Dorothy Pizer or Dorothy Padmore (c.1906 – 22 November 1964) was a British working-class anti-racist activist, secretary and publishing worker. In the 1940s and 1950s she was the partner, supporter and collaborator of

Pan-African Pan-Africanism is a worldwide movement that aims to encourage and strengthen bonds of solidarity between all Indigenous and diaspora peoples of African ancestry. Based on a common goal dating back to the Atlantic slave trade, the movement exte ...

activist and

Communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a ...

George Padmore George Padmore (28 June 1903 – 23 September 1959), born Malcolm Ivan Meredith Nurse, was a leading Pan-Africanist, journalist, and author. He left his native Trinidad in 1924 to study medicine in the United States, where he also joined the Co ...

Life

The daughter of a

tailor A tailor is a person who makes or alters clothing, particularly in men's clothing. The Oxford English Dictionary dates the term to the thirteenth century. History Although clothing construction goes back to prehistory, there is evidence of ...

who had left school at 15, Dorothy Pizer grew up in a household without books in London's

East End The East End of London, often referred to within the London area simply as the East End, is the historic core of wider East London, east of the Roman and medieval walls of the City of London and north of the River Thames. It does not have uni ...

.Leslie Elaine James
"'What we put in black and white': George Padmore and the practice of anti-imperial politics"
PhD thesis,

The London School of Economics and Political Science , mottoeng = To understand the causes of things , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £240.8 million (2021) , budget = £391.1 millio ...

, 2012, p. 144. Since she had been too poor to accept a scholarship, her education was limited. Yet she later learnt

stenography Shorthand is an abbreviated symbolic writing method that increases speed and brevity of writing as compared to longhand, a more common method of writing a language. The process of writing in shorthand is called stenography, from the Greek ''st ...

, became a business secretary, and became fluent in

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with France ...

. Pizer's brother was a member of the

Communist Party of Great Britain The Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB) was the largest communist organisation in Britain and was founded in 1920 through a merger of several smaller Marxist groups. Many miners joined the CPGB in the 1926 general strike. In 1930, the CPGB ...

(CPGB), and she became involved with the CPGB in the 1930s. Through party contacts she met

in 1937, and by the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

the pair were living together. She was always treated as Padmore's wife, although they were never formally married, and he had a former wife, Julia Semper. Dorothy supported the couple financially by continuing to work as a secretary during the day. She typed the manuscript of

C. L. R. James Cyril Lionel Robert James (4 January 1901 – 31 May 1989),Fraser, C. Gerald, '' The New York Times'', 2 June 1989. who sometimes wrote under the pen-name J. R. Johnson, was a Trinidadian historian, journalist and Marxist. His works are ...

's book '' World Revolution'' (1937), and also typed manuscripts for her husband. Publishing was one of the main strategies adopted by black intellectuals in challenging the foundations of British colonial rule, and Pizer's skills enabled her to play an important role in this global political struggle: She transcribed the conversations between Padmore and

Nancy Cunard Nancy Clara Cunard (10 March 1896 – 17 March 1965) was a British writer, heiress and political activist. She was born into the British upper class, and devoted much of her life to fighting racism and fascism. She became a muse to some of the ...

on race relations and decolonisation that became their pamphlet ''The White Man's Duty: An Analysis of the Colonial Question in the Light of the Atlantic Charter'' (London: W. H. Allen & Co., 1942). In 1946, ''How Russia Transformed her Colonial Empire'' was published by

Dennis Dobson Dennis Dobson (1919 – 1978)Lewis Foreman, Susan Foreman''London: A Musical Gazetteer'' Yale University Press, 2005, p. 327. was a British book publisher who was the eponymous founder of a small but respected company in London. Background Set up ...

as a collaboration between Pizer and Padmore, with her name appearing on the title page. From 1941 to 1957 the Padmores shared a flat at 22 Cranleigh Street in

Camden Camden may refer to: People * Camden (surname), a surname of English origin * Camden Joy (born 1964), American writer * Camden Toy (born 1957), American actor Places Australia * Camden, New South Wales * Camden, Rosehill, a heritage res ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. It became a mecca for visiting pan-Africanists and leftists including

Kwame Nkrumah Kwame Nkrumah (born 21 September 190927 April 1972) was a Ghanaian politician, political theorist, and revolutionary. He was the first Prime Minister and President of Ghana, having led the Gold Coast to independence from Britain in 1957. ...

Eric Williams Eric Eustace Williams (25 September 1911 – 29 March 1981) was a Trinidad and Tobago politician who is regarded by some as the "Father of the Nation", having led the then British Colony of Trinidad and Tobago to majority rule on 28 October 1 ...

Jomo Kenyatta Jomo Kenyatta (22 August 1978) was a Kenyan anti-colonial activist and politician who governed Kenya as its Prime Minister from 1963 to 1964 and then as its first President from 1964 to his death in 1978. He was the country's first indigeno ...

, and

Joe Appiah Joseph Emmanuel Appiah, Member of Parliament, MP ( ; 16 November, 1918 – 8 July, 1990)Eric Pace"Joe Appiah Is Dead; Ghanaian Politician And Ex-Envoy, 71" ''New York Times'', July 12, 1990. was a Ghanaian lawyer, politician and statesman. Biogr ...

. The Padmores first met Richard Wright and his wife in 1947, and over the next decade the couples often visited each other in London and Paris. In 1953 Dorothy persuaded Wright to visit the Gold Coast, where George had already started advising Kwame Nkrumah in his plans for its independence as

Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in Ghana–Ivory Coast border, the west, Burkina ...

. Dorothy herself visited the Gold Coast for the first time in 1954, and in 1957 the Padmores moved to Ghana permanently as special advisers to Kwame Nkrumah. At the time of her husband's premature death in 1959, Dorothy Padmore was visiting

W. E. B. Du Bois William Edward Burghardt Du Bois ( ; February 23, 1868 – August 27, 1963) was an American-Ghanaian sociologist, socialist, historian, and Pan-Africanist civil rights activist. Born in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, Du Bois grew up in ...

and his wife

Shirley Shirley may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Shirley'' (novel), an 1849 novel by Charlotte Brontë * ''Shirley'' (1922 film), a British silent film * ''Shirley'' (2020 film), an American film * ''Shirley'' (album), a 1961 album by Shirley Bas ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

. Dorothy returned to Accra for her husband's state funeral, in which his ashes were buried at

Christiansborg Castle Christiansborg Palace ( da, Christiansborg Slot; ) is a palace and government building on the islet of Slotsholmen in central Copenhagen, Denmark. It is the seat of the Danish Parliament ('), the Danish Prime Minister's Office, and the Supreme ...

, and she continued to live in Ghana as an adviser to Nkrumah. She planned but never completed a biography of her husband, collecting notes and papers relating to him.Polsgrove, p. 117. According to historian Leslie James, the unfinished biography of Padmore that C. L. R, James had hoped to write maintained that "Padmore was the man he was because of the tremendous assistance he had from Dorothy." On 22 November 1964, aged 58, she died in Accra from a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which m ...

. After her death, Nkrumah took some of the papers that she had collected relating to her husband, and the papers subsequently made their way to

Howard University Howard University (Howard) is a Private university, private, University charter#Federal, federally chartered historically black research university in Washington, D.C. It is Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education, classifie ...

Legacy

A plaque commemorating George Padmore was installed outside their former flat in 2011, organised by the

Nubian Jak Community Trust Nubian Jak Community Trust (NJCT) is a commemorative plaque and sculpture scheme founded by Jak Beula that highlights the historic contributions of Black and minority ethnic people in Britain. The first NJCT heritage plaque, honouring Bob Marley, ...

Selma James Selma James (born Selma Deitch; formerly Weinstein; August 15, 1930) is an American writer, and feminist and social activist who is co-author of the women's movement book ''The Power of Women and the Subversion of the Community'' (with Mariaros ...

, the widow of C. L. R. James, spoke honouring Dorothy as well as George at the unveiling:

Works

* "How Blacks Fought for Freedom", ''International African Opinion'', Vol. 1. No. 4 (October 1938), p. 11. * "A Lesson in Revolution" (review of C. L. R. James, ''

The Black Jacobins ''The Black Jacobins: Toussaint L'Ouverture and the San Domingo Revolution'' is a 1938 book by Trinidadian historian C. L. R. James, a history of the Haitian Revolution of 1791–1804. He went to Paris to research this work, where he met Haitian ...

''), ''

Controversy Controversy is a state of prolonged public dispute or debate, usually concerning a matter of conflicting opinion or point of view. The word was coined from the Latin ''controversia'', as a composite of ''controversus'' – "turned in an opposite d ...

'', Vol. 38 (January 1939), pp. 318–20. * (with George Padmore) ''How Russia Transformed her Colonial Empire: A Challenge to the Imperialist Powers'', London:

, 177 pages, 1946. *"Centenary of a Black Republic", '' Socialist Leader'', 16 August 1947.

References

External links

Photo of Pizer with Padmore and Richard Wright in Ghana

Photo of commemorative plaque outside her London home

"Dorothy Pizer"
''Radical Heritage: The Secret History of Protest and Activism on our Streets''. {{DEFAULTSORT:Pizer, Dorothy 1900s births Year of birth uncertain 1964 deaths Black British history British anti-racism activists British expatriates in Ghana British Jews Jewish anti-racism activists Jewish socialists People from the London Borough of Camden