Alfreda Duster

Alfreda Duster (1904  – 1983) was a social worker and civic leader in Chicago.[1][2] She is best known as the youngest daughter of civil rights activist Ida B. Wells and as the editor of her mother's autobiography, Crusade for Justice: The Autobiography of Ida B. Wells.

Alfreda Duster
Born
Alfreda Barnett

(1904-09-03)September 3, 1904
Chicago, Illinois
DiedApril 2, 1983(1983-04-02) (aged 78)
Billings Hospital, Chicago, Illinois
Notable work
Crusade for Justice: The Autobiography of Ida B. Wells
Parent(s)Ida B. Wells
Ferdinand L. Barnett


Biography

Alfreda Barnett Duster was the youngest daughter[3] of civil rights activists Ida B. Wells and Ferdinand L. Barnett.[1][2][4] Duster graduated from the University of Chicago in 1924 with a bachelor of philosophy degree.[1][2][4] She married Benjamin C. Duster Jr., who was a clerk in her father's law firm, and worked as a homemaker and mother to her five children until she was widowed at age 40 and went back to school for social work.[1][2] Duster served as a juvenile delinquency prevention coordinator for the state of Illinois and the administrator of the girls' program for underprivileged city children at Camp Illini.[1][2] Duster was also secretary to Democrat Charles Jenkins, a black member of the Illinois legislature.[2] She was awarded "Mother of the Year" in 1950 and 1970; the Bootstrap Award from the Opportunity Centers of Chicago; Citation for Public Service from the University of Chicago Alumni Association; and honorary doctorate of humane letters from Chicago State University.[1][2][4]

Duster edited and published Ida B. Wells' autobiography, Crusade for Justice: The Autobiography of Ida B. Wells, which she worked on for twenty-five years after her mother's death.[1][3][5][6] For this book, Duster won the National Council of Negro Women Award for Literary Excellence and Outstanding Humanitarian Contributions.[2]

The Alfreda Barnett Duster Apartments, public housing in Chicago, Illinois, are named after Duster.[3]

Alfreda Duster died from a brain hemorrhage at age 78.[2]

Further reading

Schultz, Rima Lunin and Adele Hast. “Women Building Chicago 1790-1990: A Biographical Dictionary.” Indiana University Press, 2001.

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References
  1. "Black Women Oral History Project Interviews, 1976–1981: Biographies". Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America research Guides. Retrieved 7 May 2020.
  2. Derr, Mary Krane. "Duster, Alfreda Barnett". African American National Biography. Oxford University Press. Retrieved 12 May 2020.
  3. "Alfreda Barnett Duster Apartments". Chicago Housing Authority. Retrieved 12 May 2020.
  4. "Rites fro civic leader Alfreda Duster, 78". Chicago Tribune. 4 April 1984. Retrieved 12 May 2020.
  5. Black, Patti Carr. "Ida B. Wells: A Courageous Voice for Civil Rights". Mississippi History Now. Retrieved 12 May 2020.
  6. "Alfreda Wells discusses her mother, Ida B. Wells-Barnett and her book "Crusade for Justice"". The WFMT Studs Terkel Radio Archive. Retrieved 12 May 2020.
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