From the Zinn Education Project:
Harriet Elizabeth Brown was a Calvert County (MD) school teacher in the 1930s. In 1937, she became aware that white teachers were making almost twice the salary of black teachers who had the same level of education and experience. She contacted NAACP attorney Thurgood Marshall who worked with her to sue the county based on a violation of the 14th amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
On December 27, 1937, the case was settled. The result was that the Calvert County Board of Education agreed to equalize the salaries of white and black teachers. The case helped pave the way for the Maryland Teachers Pay Equalization Law and eventually changes in the state and country.
Harriet Elizabeth Brown (February 10, 1907 — January 1, 2009) is a member of the Maryland Women’s Hall of Fame.
The invisible women of the Civil Rights Movement.
Photo of Harriet Elizabeth Brown courtesy of the Maryland State Archives.
And, another hero(ine) I’d never heard of before. Thank you.
How unfair that white teachers made more money than black or coloured teachers. Do you know that in my country, when I became a teacher, my male colleagues earned more than we female teachers did? And We had had the same education ,and I was even first in my class and had higher marks than my colleagues. Unfair and something that made me furious. All discremination against groups of people is a crime.
Wil