Minta Bosley Allen Trotman (February 13, 1875 – May 3, 1949) was an African-American suffragist and community leader, who played a prominent role in "promoting the social welfare and civic participation of black Americans" through her work in

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

. Her daughter

Catherine Allen Latimer Catherine Allen Latimer (1896 – 1948) was the New York Public Library's first African-American librarian. She was a notable authority on bibliographies of African-American life and instrumental in forming the library's Division of Negro History ...

was the first African-American librarian at the

New York Public Library The New York Public Library (NYPL) is a public library system in New York City. With nearly 53 million items and 92 locations, the New York Public Library is the second-largest public library in the United States behind the Library of Congress a ...

Life

Minta Bosley was born in

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

, on February 13, 1875, the only child of John Beal Bosley (a businessman) and Catherine Harding Bosley. From 1889 to 1893, she attended

Fisk University Fisk University is a Private university, private Historically black colleges and universities, historically black Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Nashville, Tennessee. It was founded in 1866 and its campus i ...

, and later the New York School for Social Work. Henry W

In 1895, she married Henry W. Allen, a railroad mail agent, with whom she had three children: Catherine (b. 1896), Marian (b. 1899), and Henry (b. 1903). Towards the end of 1903, Henry Allen was killed in a train accident, and the widowed Minta spent time in Europe with her children, before moving to Brooklyn, New York in 1908. Time in France and Germany contributed to the children's early – and in many ways exceptional – education, with Catherine Allen noted for speaking both French and German. In 1911, Minta married William Frederick Trotman, a prominent real estate agent who represented

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

. Minta herself became actively engaged in the community, involved in the

National Association of Colored Women The National Association of Colored Women's Clubs (NACWC) is an American organization that was formed in July 1896 at the First Annual Convention of the National Federation of Afro-American Women in Washington, D.C., United States, by a merger of ...

(NACW), the

Young Women's Christian Association The Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA) is a nonprofit organization with a focus on empowerment, leadership, and rights of women, young women, and girls in more than 100 countries. The World office is currently based in Geneva, Swit ...

, and the Brooklyn

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 ...

. For two decades, she lectured, fundraised, led, and campaigned for a host of political and social causes. She was closely associated with, and active alongside, her friend and fellow suffragist

Addie Waites Hunton Addie Waites Hunton (June 11, 1866 – June 22, 1943) was an African Americans, African-American Women's suffrage in the United States, suffragist, race and gender activist, writer, political organizer, and educator. In 1889, Hunton became the fir ...

, with whom she attended the national meeting of the NACW in 1912. Minta was a founding member, and the inaugural president, of the Urban League's "Big Sister Club", which focused on girls. For this, she traveled extensively throughout the country, lecturing on the organisation's behalf. When women gained the vote in 1917, she continued to work for women's increased participation in civic life as president of the Women's Civic League in Brooklyn. In 1927, she served on the executive committee of the Women's International Circle of Peace and Foreign Relations, which was largely responsible for organising the fourth

Pan-African Congress The Pan-African Congress (PAC) is a regular series of meetings which first took place on the back of the Pan-African Conference held in London in 1900. The Pan-African Congress first gained a reputation as a peacemaker for decolonization in ...

, held in New York. The committee included Hunton and Nina DuBois. In addition to her community and activist work, Minta keenly supported the protection and promotion of African-American culture and heritage. She was actively involved in the preservation of the Frederick Douglass House, and was a collector of African

folk art Folk art covers all forms of visual art made in the context of folk culture. Definitions vary, but generally the objects have practical utility of some kind, rather than being exclusively decorative art, decorative. The makers of folk art a ...

. Minta Bosley Allen Trotman died on May 3, 1949, from a heart attack. She was survived by her husband, and two children (Marian and Henry). Catherine Allen Latimer had died the previous year.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bosley Allen Trotman, Minta 1875 births 1949 deaths African-American suffragists Suffragists from New York (state) Activists from Nashville, Tennessee 20th-century African-American people 20th-century African-American women