Geraldine Roberts
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Geraldine Roberts (1924-1997) was an American
domestic worker A domestic worker is a person who works within a residence and performs a variety of household services for an individual, from providing cleaning and household maintenance, or cooking, laundry and ironing, or care for children and elderly ...
, grassroots organizer, and
activist Activism consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society toward a perceived common good. Forms of activism range from mandate build ...
from
Cleveland, Ohio Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County, Ohio, Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–United States border, Canada–U.S. maritime border ...
. She founded the first documented domestic workers’ rights organization in the post-war U.S., Domestic Workers of America. Inspired by the
Black Power Black power is a list of political slogans, political slogan and a name which is given to various associated ideologies which aim to achieve self-determination for black people. It is primarily, but not exclusively, used in the United States b ...
and Civil Rights Movement, Roberts fought for the rights of working-class Black women throughout her life.


Early life

Geraldine Roberts was born in 1924 in
Pawhuska, Oklahoma Pawhuska ( Osage: 𐓄𐓘𐓢𐓶𐓮𐓤𐓘, ''hpahúska'', lit.: ''White Hair''; Chiwere: ''Paháhga'') is a city in and the county seat of Osage County, Oklahoma, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 2,98 ...
, to an African-American mother and a father who was African-American and
Native American Native Americans or Native American usually refers to Native Americans in the United States. Related terms and peoples include: Ethnic groups * Indigenous peoples of the Americas, the pre-Columbian peoples of North, South, and Central America ...
(
Choctaw The Choctaw ( ) people are one of the Indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States, originally based in what is now Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. The Choctaw language is a Western Muskogean language. Today, Choct ...
). When she was five, both of her parents died and she and her sister Elizabeth moved to
Ola, Arkansas Ola is a city in Yell County, Arkansas, United States. The population was 1,281 at the 2010 census. It is roughly 15 miles south of the Russellville Metropolitan area. it serves as a commercial center in Yell County. Geography According to ...
. There she lived with her maternal grandmother, Ella, a formerly enslaved woman who owned land, ran a farm and boarding house, and took in laundry to support her family. Roberts dreamed of getting an education but Ola did not offer many educational opportunities for Black children. The town had a segregated
one-room schoolhouse One-room schoolhouses, or One-room schools, have been commonplace throughout rural portions of various countries, including Prussia, Norway, Sweden, the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Portugal, and Spa ...
for Black children, but the local government stopped funding the town’s Black school, and Roberts often had to leave school to help her grandmother work. At the age of twelve, Roberts ran away from her home in order to get more schooling. She ended up working in a kitchen, cooking for a traveling
minstrel show The minstrel show, also called minstrelsy, was an American form of theater developed in the early 19th century. The shows were performed by mostly white actors wearing blackface makeup for the purpose of portraying racial stereotypes of Afr ...
. In the following years, she met and married a man named James Roberts. They had three children and moved to
Cleveland, Ohio Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County, Ohio, Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–United States border, Canada–U.S. maritime border ...
in 1944.


Career and activism

In the 1940s, Cleveland was experiencing a second surge of Black migrants into the city as part of the Great Migration. Like Roberts, the majority lived on the East Side of Cleveland due to racist
redlining Redlining is a Discrimination, discriminatory practice in which financial services are withheld from neighborhoods that have significant numbers of Race (human categorization), racial and Ethnic group, ethnic minorities. Redlining has been mos ...
policies. Upon moving to Cleveland, Roberts realized her lack of education and structural racism meant that the only job she could get would be a job in
domestic service A domestic worker is a person who works within a residence and performs a variety of household services for an individual, from providing cleaning and household maintenance, or cooking, laundry and ironing, or care for children and elderly ...
. As a domestic worker, Roberts faced harsh conditions that domestic workers across the country struggled with including pay below
minimum wage A minimum wage is the lowest remuneration that employers can legally pay their employees—the price floor below which employees may not sell their labor. List of countries by minimum wage, Most countries had introduced minimum wage legislation b ...
, racist work environments, and the denial of benefits such as
social security Welfare spending is a type of government support intended to ensure that members of a society can meet basic human needs such as food and shelter. Social security may either be synonymous with welfare, or refer specifically to social insurance ...
,
unemployment Unemployment, according to the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development), is the proportion of people above a specified age (usually 15) not being in paid employment or self-employment but currently available for work du ...
, and worker’s compensation. These experiences, as well as her childhood growing up in the
South South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both west and east. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþa ...
, led Roberts to become involved in the burgeoning Civil Rights Movement, both nationally and locally. She participated in
school desegregation In the United States, school integration (also known as desegregation) is the process of ending race-based segregation within American public, and private schools. Racial segregation in schools existed throughout most of American history and ...
protests in Cleveland and followed the work of local activists Ruth Turner and Lewis G. Robinson. In an oral history, Roberts described the irony she felt holding picket signs that she couldn’t read during
protests A protest (also called a demonstration, remonstration, or remonstrance) is a public act of objection, disapproval or dissent against political advantage. Protests can be thought of as acts of cooperation in which numerous people cooperate ...
. “I wanted to fight for other little boys and girls who had experienced the same thing I had experienced as a child. And if it meant me carryin' a picket sign, if it also meant that I could get injured or die, I didn't think it meant much difference because I had already mentally, or I was dead. I couldn't read; I was sort of trapped in society; the best I could do was to help someone else.” In 1965, when Roberts was working for a particularly hostile employer who monitored employees while they worked and prohibited the employees from speaking to each other at any point during the day, Roberts made a commitment to advocate for better working conditions for herself and colleagues. Her coworkers encouraged her to form a union and each gave her a dollar to begin one. In September 1965, she held the first meeting of Domestic Workers of America at St. James
AME Church The African Methodist Episcopal Church, usually called the AME Church or AME, is a Methodist denomination based in the United States. It adheres to Wesleyan–Arminian theology and has a connexional polity. It cooperates with other Methodist ...
with the help of the Cleveland chapter of
CORE Core or cores may refer to: Science and technology * Core (anatomy), everything except the appendages * Core (laboratory), a highly specialized shared research resource * Core (manufacturing), used in casting and molding * Core (optical fiber ...
. While 20 people attended that first meeting, by the third meeting in October, over 150 women were reported to have attended. To recruit new members, Roberts would stand at bus stops where many domestic workers boarded busses and she would hold signs, distribute leaflets, and chant slogans to get them involved. DWA’s office moved across the city throughout its lifetime and in its early years were primarily funded by a grant from the Council of Economic Opportunity. Legal Aid of Cleveland, CORE, and other community volunteers helped DWA form a
charter A charter is the grant of authority or rights, stating that the granter formally recognizes the prerogative of the recipient to exercise the rights specified. It is implicit that the granter retains superiority (or sovereignty), and that the ...
and a
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; Geraldine Roberts was elected as president of the organization. At its peak in the late 1960s, DWA consisted of at least six hundred members. As an organization, DWA helped place domestic workers in job placements throughout the city, advocated locally and nationally for fair pay and benefits for the workers, and provided
scholarships A scholarship is a form of financial aid awarded to students for further education. Generally, scholarships are awarded based on a set of criteria such as academic merit, diversity and inclusion, athletic skill, and financial need, research ...
for workers to attend
Cuyahoga Community College Cuyahoga Community College (Tri-C) is a Public college, public Community colleges in the United States, community college in Cuyahoga County, Ohio. Founded in 1963, it is the oldest and largest public community college within the state. Not unti ...
, among many other initiatives. By the 1980s, the organization’s funding and membership waned as nationally, many Black women left domestic work and many migrants from the Global
South South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both west and east. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþa ...
filled their positions. Roberts remained active both in local and national organizing. While she was president of DWA, Roberts attended the first national conference of domestic worker organizers in 1971 in D.C. She also testified before the Ohio legislature to urge a
minimum wage A minimum wage is the lowest remuneration that employers can legally pay their employees—the price floor below which employees may not sell their labor. List of countries by minimum wage, Most countries had introduced minimum wage legislation b ...
for domestic workers, and testified in Cleveland for the
United States Commission on Civil Rights The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights (CCR) is a bipartisan, independent commission of the United States federal government, created by the Civil Rights Act of 1957 during the Eisenhower administration, that is charged with the responsibility f ...
about her experience as a domestic worker, organizer, and
working-class The working class is a subset of employees who are compensated with wage or salary-based contracts, whose exact membership varies from definition to definition. Members of the working class rely primarily upon earnings from wage labour. Most c ...
Black woman in Cleveland. In the 1970s, she ran unsuccessfully for both
Cleveland City Council Cleveland City Council is the legislature, legislative branch of Local government in the United States, government for the Cleveland, City of Cleveland, Ohio. Its chambers are located at Cleveland City Hall at 601 Lakeside Avenue, across the str ...
and the School Board of Cleveland Schools. In 1980, she organized a new group, the Grassroots Female Coalition that registered women voters and sought to address the needs of marginalized women. In the early 1990s, she formed the Grandmothers and Grandfathers Project that sought to organize older members of the community to support Cleveland’s youth.


Personal life

Roberts married James Roberts, 22 years her senior, at the age of fourteen. He reportedly threatened to turn her in to the police for running away from home unless she married him. He also promised to help her get more education, and although he initially helped her enroll in
night school A night school is an adult learning school that holds classes in the evening or at night to accommodate people who work during the day. A community college or university may hold night school classes that admit undergraduates. Italy The scuol ...
in Cleveland, he eventually said that he could not watch the children and demanded she stop her schooling. The couple separated after twelve years of marriage. After her marriage ended, Roberts resumed her education and took evening classes at
East Technical High School East Technical High School or East Tech is a secondary school under the operation of the Cleveland Metropolitan School District in Cleveland, Ohio. History The school, when it opened on October 5, 1908, was the first public trade school in the ...
. Roberts was friends with Louise Stokes, the mother of
Carl Carl may refer to: *Carl, Georgia, city in USA *Carl, West Virginia, an unincorporated community *Carl (name), includes info about the name, variations of the name, and a list of people with the name *Carl², a TV series * "Carl", an episode of tel ...
and
Louis Stokes Louis Stokes (February 23, 1925 – August 18, 2015) was an American attorney, civil rights pioneer and politician. He served 15 terms in the United States House of Representatives – representing the east side of Cleveland – and was the firs ...
, as they were both domestic workers. Both Carl and Louis Stokes supported Roberts’ activism. Roberts died in her apartment in the Carver Park Apartment Housing Complex on December 4, 1997 at the age of 73.


Recognition

Roberts was a member of the Phillis Wheatley Association, the
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 ...
,
Urban League The National Urban League (NUL), formerly known as the National League on Urban Conditions Among Negroes, is a nonpartisan historic civil rights organization based in New York City that advocates on behalf of economic and social justice for Afri ...
and Lane Metropolitan C.M.E. Church. She received awards from Top Ladies of Distinction Inc., the
Western Reserve Historical Society The Western Reserve Historical Society (WRHS) is a historical society in Cleveland, Ohio. The society operates the Cleveland History Center, a collection of museums in University Circle. The society was founded in 1867, making it the oldest ...
, and other civic organizations.


References


Further reading

Guglielmo, Jennifer, A History of Domestic Work and Worker Organizing, https://www.dwherstories.com/ Roberts, Geraldine, Interview with Malaika Lumumba, August 1, 1970. Ralph J. Bunche Oral History Collection, Moorland-Spingarn Research Collection. Howard University, accession no. 593, p. 1. Roberts, Geraldine, Interview by Donna Van Raaphorst, March 30-June 29, 1977, Cleveland, Ohio. Program on Women and Work, Institute of Labor and Industrial Relations, University of Michigan, Walter P. Reuther Library, Wayne State University, 96. {{DEFAULTSORT:Roberts, Geraldine Activists for African-American civil rights American women's rights activists People from Pawhuska, Oklahoma Activists from Cleveland 1924 births 1997 deaths American women activists