Edna Griffin
Encyclopedia
Edna M. Griffin was an American civil rights
pioneer and human rights
activist
. Known as the "Rosa Parks
of Iowa
" Her court battle against the Katz Drug Store in Des Moines
in 1948, State of Iowa v. Katz
, foreshadowed the civil rights movement and a landmark case before the Iowa Supreme Court.
, and raised in rural New Hampshire
. She has said that she learned to read by reading The Crisis
, the publication of the NAACP. According to Griffin, she never experienced discrimination in New Hampshire, although her family was the only African-American family in a four-county area. Her family later moved to Massachusetts
, where she was first exposed to negative attitudes regarding race. She was educated at Fisk University
in Nashville, Tennessee
, where she received a degree
in English
. She married Stanley Griffin, a doctor, and settled in Des Moines, Iowa in 1947. She had three children, Phyllis, Linda, and Stanley.
, Griffin made it her mission to end discrimination in Des Moines. On July 7, 1948, Edna Griffin, her daughter Phyllis, and two friends were refused service at Katz Drug Store in downtown Des Moines because of racial discrimination.
Griffin launched a campaign to force Katz to serve African Americans by picketing every Saturday in front of the establishment, sometimes with friends and sometimes alone. The Polk County
Attorney's Office eventually prosecuted the Katz manager under Iowa's only civil rights law, a criminal statute
prohibiting discrimination in public accommodations. The manager was found guilty by a jury
and fined $50. The Iowa Supreme Court
upheld the conviction in 1949; one week before the Supreme Court ruling, civil rights attorneys Charles P. Howard and Henry T. McKnight, from the local NAACP Legal Redress Committee, negotiated an agreement which successfully ended Katz's discriminatory practices. The case was the first successful enforcement of the 1884 Iowa Civil Rights Act. Lunch counter
s and restaurants in Des Moines finally began serving African Americans almost twelve years before the sit-in
s at the lunch counters in Nashville.
led by Martin Luther King Jr. in 1963. At 75, she went to Nebraska
and sat in the middle of the highway to stop nuclear warheads from being shipped into the Strategic Air Command
at Offutt Air Force Base
.
Griffin has been honored with the YWCA's
Mary Louise Smith Award, the Community Service Award from Blacks in Government (1993); Urban Dreams' Trailblazer Award (1998), and the Cristine Wilson Medal for Equality and Justice (1998) http://www.state.ia.us/government/dhr/sw/publications/files/Cristine2006.pdf. In 1998, on the 50th anniversary of her successful desegregation efforts, the Flynn Building at 319-7th Street http://maps.google.com/maps?&q=317+7+St+Des+Moines+Iowa+50309 (SE corner of 7th and Locust), which once housed Katz Drug Store, was renamed the Edna Griffin Building. The same year, Des Moines Mayor Preston Daniels declared May 15 as Edna Griffin Day. In 2004, a Pedestrian bridge in downtown Des Moines was named after her.
Civil rights
Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from unwarranted infringement by governments and private organizations, and ensure one's ability to participate in the civil and political life of the state without discrimination or repression.Civil rights include...
pioneer and human rights
Human rights
Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...
activist
Activism
Activism consists of intentional efforts to bring about social, political, economic, or environmental change. Activism can take a wide range of forms from writing letters to newspapers or politicians, political campaigning, economic activism such as boycotts or preferentially patronizing...
. Known as the "Rosa Parks
Rosa Parks
Rosa Louise McCauley Parks was an African-American civil rights activist, whom the U.S. Congress called "the first lady of civil rights", and "the mother of the freedom movement"....
of Iowa
Iowa
Iowa is a state located in the Midwestern United States, an area often referred to as the "American Heartland". It derives its name from the Ioway people, one of the many American Indian tribes that occupied the state at the time of European exploration. Iowa was a part of the French colony of New...
" Her court battle against the Katz Drug Store in Des Moines
Des Moines, Iowa
Des Moines is the capital and the most populous city in the US state of Iowa. It is also the county seat of Polk County. A small portion of the city extends into Warren County. It was incorporated on September 22, 1851, as Fort Des Moines which was shortened to "Des Moines" in 1857...
in 1948, State of Iowa v. Katz
State of Iowa v. Katz
State of Iowa v. Katz was a landmark civil rights victory involving the Katz Drug Store in downtown Des Moines, Iowa.-Case synopsis:...
, foreshadowed the civil rights movement and a landmark case before the Iowa Supreme Court.
Early life
Griffin was born in 1909 in KentuckyKentucky
The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...
, and raised in rural New Hampshire
New Hampshire
New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state was named after the southern English county of Hampshire. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Atlantic Ocean to the east, and the Canadian...
. She has said that she learned to read by reading The Crisis
The Crisis
The Crisis is the official magazine of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People , and was founded in 1910 by W. E. B. Du Bois , Oswald Garrison Villard, J. Max Barber, Charles Edward Russell, Kelly Miller, W.S. Braithwaite, M. D. Maclean.The original title of the journal was...
, the publication of the NAACP. According to Griffin, she never experienced discrimination in New Hampshire, although her family was the only African-American family in a four-county area. Her family later moved to Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
, where she was first exposed to negative attitudes regarding race. She was educated at Fisk University
Fisk University
Fisk University is an historically black university founded in 1866 in Nashville, Tennessee, U.S. The world-famous Fisk Jubilee Singers started as a group of students who performed to earn enough money to save the school at a critical time of financial shortages. They toured to raise funds to...
in Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home...
, where she received a degree
Academic degree
An academic degree is a position and title within a college or university that is usually awarded in recognition of the recipient having either satisfactorily completed a prescribed course of study or having conducted a scholarly endeavour deemed worthy of his or her admission to the degree...
in English
English studies
English studies is an academic discipline that includes the study of literatures written in the English language , English linguistics English studies is an academic discipline that includes the study of literatures written in the English language (including literatures from the U.K., U.S.,...
. She married Stanley Griffin, a doctor, and settled in Des Moines, Iowa in 1947. She had three children, Phyllis, Linda, and Stanley.
Civil rights
Seven years before Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a bus to a white person and touched off the Montgomery Bus BoycottMontgomery Bus Boycott
The Montgomery Bus Boycott was a political and social protest campaign that started in 1955 in Montgomery, Alabama, USA, intended to oppose the city's policy of racial segregation on its public transit system. Many important figures in the civil rights movement were involved in the boycott,...
, Griffin made it her mission to end discrimination in Des Moines. On July 7, 1948, Edna Griffin, her daughter Phyllis, and two friends were refused service at Katz Drug Store in downtown Des Moines because of racial discrimination.
Griffin launched a campaign to force Katz to serve African Americans by picketing every Saturday in front of the establishment, sometimes with friends and sometimes alone. The Polk County
Polk County, Iowa
Polk County is a county located in the U.S. state of Iowa. The population was 430,640 in the 2010 census, an increase from 374,601 in the 2000 census. The county seat is Des Moines, which is also the capital city of Iowa...
Attorney's Office eventually prosecuted the Katz manager under Iowa's only civil rights law, a criminal statute
Statute
A statute is a formal written enactment of a legislative authority that governs a state, city, or county. Typically, statutes command or prohibit something, or declare policy. The word is often used to distinguish law made by legislative bodies from case law, decided by courts, and regulations...
prohibiting discrimination in public accommodations. The manager was found guilty by a jury
Jury
A jury is a sworn body of people convened to render an impartial verdict officially submitted to them by a court, or to set a penalty or judgment. Modern juries tend to be found in courts to ascertain the guilt, or lack thereof, in a crime. In Anglophone jurisdictions, the verdict may be guilty,...
and fined $50. The Iowa Supreme Court
Iowa Supreme Court
The Iowa Supreme Court is the highest court in the U.S. state of Iowa. As constitutional head of the Iowa Judicial Branch, the Court is composed of a Chief Justice and six Associate Justices....
upheld the conviction in 1949; one week before the Supreme Court ruling, civil rights attorneys Charles P. Howard and Henry T. McKnight, from the local NAACP Legal Redress Committee, negotiated an agreement which successfully ended Katz's discriminatory practices. The case was the first successful enforcement of the 1884 Iowa Civil Rights Act. Lunch counter
Lunch counter
A lunch counter is a small restaurant, much like a diner, where the patron sits on a stool on one side of the counter and the server or person preparing the food serves from the other side of the counter, where the kitchen or limited food preparation area is. As the name suggests, they were most...
s and restaurants in Des Moines finally began serving African Americans almost twelve years before the sit-in
Sit-in
A sit-in or sit-down is a form of protest that involves occupying seats or sitting down on the floor of an establishment.-Process:In a sit-in, protesters remain until they are evicted, usually by force, or arrested, or until their requests have been met...
s at the lunch counters in Nashville.
Later work
Griffin continued to be an active participant in the civil rights movement throughout the 1950s and 1960s. She founded the Iowa chapter of the Congress for Racial Equality (CORE) and organized Iowans for the March on Washington for Jobs and FreedomMarch on Washington for Jobs and Freedom
The March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom was the largest political rally for human rights in United States history and called for civil and economic rights for African Americans. It took place in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday, August 28, 1963. Martin Luther King, Jr...
led by Martin Luther King Jr. in 1963. At 75, she went to Nebraska
Nebraska
Nebraska is a state on the Great Plains of the Midwestern United States. The state's capital is Lincoln and its largest city is Omaha, on the Missouri River....
and sat in the middle of the highway to stop nuclear warheads from being shipped into the Strategic Air Command
Strategic Air Command
The Strategic Air Command was both a Major Command of the United States Air Force and a "specified command" of the United States Department of Defense. SAC was the operational establishment in charge of America's land-based strategic bomber aircraft and land-based intercontinental ballistic...
at Offutt Air Force Base
Offutt Air Force Base
Offutt Air Force Base is a U.S. Air Force installation near Omaha, and lies adjacent to Bellevue in Sarpy County, Nebraska. It is the headquarters of the U.S...
.
Griffin has been honored with the YWCA's
YWCA
The YWCA USA is the United States branch of a women's membership movement that strives to create opportunities for women's growth, leadership and power in order to attain a common vision—to eliminate racism and empower women. The YWCA is a non-profit organization, the first of which was founded in...
Mary Louise Smith Award, the Community Service Award from Blacks in Government (1993); Urban Dreams' Trailblazer Award (1998), and the Cristine Wilson Medal for Equality and Justice (1998) http://www.state.ia.us/government/dhr/sw/publications/files/Cristine2006.pdf. In 1998, on the 50th anniversary of her successful desegregation efforts, the Flynn Building at 319-7th Street http://maps.google.com/maps?&q=317+7+St+Des+Moines+Iowa+50309 (SE corner of 7th and Locust), which once housed Katz Drug Store, was renamed the Edna Griffin Building. The same year, Des Moines Mayor Preston Daniels declared May 15 as Edna Griffin Day. In 2004, a Pedestrian bridge in downtown Des Moines was named after her.