March is a time to recognize the many accomplishments and contributions of women throughout history. This Women’s History Month we would like to highlight a few of the remarkable women who have been important to our City’s history.
Sarah Boone was born into slavery in North Carolina in 1832. Eventually she married a free black man and moved to New Haven prior to the start of the Civil War. Boone owned a house on Winter Street in Dixwell and that she was a member of the Dixwell Avenue Congregational Church. In New Haven, Boone worked as a dressmaker, but she was also an inventor and was one of the first black women to receive a patent in the United States. In 1892 she received a patent for an innovative design for an ironing board. Drawing on her working experience she created a board that was a vast improvement on existing technology – it was collapsible, it better conformed to the contours of the clothing of the day, and it was padded to prevent creasing. Boone passed away in 1904 and was buried in Evergreen Cemetery in New Haven.
Emeline Roberts Jones (1836-1916) married a Connecticut dentist, Daniel Jones at age 18. She was fascinated with his work, and despite his belief that women were not capable of practicing dentistry, she began helping people experiencing tooth trouble. Without her husband’s knowledge, she extracted and filled hundreds of teeth. Eventually Daniel Jones learned of her work and allowed her to join him in his practice in Danielsonville in 1855. After his death in 1864, Emeline began to practice on her own as a traveling dentist across Connecticut and Rhode Island, all while supporting her two children. In 1876 she settled in New Haven, where she successfully practiced dentistry until 1915, only one year before her death. She was the first female member of the Connecticut State Dental Society and was made an honorary member of the National Dental Association.
Augusta Lewis Troup was born in 1948 and raised in New York City. After the Civil War, she entered the newspaper industry, contributing to various New York publications and working for the suffragist paper The Revolution. During this time she met women’s rights leaders like Susan B. Anthony, Lucretia Mott, and Elizabeth Cady Stanton. Witnessing wage inequality in the industry, she founded the Women’s Typographical Union in 1868 and later became the first woman to hold office in the International Typographical Union. After marrying labor leader Alexander Troup in 1872, she moved to New Haven, where they founded the New Haven Union. The paper used its voice to advocate for women’s suffrage and workers’ rights. She also became a teacher and a strong voice on the Board of Education, successfully lobbying for teacher pensions. Troup passed away in 1920, just after the ratification of the 19th Amendment. In 1926 the Troup School was founded in her honor.
Martha Minerva Franklin was born in 1870 in New Milford, Connecticut and was raised in Meriden. She was the first Black student to attended the Women’s Hospital Training school in Philadelphia. After graduating Franklin moved to New Haven in 1897. She was an activist who studied the inequities faced by Black nurses at the time. She spent two years and sent over 1,500 letters to organize a national meeting that established the National Association of Colored Graduate Nurses (NACGN), with her as its first president. Under her leadership, the organization grew significantly, ultimately merging with the American Nurses Association (ANA) in 1951. She retired in New Haven and lived until she was 97 years old. Her legacy has been honored through various awards including posthumously being inducted into the ANA Hall of Fame.
Sarah Lee Brown Fleming was born in 1876 in South Carolina and raised in Brooklyn becoming the first African-American teacher in the Brooklyn public school system. After marrying Richard Stedman Fleming they moved to New Haven, where he became Connecticut’s first Black dentist. Fleming was a champion of civil rights and women’s suffrage. She was the founder of the Women’s Civic League and Connecticut State Union of Women’s Clubs. She also founded the Phillis Wheatley Home for Girls which supported young Black women seeking employment in New Haven. An active participant in the Harlem Renaissance, Fleming also made her mark with works such as the novel Hope’s Highway and the poetry collection Clouds and Sunshine. In 1952 she became Connecticut’s first African American Mother of the Year. In 1955 she was recognized in Congress for her recent award of the Sojourner Truth Scroll along with her many lifetime achievements.
Constance Baker Motley was a native New Havener born in 1921. From an early age she knew she wanted to be a lawyer. Motley was a civil rights activist who served as a lawyer for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) for 18 years. She spearheaded many legal fights against racial discrimination, arguing 10 cases before the U.S. Supreme Court in the 1960s. In 1964 she was the first Black woman to be elected to the New York State Senate. In 1966 she was appointed as the U.S. District Judge for the Southern District of New York, becoming the first Black female federal judge. Constance has been recognized for her pioneering work with awards such as the Presidential Citizens Medal, induction into the Women’s Hall of Fame, and posthumously being awarded the Congressional Gold Medal.
To learn more about these accomplished women visit our local history room at Ives Main Library or check out the local history page on our website.