Faith Rich
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Faith Rich (born Faith Baldwin) (1909–1990) was a grass roots community activist, an educator and a supporter of the Civil Rights Movement. She was born to a farming family in
Vermont Vermont () is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, New York (state), New York to the west, and the Provinces and territories of Ca ...
in 1909. She received her doctoral degree in Classics from
Bryn Mawr College Bryn Mawr College ( ; Welsh language, Welsh: ) is a Private college, private Women's colleges in the United States, women's Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded as a ...
in
Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...
in 1934, despite the College’s opposition to her radicalism. She married Theodore Rich, or Ted, and they moved to
Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...
in the mid 1930s, and began her work in activism and public service.


NAACP and community involvement

While working with the International Ladies’ Garment Workers Union in Chicago, Rich became involved with numerous community improvement organizations, primarily in the city’s West Side neighborhood of North Lawndale. Rich’s involvement with the Westside Chicago Branch of National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (
NAACP The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is an American civil rights organization formed in 1909 as an interracial endeavor to advance justice for African Americans by a group including W. E. B. Du&nbs ...
) began in 1945 and lasted until her death in 1990. There she served as Education Chairman, focusing her work on desegregating Chicago Public Schools and instituting an intensive phonetic program to the city’s reading curriculum. She served on the NAACP Textbook Committee, revising school textbooks to remove bias and better reflect contributions made by African Americans, Catholics, Jews and other groups. In addition to her work with the NAACP, Rich was an activist in the West Side community. She served as a member of the Illinois Parent Teacher Association (PTA), the George W. Collins High School’s Local School Council (LSC) and the 15th Place Block Club. Rich was also interested in how urban renewal, both at the city level and the community level, could affect urban life and socioeconomic opportunity.


Loglan

The Loglan Institute developed and promoted an artificial, logical human language called
Loglan Loglan is a Logical language, logical constructed language originally designed for linguistic research, particularly for investigating the Sapir–Whorf hypothesis. The language was developed beginning in 1955 by Dr. James Cooke Brown with t ...
, first introduced by
James Cooke Brown James Cooke Brown (July 21, 1921 – February 13, 2000) was an American sociologist and science fiction author. He is notable for creating the constructed language Loglan and for designing the Parker Brothers board game '' Careers''. Brown's n ...
in 1955. Faith Rich served as “Cerpeu of La Purmao Diigru” for the Loglan Institute, a title that roughly translates to Chairperson of the Word Creation Committee. She was also interested in the language as it related to linguistics and education in general, a lifelong interest of hers.


Later life

Throughout her adult life Rich was employed as a temporary office worker, which allowed her flexibility to set her own schedule. She gained a teaching certificate in education, but preferred to work as a substitute teacher or tutor for the same reason. She continued working with the NAACP, George W. Collins Local School Council and the 15th Place Block Club until the end of her life. Faith Rich was diagnosed with thyroiditis in 1981. She died on March 12, 1990.


Archival collection

The Faith Rich Papers were processed by the Black Metropolis Research Consortium's Behind the Color Curtain processing project in the spring of 2013. The papers are available at the
Chicago Public Library The Chicago Public Library (CPL) is the public library system that serves the Chicago, City of Chicago in the U.S. state of Illinois. It consists of 81 locations, including a central library, three regional libraries, and branches distributed thr ...
Special Collections located in the
Harold Washington Library Center The Harold Washington Library Center is the central library for the Chicago Public Library System. It is located just south of the Loop 'L', at 400 South State Street in Chicago, in the U.S. state of Illinois. It is a full-service library and ...
.


References


Sources

* Faith Rich Papers Finding Aid https://bmrcprocessingproject.uchicago.edu/sites/bmrcprocessingproject.uchicago.edu/files/Finding%20Aids/Faith%20Rich%20Papers_0.pdf Faith Rich Papers Finding Aid * George N. Schmidt, “Faith,” Chicago Reader, August 5, 1983. 8-9, 26-31.
“Sau La Sacdonsu,” Lognet 3 (1990), accessed June 27, 2013

Faith Rich to (NAACP Housing Committee) to Ludwig Hilberseimer, July 12, 1949.
* Heise, Keenan. "Faith Rich, 80." Chicago Tribune, March 16, 1990

* Christopher Robert Reed, Reed, Christopher Robert. ''The Chicago NAACP and the Rise of Black Professional Leadership, 1910-1966,'' 1997. page 156 {{DEFAULTSORT:Rich, Faith 1909 births 1990 deaths People from Vermont Bryn Mawr College alumni Activists for African-American civil rights Loglan