Mary White Ovington

Mary White Ovington (1865–1951) was a suffragette, socialist, unitarian, journalist, and co-founder of the NAACP. Mary White Ovington was born April 11, 1865 in Brooklyn, New York. Her parents, members of the Unitarian Church were supporters of women's rights and had been involved in anti-slavery movement. Educated at Packer Collegiate Institute and Radcliffe College, Ovington became involved in the campaign for civil rights in 1890 after hearing... more

Mary White Ovington (1865–1951) was a suffragette, socialist, unitarian, journalist, and co-founder of the NAACP. Mary White Ovington was born April 11, 1865 in Brooklyn, New York. Her parents, members of the Unitarian Church were supporters of women's rights and had been involved in anti-slavery movement. Educated at Packer Collegiate Institute and Radcliffe College, Ovington became involved in the campaign for civil rights in 1890 after hearing Frederick Douglass speak in a Brooklyn church. In 1895 she helped found the Greenpoint Settlement in Brooklyn. Appointed head of the project the following year, Ovington remained until 1904 when she was appointed fellow of the Greenwich House Committee on Social Investigations. Over the next five years she studied employment and housing problems in black Manhattan. During her investigations she met William Du Bois, an African American from Harvard University, and she was introduced to the founding members of the Niagara Movement. Influenced... less