head Start Program.[citation needed]

One of the first blacks to work for Lockheed Aerospace, she campaigned and was successful in opening the doors for black workers to join the union.[5]

She was appointed to the commission on aging for the County of Los Angeles, where she served actively for 12 years.[citation needed] She was in the forefront of establishing a center for seniors in the Valley.[6] Former Councilmen Howard Finn credits Kinney with the building of the multipurpose senior center which opened in 1971 in the Pacoima neighborhood of Los Angeles.[citation needed]. She also played a key role in developing the Boys & Girls Club in the Pacoima neighborhood.[5]

Kinney was also honored by the NAACP on her 100th birthday as being a member of its organization since May 1955. This honor resulted in a commendatory U.S postal stamp, being commissioned and soon to be released.[7][8]

Death[edit]

Ida B. Kinney died in Lake View Terrace, California, aged 104.[3]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Civil-rights activist Ida B. Kinney dies at 104". East Bay Times. January 11, 2009. Retrieved October 21, 2020.
  2. ^ "California civil rights leader Ida Kinney dies at 104". Bendbulletin.com. January 12, 2009. Retrieved July 8, 2017.
  3. ^ a b c d e f "Civil rights activist Ida B. Kinney dead at 104". Daily News. January 12, 2009. Retrieved October 21, 2020.
  4. ^ a b Sheppard, Harrison (January 11, 2009). "Rights leader Ida Kinney dies at 104". Daily News. Retrieved December 5, 2020.
  5. ^ a b c "Ida Kinney, oldest African American in the San Fernando Valley, dies at 104". Los Angeles Times. January 10, 2009. Retrieved October 21, 2020.
  6. ^ "Civil-rights activist Ida B. Kinney dies at 104". East Bay Times. January 11, 2009. Retrieved December 5, 2020.
  7. ^ Mikulan, Steven (January 9, 2009). "Late News: Black Rights Pioneer in the Valley Dies at 104". Los Angeles Weekly. Retrieved July 8, 2017.
  8. ^ "Civil Rights Activist Ida B. Kinney Dead at 104". Daily Breeze. January 12, 2009. Retrieved June 2, 2015.
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