Hidden in Plain Sight: Black Female Leadership in the Montgomery Bus Boycott
This lesson brings forward the stories of Black women and girls whose activism and leadership were key to the success of the Montgomery Bus Boycott.
Image from a dedication page to Associate Professor of English Mary Fair Burks in the University of Maryland Eastern Shore yearbook, 1976.
Source: Internet Archive.
An educator and civil rights activist. Burks was born and raised in Montgomery, Alabama. She earned degrees from Alabama State College (now Alabama State University) and Michigan State University before teaching at the Alabama State Laboratory High School, Alabama State College, and the University of Maryland Eastern Shore. In 1946, Burks founded the Women’s Political Council (WPC), an organization of professional women who sought to increase Black Americans’ voter registration and civic engagement. Burks led the WPC until 1950 when she relinquished her position to Jo Ann Gibson Robinson.
While no longer the leader of the WPC, Burks was an active member and supported Robinson in her efforts to address racism and plan and implement a bus boycott in Montgomery. Burks served as the chair of the English department at Alabama State College but was forced to resign in 1960, along with other educators who engaged in civil rights activism. Burks began teaching at UMES in 1960 and remained there until 1986.
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