Little-Known Black History Fact: Thyra J. Edwards
Date: Wednesday, July 21, 2010, 4:25 am
By: Erica Taylor, The Tom Joyner Morning Show
In 1944, Thyra J. Edwards of Southside Chicago was called “one of the most interesting Negro women in the world.” Making historical strides in social work, Edwards served as the executive director of the Congress of American Women.
Back then, it was believed that black women should only use their skills to aide black children through social work, but Edwards sought to make a way for black women to make an international impact. In 1953, Edwards organized the first Jewish child care program in Rome to assist children of the Holocaust. She built her beliefs about aiding individuals on the “work systems theory,” a belief that a system is a set of independent and interacting parts.
Edwards organized the Women’s Cooperative Civic League in Baltimore, which called for improved sanitation and health conditions in black neighborhoods and became the first black social worker employed by the Baltimore Health Department in the early 1900s. Her work paved the way to the founding of her own children’s home.
Edwards sought advice from A. Phillip Randolph, founder of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters. She would also find refuge in the writings of Langston Hughes – actual personal letters, which were found just last October and set for auction in Chicago.
