“The most disrespected person in America, is the black woman. The most un-protected person in America is the black woman. The most neglected person in America, is the black woman.” - Malcolm X
One hallmark of this type of disrespect is the post-Civil war custom of refusing Black women any sort of honorific. “Auntie” or “Girl” rather than “Miss”, “Misses” This disrespect bleeds into historic newspaper coverage of Black women in the most unexpectedly delightful way. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, white women were generally written about as “Mrs. [Husband’s First Name]+[Last Name]. It was a sign of respect. Black women tend to be written about under their own names. This seriously makes my job so much easier. I love how a custom that was intended to insult and dehumanize allows us to identify the individual accomplishments and contributions of Black women in our communities.
Established in 1890, Highland Park College was located at the corner of 2nd Avenue and Euclid in Des Moines. In 1908 the college made the front page of the Des Moines Register, lamenting the loss of a (white) star football player found himself unable to compete, on or off the field, with newly admitted Black student, Archie Alphonso Alexander. Several (white) students also threatened to withdraw in response to the admission of a handful of Black students. Another incident occurred when a Black student declined to share a table at meals with the Black custodial staff. The college administration caved and kicked the Black students out. Part of their rationale was that other schools would totally discriminate, too if they felt like they could. The Iowa and Nebraska Negro Baptist Association held a special session at Corinthian Baptist, condemning the decision by Highland Park, fearing that it would embolden other schools to discriminate.
Archie Alexander enrolled at the University of Iowa where he played football and became the first Black person to graduate from the institution. Alexander pursued a successful career in engineering and would go on to become the Governor of the US Virgin Islands under President Dwight Eisenhower.
Sources: Des Moines Register September 10, 1908 p 1
When I started planning 2024’s Black History month content, I had aspirations of featuring a minister every Monday…because Minister Monday is catchy, right? Despite having a notebook full of names, I got really hung up on initials. Almost all Iowa’s late 19th century/early 20th century ministers went by their first and middle initials in newspaper articles as well as handwritten census and military records. I was able to crack the code of three ministers’ initials using records from Ancestry.com databases. Trying to figure out first names turned out to be pretty time consuming, which meant less time to research and create content. We’re not giving up: just resting and regrouping on this one.
Reverend T.L. Griffith of Corinthian Baptist Church delivered an address to “almost all of the city’s approximately 600 negroes” in response to the Atlanta Race Riot of 1906. In his address, he acknowledged the wrongs to the Black community and called on the audience to stand for the betterment of the community, urging restraint in the face of terrible news emerging from Atlanta. Griffith called out the lack of protection for Black women and the evil of denying Black children an education.
Reverend Griffith maintained that Black citizens were victims of taxation without representation, paying precious dollars into a system that offers very little in return, citing lack of representation in government and lack of access to education and other rights afforded under the 14th amendment. In June of 1907, Dr. William Beckham of the Negro Baptist Publishing House supported Griffith’s statement, citing that nationally, 1 million Negro farmers paid $1 billion in property taxes, $20M of which goes to education, but only 10 schools of law & medicine accepting Black students at the time.
Sources: Des Moines Register Archives October 8, 1906 p 2
In December of 1908, Corinthian Baptist’s minister TL Griffith announced his resignation. His plan was to move to Denver, Colorado, and pastor Zion Church, which was, at the time, the largest Black church in the US. In January, 1909, the Register reported that the congregation passed a resolution (including a letter to Zion Church’s congregation) refusing Griffith’s resignation. Instead, the good people of Corinthian Baptist offered Reverend Griffith two weeks of vacation to visit Denver so that he could un-do his moving preparations.
In corporate speak, we talk a lot about metrics: how do we know we’re doing the right things? How do we define success? I honestly hadn’t thought about how one would measure the success of a church, but here are some facts about Corinthian Baptist Church during TL Griffith’s tenure. I can see why they didn’t want to let him go.
Church membership grew from 140 to over 500
The church expanded and moved to a bigger building, purchased from a white Unitarian congregation (the new building was located at 2nd and Linden streets)
Property ownership amongst church members grew from 9 members owning property in 1901 to 60 property owners in 1908
Today I want to talk about modern voter suppression and the importance of staying vigilant.
Shortly ahead of the 2016 presidential election a friend in St. Louis had her voter registration purged, despite having never missed an election. Until this point, it hadn’t occurred toma me that someone like me, who carries the privileges of birthright citizenship, a masters degree, and zero interactions with the criminal justice system, could be disenfranchised. I started checking my registration regularly – sort of like I check my credit report.
Fast forward to 2023: I had just moved. I updated my drivers license with my current address and checked “update my voter registration” on both the drivers license form and on my change of address with the post office. I thought I was covered. I missed one odd primary in 2021 due to COVID (request those mail in ballots early!), but I had voted in elections big and small before and after. Imagine my surprise when I went out to the Iowa Secretary of State’s site to find my polling place and received an error message that my voter registration could not be found.
I felt angry and indignant. I quickly gathered the materials I needed to re-register online, which was basically just my drivers license. I re-registered in less than five minutes and I received my new registration card by end of week. I voted early at my county elections office. However, for a person without a government issued ID or a home computer with internet, the process would have absolutely been more cumbersome, if the person caught it at all. I was lucky.
As luck would have it, my friend, Chris Espersen, was writing a column about voter suppression in Iowa for the Cedar Rapids Gazette. I encourage everyone to check it out here
I think its pretty safe to say they picked the wrong person to purge. Or maybe they picked the right person? The truth is that anyone can have their voter registration purged. As the nation’s courts continue to strip away key provisions of LBJ’s 1965 Voting Rights act, it is critical that we stay vigilant.
Much of August was dedicated to wrapping up the research and writing for our recent exhibit on Impactful Black Women in Des Moines, which debuted on August 27 at SistaSoulFest in Des Moines, Iowa. I didn’t get to read as many books as I would have liked. Here’s what I read, as well as a few podcasts that resonated over the past two months.
The Books
Barracoon by Zora Neale-Hurston: So much sadness + grief in Cudjo Lewis’ story. Cudjo Lewis was kidnapped + sold into slavery around 1858-1859, LONG after the international slave trade had been outlawed. Descriptions of his capture, crying for his family, the conditions in the hull of the Clotilda, being mocked + shunned by other Black people for being “savage.” So much grief over his home and all of the things he never got to do. I shouldn’t have to say this: Slavery did not benefit Black people.
Islam in the Heartland of America by Imam Omar Hazim: Confession: When I bought this book from the Planned Parenthood book sale I thought it would be a history. It does have a wee bit of history AND it’s more about Islamic theology. Each chapter is basically a sermon & contains lessons for how to comport oneself moving through the world. At its heart, Islam is such a beautiful and peaceful faith.
Folk Roots, New Roots: Folklore in American Life by the Museum of National Heritage: This book is a series of essays by anthropologists and historians exploring the evolution (and at times devolution) of folk art and folk ways in the United States. The scholars explore the impacts of industrialization, as well as a pervasive tendency of our culture to devalue the labor of women and indigenous peoples. While these trends have made folk art accessible to the masses, the disconnection from the original “folk” has troubling implications. Unfortunately this book is out of print, though it may be available at your local library, or perhaps you’ll get lucky and bump into one at a used book sale like I did.
The Genius of Bob’s Burgers by Margaret France: This is a book that I started over a year ago, got distracted, and did not finish. I finished it poolside in August. The author is a friend from college who specializes in gender studies and popular culture. The Genius of Bob’s Burgers wittily breaks down the complete upheaval of traditional gender constructs within the context of a cartoon/pop-culture universe. I found the analysis on drag culture (***spoiler alert: when you watch cartoons where men voice women’s roles and women voice men’s roles you are consuming drag) especially enlightening against the backdrop of the recent wave of anti-LGBTQIA legislation that has swept through many states, including Iowa.
The Light We Carry by Michelle Obama was gifted to me a while ago and this summer I finally had time to read what she had to say about coping during chaotic and desperate times. Part memoir, part self-help, Mrs. Obama’s words provided a much needed nudge to resist cynicism and keep going.
Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maude Montgomery is a book I loved as a child. In 1985, I religiously watched the eponymous Canadian mini-series starring Megan Follows. As a kid I rooted hard for Anne – still do. In 2023 I must say that Anne is a weird little kid with some pretty deep trauma. As the parent of a bright, talkative 10 year old, I discovered a new layer of humor, empathizing with the adults’ reactions to Anne’s calamitous capers and multitudinous monologues.
The Podcasts
Worst Best Sellers, Episode 226: Anne of Green Gables was my inspiration to re-read Anne of Green Gables. The hosts also offered some much needed context around Canadian history and the social-political climate of Anne’s world. This episode deviates from the normal format in that the hosts love the book and discuss it with great fondness.
Willie Stevenson Glanton was born and raised in Hot Springs, Arkansas. Her father, E.S. Stevenson was a hotel manager, Baptist church deacon, and founder of the Hot Springs, Arkansas Negro Civic League. He believed that women should be teachers.
Willie attended Tennessee State College in Nashville, TN where she was a member of the History Study Club, Forensics Club, Alba Ross Social Club, and Delta Sigma Theta sorority. She graduated in 1942 with degrees in education and business. Willie Stevenson went on to attend Robert H. Terrell law school in Washington, D.C.
While married to Iowa’s first Black judge, Willie Stevenson Glanton continued to pursue her own remarkable career. She continued to practice law at Glanton and Glanton law firm and travelled to Africa and Southeast Asia as part of a U.S. State Department sponsored cultural exchange. In 1956, Mrs. Glanton was appointed Assistant Polk County Attorney, marking the first time a Black person or a woman had held such a position in Iowa, or the U.S. as a whole. In 1964, Willie Stevenson Glanton was elected to the Iowa State Legislature, making her, again, the first woman and first Black person to hold office. During her tenure with the Iowa State Legislature, Mrs. Glanton championed diversity and equity. She was a staunch and vocal opponent of the death penalty and an early advocate for LGBTQ+ rights. Mrs. Glanton was an outspoken supporter of abortion rights and the federal Equal Rights Amendment (ERA). In 1980, Mrs. Glanton became the first Black woman and first Black person to be elected to the Des Moines City Council.
Throughout her life, Willie Stevenson Glanton was active in a variety of causes and organizations, including the League of Women Voters, National Foundation and Society for Crippled Children, Wilkie House, NAACP, Corinthian Baptist Church, Iowa Association of Colored Women, State and County Bar Associations, Good Government Panel, Urban Renewal Board, Des Moines International Commission for Adult Education, Des Moines Board of International Education, Polk County Welfare Department, Des Moines Public Library, and the YWCA.
Sometimes referred to as “Iowa’s Rosa Parks,” Edna Griffin was a freedom fighter long before the televised Civil Rights protests that marked the 1950s and 1960s.
In 1948, Edna Griffin filed a suit against Katz Drug Store in Des Moines after being denied service due to her race. She was joined by two Black men, John Bibbs and Leonard Hudson, as well as a white man named Kenneth Walker who was also denied service at Katz because he was with a Black person. State of Iowa v. Katz was a landmark case which applied some much needed pressure on the state to actually enforce the Iowa Civil Rights Act of 1884 which outlawed discrimination at “inns, restaurants, chophouses, eating houses, lunch counters, and all other places where refreshments are served, public conveyances, barber shops, bathhouses, theaters, and all other places of amusement.”
Ms. Griffin was a frequent contributor in the Des Moines Register’s letters to the editor. Edna Griffin spoke out for progressive causes, including fair housing, voicing support for early version of Polk County’s pre-trial release program, as well as commending four members of Iowa’s 1964 Congressional Delegation who voted in favor of President Lyndon B. Johnson’s 1964 Civil Rights Act.
She was an active member of Iowa’s Progressive Party, and was elected chair in 1952. Ms. Griffin was also a member of the Pre-Trial Board of Directors in Polk County in the 1960s.
In 1946, eight years before Brown v. Topeka, Harriette Curley graduated at the top of her teachers’ program at Drake University and was hired on as a kindergarten teacher at Perkins Elementary School. A group of neighbors attempted to pressure Des Moines Public Schools Superintendent Newell McCombs to remove Ms. Curley, claiming that a Black teacher at the neighborhood school would bring down property values in a white neighborhood. A formal petition was never filed, and in the end, Superintendent McCombs supported Ms. Curley, as did her school principal.
Windsor Presbyterian church was particularly vocal in favor of Miss Curley. The minister, Reverend Orr was very vocal in his support of Harriette Curley. On September 13, 1946, the Register published an article that Windsor Presbyterian Church’s congregation had passed a unanimous resolution in support of Harriette Curley hiring and retention.
AFL-CIO Union weighed in: On September 11, 1946, the Register published an article wherein the AFL-CIO issued a statement in Harriette Curley’s favor.
Ms. Curley’s hiring was the culmination of a nearly 50-year effort. In 1899, a group of Black community leaders expressed the need for a minimum of 2 Black Teachers and 1 school board seat in the Des Moines Public School system. The following year, Des Moines Public Schools went on to hire an additional five Black teachers.
Research by Kari Bassett, M.B.A. and Simone Sorteberg-Mills, PhD.
Photo from Des Moines Register Archives, September 4, 1946.
The Church has always been the cornerstone of Black communities. The Church is a place where people have gathered to celebrate, grieve and support one another. The Church is where our stories are rooted and where we will find our history. In his 2021 book, The Black Church, This Is Our Story, This Is Our Song, Dr. Henry Louis Gates Jr describes the Black Church as its own cultural system, requiring its own set of cultural proficiencies (Gates, 2021). While Black worship was tightly controlled and monitored during the antebellum period, newly emancipated enslaved persons were more or less left alone to worship as they pleased after the war’s end. The church provided a refuge from the daily indignities of discrimination, and provided an environment where Black people could practice and develop distinct disciplines of music, dance, reading, writing, rhetoric, and oratory (Gates, 2021). Iowa’s historic Black Churches and congregations hold true to the traditions outlined by Gates. The Des Moines Register newspaper archives from the 1870s through the 1950s are full of examples of the many ways the Black Church created and nurtured a rich cultural environment for the city’s Black residents. During any given week, congregations hosted visiting lecturers, concerts, plays, as well as a variety of social organizations and working groups dedicated to education, health, housing, and voting.
At the beginning of December, I was invited to return to my alma mater, Grinnell College, for the Digital Liberal Arts Collaborative (DLAC) Teaching with Technology Fair. The program connects students with opportunities to apply technology within the Humanities discipline. Last fall, our board member and affiliated researcher, Sarah Purcell, was able to hire a research assistant to work on mapping Iowa’s Black Churches. She recruited Ellen Hengesbach, a fourth year Political Science major from the Chicago area. Ellen is also pursuing an interdisciplinary concentration (sort of like a minor) in American Studies. Ellen is a Vivero Humanities fellow, a program offering paid opportunities to learn, develop, and apply technology to interdisciplinary projects. Being a part of the Grinnell College community definitely has its perks!
Over the course of first semester, Ellen and Sarah created a Google Map of Iowa’s Black Churches, even color coding those that already have some type of historic marker! Ellen noticed right away that nearly all Black churches, especially in Des Moines, Iowa, are right off the interstate. In the 21st Century, most of us take for granted the sites of freeways and hospital complexes. Both give the impression of always having been there. The reality is that both are topographic evidence of Black communities being bifurcated in the name of urban renewal and “progress.”
As with any tech project, there have been some ups and downs, starts and stops, and even some big changes to Google Maps, the original tool selected. I look forward to working with Ellen and Sarah next semester – our imaginations are running wild thinking about potential applications for maps!
Des Moines native, Dana James, is an alumna of East High School and Grand View University and founder of Black Iowa News.
Ms. James founded Black Iowa News in 2020 after noticing gaps in news coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic, specifically, the severe impacts of the virus on the Black community. Having worked for the Des Moines Register, as well as other publications, Dana knew she had the skills to make a difference. In 2020, she founded Black Iowa News.
Black Iowa News was initially delivered in the form of an email letter subscription. From 2020 to 2022, Black Iowa News’s readership continued to grow. In preparation for the 2022 midterm elections, Ms. James distributed a print newsletter to 8,000 households. In an age where misinformation and disinformation run rampant online, Dana James saw an opportunity to expand her contribution to an informed Black community and decided to pursue a print version of Black Iowa News. In 2023, Ms. James established Black Iowa Newspaper, the first Black newspaper in Iowa since the Iowa (State) Bystander ceased production in 1972. The presence of a physical newspaper in Black homes will, as James says, “contribute to an informed community,” and will be a reliable and relevant source of news that families can read and engage with together.
When the Iowa State Bystander was founded in 1894, it was in response to a need for Black people to see relevant, non-derogatory news about their communities. Dana James continues this proud tradition, covering Iowa’s Black community from the inside.
She is committed to amplifying Black experts, Black voices, and Black perspective to a Black audience. Always in search of the kinds of stories that don’t get told, Ms. James also creates a forum for (seemingly) ordinary folks to tell their own stories. In addition to Black Iowa News and Black Iowa Newspaper, Dana James co-hosts “Being Heard: 2 Black Women, Coffee, and Conversation” with Lya Williams.
Black history research collective 