10 Facts About Phyllis Terrell

Phyllis Terrell Langston was a suffragist and civil rights activist.

Phyllis Terrell worked alongside her mother, Mary Church Terrell, in the National Association of Colored Women's Clubs and the White House pickets during demonstrations made by the National Woman's Party.

Phyllis Terrell was born on April 2,1898, in Washington, DC, to Mary Church Terrell, an activist for civil rights and suffrage, and Robert Heberton Terrell, the first Black municipal court judge in Washington, DC She was named after Phyllis Wheatley, the first African-American author of a book of poetry.

Phyllis Terrell continued her studies at Howard University in the College of Music.

Phyllis Terrell was one of the most promising students in the College of Music, commended for her natural talent at playing piano.

At that time, Phyllis Terrell listened to her mother give a speech commending the hospitable people they met on their trip and the glories of Treasure Island.

Phyllis Terrell became the postmaster for new generations of suffragists and civil rights organizations.

Phyllis Terrell watched the launching of the SS Harriet Tubman in 1944 with a group of women from the National Council of Negro Women.

In 1962, Phyllis Terrell succeeded in getting the Frederick Douglass Home in Washington, DC, declared a National Shrine by an Act of Congress.

Phyllis Terrell died on August 21,1989, at her summer home in Highland Beach, Maryland, just as her mother had in July 1954.