ELLA BAKER
Ella Jo Baker was born on December 13, 1903, in
Norfolk, Virginia. She developed a sense for
social justice early in her life. As a girl
growing up in North Carolina, Baker listened to
her grandmother tell stories about slave
revolts. As a slave, her grandmother had been
whipped for refusing to marry a man chosen for
her by the slave owner.
Baker studied at Shaw University in Raleigh,
North Carolina. As a student she challenged
school policies that she thought were unfair.
She graduated in 1927 as class valedictorian and
then moved to New York City. Baker began joining
social activist organizations. In 1930, she
joined the Young Negroes Cooperative League. The
League's purpose was to develop black economic
power through collective planning. She also
involved herself with several women's
organizations.
In 1940, Baker began her involvement with the
NAACP. She worked as a field secretary and then
served as director of branches from 1943 until
1946. Inspired by the historic bus boycott in
Montgomery, Alabama, in 1955, Baker co-founded
the organization In Friendship to raise money
for the fight against Jim Crow Laws in the deep
South.
In 1957, Baker moved to Atlanta to organize
Martin Luther King's new organization, the
Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC).
She also ran a voter registration campaign
called the Crusade for Citizenship.
On February 1, 1960, a group of black college
students from North Carolina A&T University
refused to leave a Woolworth's lunch counter in
Greensboro, North Carolina where they had been
denied service. Baker left the SCLC after the
Greensboro sit-ins. She wanted to help the new
student activists and organized a meeting at
Shaw University for the student leaders of the
sit-ins in April 1960. From that meeting SNCC
was born. The organization adopted the Gandhian
theory of nonviolent direct action. SNCC members
joined with activists from the Congress of
Racial Equality (CORE), a New York-based civil
rights organization, in the 1961 Freedom Rides.
In 1964 SNCC helped create Freedom Summer, an
effort to focus national attention on
Mississippi's racism and to register black
voters.
With Ella Baker’s guidance and encouragement,
SNCC became one of the foremost advocates for
human rights in the country. Her influence was
reflected in the nickname she acquired: “Fundi,”
a Swahili word meaning a person who teaches a
craft to the next generation.
Baker continued to be a respected and
influential leader in the fight for human and
civil rights until her death on December 13,
1986, her 83rd birthday. This year marks the
20th anniversary of her passing.
Ella Jo Baker was born on December 13, 1903, in
Norfolk, Virginia. She developed a sense for
social justice early in her life. As a girl
growing up in North Carolina, Baker listened to
her grandmother tell stories about slave
revolts. As a slave, her grandmother had been
whipped for refusing to marry a man chosen for
her by the slave owner.
Baker studied at Shaw University in Raleigh,
North Carolina. As a student she challenged
school policies that she thought were unfair.
She graduated in 1927 as class valedictorian and
then moved to New York City. Baker began joining
social activist organizations. In 1930, she
joined the Young Negroes Cooperative League. The
League's purpose was to develop black economic
power through collective planning. She also
involved herself with several women's
organizations.
In 1940, Baker began her involvement with the
NAACP. She worked as a field secretary and then
served as director of branches from 1943 until
1946. Inspired by the historic bus boycott in
Montgomery, Alabama, in 1955, Baker co-founded
the organization In Friendship to raise money
for the fight against Jim Crow Laws in the deep
South.
In 1957, Baker moved to Atlanta to organize
Martin Luther King's new organization, the
Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC).
She also ran a voter registration campaign
called the Crusade for Citizenship.
On February 1, 1960, a group of black college
students from North Carolina A&T University
refused to leave a Woolworth's lunch counter in
Greensboro, North Carolina where they had been
denied service. Baker left the SCLC after the
Greensboro sit-ins. She wanted to help the new
student activists and organized a meeting at
Shaw University for the student leaders of the
sit-ins in April 1960. From that meeting SNCC
was born. The organization adopted the Gandhian
theory of nonviolent direct action. SNCC members
joined with activists from the Congress of
Racial Equality (CORE), a New York-based civil
rights organization, in the 1961 Freedom Rides.
In 1964 SNCC helped create Freedom Summer, an
effort to focus national attention on
Mississippi's racism and to register black
voters.
With Ella Baker’s guidance and encouragement,
SNCC became one of the foremost advocates for
human rights in the country. Her influence was
reflected in the nickname she acquired: “Fundi,”
a Swahili word meaning a person who teaches a
craft to the next generation.
Baker continued to be a respected and
influential leader in the fight for human and
civil rights until her death on December 13,
1986, her 83rd birthday. This year marks the
20th anniversary of her passing.