Women who made a difference

Ceremony recognizes 21 black women who broke racial and gender barriers

Melissa Haneline
The Post and Courier

Mildred Ellison Carr (from left), MaeDe Myers Brown and Marjorie Amos-Frazier smile after receiving a standing ovation at the MOJA Arts Festival's 'Standing on the Shoulders of Our Elders' ceremony Tuesday.

Some of the women had seen crosses burn on their front lawns. Some were in the audience for Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream Speech." All had dared to change the status quo in some way.

"Standing on the Shoulders of Our Elders" was the title of a MOJA Arts Festival ceremony recognizing 21 black women who have broken racial and gender barriers. The brunch,

attended by more than 200, was Tuesday at the Charleston Place Hotel.

Elease Amos-Goodwin, program coordinator for the 2008 festival, which celebrates the contributions of African-American and Caribbean arts and culture, said, "I came up with the idea to recognize only women because I thought about all the women in my life and how hard they worked so that I could have what I have."

Mistress of Ceremonies Rita Littles-Scott, said, "Through the years, all these women have sacrificed much of their lives to make things better for us all."

Actress Karole Turner Campell, in a dramatic reading, said, "They may trod us in the dirt/ But we still rise/ we rise."

Following are thumbnail sketches of what these women accomplished:

--Marjorie Amos-Frazier was the first non-legislator, first black and first woman elected by the S.C. General Assembly to serve on the S.C. Public Service Commission.

--MaeDe Myers Brown was arrested for attempting to desegregate the Fort Sumter Hotel, and Ku Klux Klan crosses were burned on her front steps. She and her husband increased local membership in the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People from 300 to 1,500 in three months.

--Mildred Ellison Carr taught English from 1951-1986 at Burke High School, where she worked with youngsters in gangs at the school and inspired every gang member to graduate from high school.

--Emily S. DeCosta taught at Virginia State University, and from 1947-1985, was the bookkeeper, office manager and corporation secretary for H.A. Decosta Co., General Contractors.

--Louise Martin Hill chaired the Democratic Women's Club and Charleston Democratic Party and coordinated former South Carolina Gov. Dick Riley's regional office in Charleston, and was a member of the Charleston County elections board.

--Christine Osburn Jackson came to Charleston when her husband was fired from his Alabama teaching job for marching with King. She integrated and served as executive director of the YWCA.

--Hilda Hutchinson Jefferson was selected as S.C. Home Economics Teacher of the Year and was one of the first black women elected to Charleston City Council, where she served 22 years.

--Eugenia D. Johnson became owner of the Gadsden Funeral Home in 1990 and retired as manager in 2006. She still serves as a licensed funeral director and notary public.

--Alma R. Latten was grand supervising deputy of District No. 2 Order of Eastern Star and oversaw 54 chapters. Under her tenure, the district had 4,000 members and 57 chapters by 2004.

--Frances Taylor Mack was chairwoman of the Child Welfare Division of the S.C. Department of Social Services' multidisciplinary committee. In 1946 she became the second black caseworker on staff of the Charleston County Department of Public Welfare.

--Dr. Catherine M. McCottry was the first black female obstetrician/gynecologist in Charleston and desegregated all Charleston hospitals in the late 1960s.

--Cynthia McCottry-Smith worked as a civil service clerk at the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., and was a reviewer/consultant for Laidlaw Book Co.

--Jewel Miller Mikell opened Jewell's Millinery at 94 Spring St. and worked for 46 years. Six of her original designs are housed in the S.C. State Museum in Columbia.

--Julia Berry Murray, a nurse at Roper Hospital, faced discrimination but became admired for her nursing skills and worked in obstetrics and surgery, retiring after eight years working in intensive care.

--Harriett G. Simpson received the S.C. Education Association's State Award for her outstanding teaching and was recognized for her work on the East Side of Charleston by Mayor Joe Riley.

--Inez A. Simpson was the first black appointed to the Charleston County Board of Voter Registration, and served as chair of the board.

--Dr. Marlene O'Bryant Seabrook was the first black and one of only two women to be employed as full-time faculty at The Citadel in 1975.

--Hazel Stewart was the first black woman to be elected to the Standing Committee of the Diocese of South Carolina.

--Lois A. Simms is the author of several books and was an organist for many years at Zion Olivet Presbyterian Church.

--Lucille Simmons Whipper was elected in 1985 to the S.C. House, where she served for 10 years and was a member of the Medical, Military, Public and Municipal Affairs Committee, the Labor, Commerce and Industry Committee and the Rules Committee.

--Dorothy Brunson Wright was commissioned by the city of Charleston to paint a portrait of civil rights activist Septima Clark for the City Council chamber, and to create a portrait of Denmark Vesey to be displayed in Gaillard Auditorium.

Editor's note: Earlier versions of this story contained incorrect information about Marjorie Amos-Frazier. The Post and Courier regrets the error.