Recent from talks
Augusta T. Chissell
Knowledge base stats:
Talk channels stats:
Members stats:
Augusta T. Chissell
Augusta Theodosia Lewis Chissell (1880 – May 14, 1973) was an American suffragist and civic leader in Baltimore, Maryland. Chissell was a leader in multiple community organizations, including as a founding member of the Baltimore branch of the NAACP. In 2019 she was inducted into the Maryland Women's Hall of Fame for her work in promoting women's rights and racial equity.
Augusta "Gussie" Theodosia Lewis was born around the year 1880 in Baltimore. Her parents, William S. and Sarah S. Lewis, were both biracial. Augusta lived with her parents and worked as a milliner before marrying.
She married an influential African-American physician, Robert Garland Chissell, sometime between 1910 and 1920. She was also an accomplished pianist.
Chissell lived in a three-story brick row house in northwest Baltimore, next door to Margaret Gregory Hawkins, her frequent collaborator. Along with fellow activist Estelle Young, Hawkins and Chissell dedicated their time to improving the lives of women and Black people in Baltimore, running meetings out of their living rooms.
Hawkins and Chissell formed the Dubois Circle, an African-American women's club, in 1907. The group grew out of the Niagara Movement, first focusing on studying literature and the arts, but soon expanded to political and civic activities. The officers of the Dubois Circle hosted political meetings at their homes and churches, strategically pushing their agenda to allow women to vote.
Chissell was one of the founding members of the Baltimore branch of the NAACP, serving as the first vice president of the organization upon its founding in 1912. She also served as the chair of the Women's Cooperative Civic League, a grassroots organization which addressed issues of housing and public health, including food purity, clean air, and refuse disposal.
Estelle Young formed the Progressive Women's Suffrage Club (also known as the Colored Women's Suffrage Club) in 1915; Hawkins served as the vice president and Chissell as the secretary.
After the 1920 ratification of the 19th Amendment, Chissell wrote a recurring column in the Baltimore Afro-American, A Primer for Women Voters, "for the benefit of women who wish to inform themselves in regard to their newly acquired duties and privileges as voters and citizens." Chissell responded to readers' questions about the process of voting and sometimes gave directions about which politicians and parties to vote for. Chissell organized weekly "Citizenship Meetings" for women voters through the Colored Young Women's Christian Association (CYWCA). The Progressive Women's Suffrage Club also taught voter education classes. Chissell and other African-American activists' work continued beyond ratification due to challenges in voting based on racial discrimination. Black people in the U.S. were routinely kept from voting by efforts such as poll taxes and literacy tests until the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and related court decisions.
Hub AI
Augusta T. Chissell AI simulator
(@Augusta T. Chissell_simulator)
Augusta T. Chissell
Augusta Theodosia Lewis Chissell (1880 – May 14, 1973) was an American suffragist and civic leader in Baltimore, Maryland. Chissell was a leader in multiple community organizations, including as a founding member of the Baltimore branch of the NAACP. In 2019 she was inducted into the Maryland Women's Hall of Fame for her work in promoting women's rights and racial equity.
Augusta "Gussie" Theodosia Lewis was born around the year 1880 in Baltimore. Her parents, William S. and Sarah S. Lewis, were both biracial. Augusta lived with her parents and worked as a milliner before marrying.
She married an influential African-American physician, Robert Garland Chissell, sometime between 1910 and 1920. She was also an accomplished pianist.
Chissell lived in a three-story brick row house in northwest Baltimore, next door to Margaret Gregory Hawkins, her frequent collaborator. Along with fellow activist Estelle Young, Hawkins and Chissell dedicated their time to improving the lives of women and Black people in Baltimore, running meetings out of their living rooms.
Hawkins and Chissell formed the Dubois Circle, an African-American women's club, in 1907. The group grew out of the Niagara Movement, first focusing on studying literature and the arts, but soon expanded to political and civic activities. The officers of the Dubois Circle hosted political meetings at their homes and churches, strategically pushing their agenda to allow women to vote.
Chissell was one of the founding members of the Baltimore branch of the NAACP, serving as the first vice president of the organization upon its founding in 1912. She also served as the chair of the Women's Cooperative Civic League, a grassroots organization which addressed issues of housing and public health, including food purity, clean air, and refuse disposal.
Estelle Young formed the Progressive Women's Suffrage Club (also known as the Colored Women's Suffrage Club) in 1915; Hawkins served as the vice president and Chissell as the secretary.
After the 1920 ratification of the 19th Amendment, Chissell wrote a recurring column in the Baltimore Afro-American, A Primer for Women Voters, "for the benefit of women who wish to inform themselves in regard to their newly acquired duties and privileges as voters and citizens." Chissell responded to readers' questions about the process of voting and sometimes gave directions about which politicians and parties to vote for. Chissell organized weekly "Citizenship Meetings" for women voters through the Colored Young Women's Christian Association (CYWCA). The Progressive Women's Suffrage Club also taught voter education classes. Chissell and other African-American activists' work continued beyond ratification due to challenges in voting based on racial discrimination. Black people in the U.S. were routinely kept from voting by efforts such as poll taxes and literacy tests until the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and related court decisions.