Spouse(s) L. Simington Curtis Died 3 May 1988 | Children Twin sons Education University of Oregon | |
Born 1895-07-03 Canonsburg, Pennsylvania, United States Known for Early civil rights activism | ||
Mabel J. Byrd (July 3, 1895 – May 20, 1988) was born in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania, in the United States on July 3, 1895. Her father Robert Byrd was a bricklayer who moved his family to Portland, Oregon, when Mabel was a youth. In 1917 she was the first African American to enroll at the University of Oregon. At that time, she was also the only African American in Eugene, Oregon. Majoring in economics at Oregon, she transferred to the University of Washington in 1919, and in 1921 she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Liberal Arts.
A research assistant for the president of Fisk University, and later for economist Paul Douglas at the University of Chicago, Byrd was hired under Franklin Roosevelt's National Recovery Act to "observe possible exploitation of colored workers" during implementation of minimum wage laws. She was an early activist in the Civil Rights movement, collaborating with national leaders like W. E. B. DuBois.