Draft:Mary McClendon

Mary Upshaw McClendon
Mary Upshaw McClendon
Born	October 3, 1922; Andalusia, Alabama
Died	February 16, 2015 (aged 92)
Occupations	Household worker; Union organizer;
Known for	Founding the Household Workers' Organization

links
NDWA "The Help" movie Book interview Syndicated profile by Smyth Freep 2015 HWO 1975 Freep profile HWO 1972 Freep by May 1977 Freep longform 1970 Freep Syndicated profile by Glaser

Mary Upshaw McClendon (October 3, 1922^[1]^[a] – February 16, 2015^[3]) was an African American domestic worker and labor rights activist from Detroit.

Early life[edit]

McClendon was born on October 22, 1922 in Andalusia, Alabama, to a family with four other children. Beginning in her youth, she preformed domestic work with her mother. In 1955, she moved to Detroit to join her cousin, a doctor, and, outside of the Jim Crow South, was able to vote for the first time, which she said was "like a flash of freedom."^[4]

With the Household Workers' Organization[edit]

Later life and legacy[edit]

References[edit]

Notes[edit]

^ Some sources report her birth year as 1923.^[2]

Footnotes[edit]

^ McClendon, Mary. "autobiography" [textual record]. Mary Upshaw McClendon Papers, Series: I, Box: 1, File: 1. Detroit: Walter P. Reuther Library, Wayne State University. Cited in Nadasen 2015, p. 209
^ Moon, Elain Latzman (December 1993). Untold Tales, Unsung Heroes. An Oral History of Detroit's African American Community, 1918-1967. p. 300.
^ @gardnerruby (February 23, 2015). "My beloved cousin, Mrs. Mary Upshaw McClendon, who, along with her dear son, Jasper Evans, went home to their eternal rest on February 16, 2015. Your presence in the earth will be sorely and sadly missed". Retrieved July 5, 2024 – via Instagram.
^ Nadasen 2015, pp. 98–99.

Sources[edit]

Nadasen, Premilla (August 25, 2015). Household Workers Unite: The Untold Story of African American Women Who Built a Movement. Boston: Beacon Press. ISBN 9780807014509.

External links[edit]

Wayne state page
Possibly interview?

[3] Some sources report her birth year as 1923.^[2]

[1] McClendon, Mary. "autobiography" [textual record]. Mary Upshaw McClendon Papers, Series: I, Box: 1, File: 1. Detroit: Walter P. Reuther Library, Wayne State University. Cited in Nadasen 2015, p. 209

[UU-2] Moon, Elain Latzman (December 1993). Untold Tales, Unsung Heroes. An Oral History of Detroit's African American Community, 1918-1967. p. 300.

[4] @gardnerruby (February 23, 2015). "My beloved cousin, Mrs. Mary Upshaw McClendon, who, along with her dear son, Jasper Evans, went home to their eternal rest on February 16, 2015. Your presence in the earth will be sorely and sadly missed". Retrieved July 5, 2024 – via Instagram.

[FOOTNOTENadasen201598–99-5] Nadasen 2015, pp. 98–99.

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