20th Century in the United States

Melnea Agnes Cass

This portrait of Melnea Cass was taken in 1969, when she received an honorary degree from Northeastern for her work in Roxbury's community. Image courtesy of Northeastern University Library.

Melnea Cass was by a large margin one of the most well-known individuals from this data set. Born in 1896, she was 24 years old and had a one-year old child in 1920. She was a housewife, not formally employed, though she had previously worked as a domestic and would later describe her work history in an interview, “Housework… I did that for years, sometimes boarding in, sometimes not. It was a good way to earn a living because you got your room and board. I did have a job at a millinery store once which I liked very much, but it just didn’t pay enough and so I went back to cleaning.” (Boston Herald, June 20 1976).

Melnea Cass became a prominent community organizer and advocate for the residents of Roxbury in her later years, particularly post-WWII. But her political and community engagement went back much farther than that, including organizing black women of Roxbury to vote. “We marched to the polls together because a lot of black women feared for their lives,” (Boston Herald, 1976).

Melnea Cass's name, signature, and address on the Boston voter registration sheet, 1920, among a list of other women's names. Public Domain government document, accessed via FamilySearch.org. 

Over several decades, Melnea was involved in various community and national organizations, from the NAACP to local mothers’ groups. She became well-known outside of Roxbury for her work during the civil rights movement, though she remained focused on improving her local community.