Roberta Church

Roberta Church

Politics

A picture of Roberta Church. Daughter of Robert R. Church and granddaughter to a man thought to be one of the first black millionaires in the south. Church became the highest ranking black woman in the federal government in 1953 during her work for the Department of Labor. She was the first black woman of Memphis and Shelby County to be elected into public office. Church wrote and co-authored many books about her family. She also worked for government support for Church’s Park on Beale Street in Memphis and earned historical recognition. During the 1950’s Roberta Church and her aunt Annette were observers rather than actors of the political activities going on with the area and with Robert Church. Family friends like W.C. Handy, A. Philip Randolph, W.E.B. Du Bois, Oscar De Priest, and Henry Cabot Lodge kept the church women informed and involved in current events before Church took over her father’s seat in political office. Republican Party members including Henry Cabot Lodge congratulated Church in Denver when she went to meet Eisenhower and it was during the next few months that Roberta came out of the shadow of her father and became a powerful black woman in politics.

Mississippi Valley Collection

The University of Memphis Libraries

Digital Image © 2015, University of Memphis Libraries Preservation and Special Collections Department. All
rights reserved

Hist4851, Spring 2015