Constance White was an African American woman who fought against racism and social injustices. She went to the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

in 1932, accompanied by other

Harlem Renaissance The Harlem Renaissance was an intellectual and cultural revival of African-American music, dance, art, fashion, literature, theater, politics, and scholarship centered in Harlem, Manhattan, New York City, spanning the 1920s and 1930s. At the ti ...

members, to make a film that would depict the racial inequalities in the US.

Family history

Newspaper records indicate that Constance White was an only child born in

Woburn, Massachusetts Woburn ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 40,876 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Woburn is located north of Boston. Woburn uses Massachusetts' ...

, around 1909. Throughout her childhood, she was heavily involved with the

American Legion The American Legion, commonly known as the Legion, is an Voluntary association, organization of United States, U.S. war veterans headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana. It comprises U.S. state, state, Territories of the United States, U.S. terr ...

, both as a volunteer and as a service provider, as her father, Albert W. White, was a veteran. She was involved in local affairs and events related to the organization through both of her parents. White's family was of great significant in Woburn. Constance's father was the first black man to be a commander at Massachusetts' American Legion post and a successful musician. Her grandfather, John White, founded St. John's Baptist Church in Woburn – a historically Black church.

Early years and activism

White moved to

Harlem Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and Central Park North on the south. The greater ...

after finishing high school and enrolling for a year at

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a Private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. BU was founded in 1839 by a group of Boston Methodism, Methodists with its original campus in Newbury (town), Vermont, Newbur ...

's predecessor, the Sargent School of Physical Training. Once there, she began interacting with members of the

and joining the anti-racist movement. White participated in the 1938 "love-of-the-great-outdoors" bike trip, which saw five African women go 250 miles over the course of three days from New York City to

Washington, D.C Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

. As well as that, she later enrolled in an art school in Harlem. In 1932, White decided to go on a trip to the Soviet Union, in which Louise Patterson,

Langston Hughes James Mercer Langston Hughes (February 1, 1901 – May 22, 1967) was an American poet, social activist, novelist, playwright, and columnist from Joplin, Missouri. An early innovator of jazz poetry, Hughes is best known as a leader of the Harl ...

and Dorothy West went. The purpose of the trip was to make a film depicting the racial injustices of the United States, in a movie which would be called "Black and White". Nevertheless, due to outside demands and a lack of finance, the movie was never created or even made it to production. Even while it's unclear why White chose to go on the trip, her interactions with activists like

may have had an impact. White aimed to raise awareness of the racial injustice that were taking place in the United States. Growing up in Boston with Dorothy West and taking part in the Harlem Renaissance social scene in New York gave White her first link to the group that embarked on the trip. Constance White is depicted in Hassan's biography from 2015 of attorney Loren Miller, who traveled to the Soviet Union.

Personal life

According to Hassan's biography, Constance was described as a lesbian, who had a female partner on the trip, Sylvia Garner. She dated a Russian translator she met while filming Black and White after her relationship with Sylvia. In Hassan's words, Constance White is described as: “Homo-sexual YWCA (

Young Women’s Christian Association YWCA USA is a nonprofit organization and the United States, American division of the YWCA. It is headquartered in Washington, D.C., and focuses on women's empowerment. The organization additionally aims for the promotion of peace, justice, freed ...

) worker who admires beautiful women and speaks Russian well. Ugly and bulky, she likes to be mistaken for a man and jot down notes to take up time."

Legacy

In her obituary published in her town's newspaper, she is represented as someone who fought against racism through her whole life, participating in protests and movement against racism. White was a local celebrity in Woburn, who made the news after deciding to move to Russian and Germany.

References

Bibliography

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:White, Constance Activists for African-American civil rights American anti-racism activists American women activists Harlem Renaissance 1909 births Year of death missing