Glendora McIlwain Putnam (July 25, 1923 – June 5, 2016) was a civil rights activist and the first African American female to serve as the Assistant Attorney General of Massachusetts.[1][2]
Glendora Putnam | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | Glendora McIlwain Putnam 25 July 1923 Lugoff, South Carolina, U.S. |
| Died | 5 June 2016 (aged 92) |
| Nationality | American |
| Occupation(s) | Assistant Attorney General of Massachusetts, Civil rights activist |
| Spouse | Harold Putnam |
| Relatives | 1 brother |
Early life and education edit
Putnam was born on July 25, 1923, in Lugoff, South Carolina, to Simon and Katherine McIlwain.[3] She had one brother, Luther, a Tuskegee Airman and a New York City police officer.[4] Her parents moved north to provide better opportunities for the family, arriving in Massachusetts in the late 1920s.[4] They lived in Methuen[3] and South Lawrence, Massachusetts.[4] Her parents were involved in the civil rights movement.[4]
Putnam originally attend a junior college in the south but, after she was discouraged from applying to law school by faculty,[3] she transferred and earned a bachelor's degree at Bennett College.[4] She then earned a law degree at the Boston University School of Law.[4][3] She was driven to attend law school by a desire to eliminate segregation and discrimination.[4]
Civil rights edit
Putnam became the first African-American woman to serve as an assistant attorney general in Massachusetts in the office of Edward W. Brooke, her law school classmate.[4][3] In this role, she led the civil rights division.[4] Putnam and Brooke had previously worked on civil rights issues for the NAACP.[3] Putnam held the same position under Brooke's successors, Elliot Richardson and Robert H. Quinn.[5]
Beginning in 1969, Putname chaired that Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination, saying it was like being "given a teaspoon to shovel out an ocean."[4] She left the Commission after seven years[3] to become an assistant secretary for fair housing and equal opportunity in the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development.[4] After returning to Massachusetts, she worked at the Massachusetts Housing Finance Agency and then on the advisory board to the Massachusetts Civil Rights Commission.[4]
In the 1980s, she was chairman of the board of the Young Women's Christian Association, an organization that refused her admittance in the segregated south of her youth.[4][3]
Awards and honors edit
For her work in civil rights, she received the YW Boston's Academy of Women Achievers and Sandra B. Henriquez Racial Justice awards.[4] She was also named a Living Legend by the Museum of African American History in 2012, the museums's highest honor.[4][3]
Putnam received honorary doctor of law degrees from Bennett in 1991 and the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth.[3] The Boston University School of Law awarded her the Silver Shingle Award for outstanding public service and the Massachusetts Black Lawyer's Association presented her with the Distinguished Achievement Award.[3]
Personal life edit
Putnam married Harold Putnam, a state representative in the Great and General Court.[4] The couple later divorced.[4] Putnamed died June 5, 2016, after a stroke.[4]
See also edit
References edit
- ^ "Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination". Mass.gov. Massachusetts, United States: Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Archived from the original on 2020-02-25. Retrieved 2020-03-23.
- ^ "GLENDORA MCILLWAIN PUTNAM". legacy.com.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Marquard, Bryan (June 29, 2016). "Glendora Putnam, 92, civil rights pioneer in legal, government fields". The Boston Globe. Archived from the original on June 22, 2019. Retrieved March 22, 2020.
- ^ Hayden, Robert C. (1992-01-01). African Americans in Boston: More Than Three Hundred Fifty Years. Trustees of the Public Library of the City of Boston. p. 108. ISBN 9780890730836.