Myra Hill Colson Callis (March 13, 1892 – 1979) was an American social worker, educator, researcher, and

YWCA 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 ...

administrator, best known for her work on employment.

Early life and education

Colson was born in

Petersburg, Virginia Petersburg is an independent city (United States), independent city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 33,458 with a majority bla ...

, the daughter of James Major Colson II and Kate Deaver Hill Colson. Her father was principal of the Virginia Normal and Collegiate Institute. Her mother and siblings also worked in education; her older sister was educator Edna Meade Colson. Colson graduated from

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 ...

in 1915; she and her sister Edna both spoke at the commencement ceremony. She earned a master's degree in social service administration at the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...

, with a thesis titled "Home Work Among Negro Women in Chicago." She was a member of

Alpha Kappa Alpha Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. () is an List of African American fraternities, historically African-American Fraternities and sororities, sorority. The sorority was founded in 1908 at Howard University in Washington, D.C.. Alpha Kappa Alpha ...

Career

Callis taught high school science in Virginia for several years after college. She began working for the YWCA in 1919, and held jobs at YWCA branches in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Chicago between 1919 and 1927. She was the first African-American woman to earn certification from the national training school for YWCA secretaries. From 1928 to 1930, she was a researcher and instructor at the Tuskegee Institute. From 1930 to 1932, she worked with Carter G. Woodson on data for his ''The Negro in the Professions'' project. She was a social worker and researcher in Washington, D.C. in the 1930s and 1940s, specializing in employment and placement services for Black women. She also spoke on the topic to community groups and YWCA conferences. In 1935, she joined the faculty of the Atlanta School of Social Service. After World War II, Callis was supervisor of household operations at the

United States Employment Service The US Employment Service (ES) is the national system of public employment offices, managed by state workforce agencies and their localities, and funded by the Department of Labor. It is supervised by the Employment and Training Administration and ...

(USES) in Washington. She retired from USES in 1951.

Publications

* "Negro Home Workers in Chicago" (1923) * "The Employment of Negroes in the District of Columbia" (1936, with Lorenzo Johnston Greene and Carter G. Woodson)

Personal life

Colson married physician and medical school professor

Henry Arthur Callis Henry Arthur Callis (January 14, 1887 – November 12, 1974) was a physician and one of the seven founders (''commonly referred to as The Seven Jewels'') of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity at Cornell University in 1906. Callis co-authored the fr ...

in 1927, as his third wife. Her husband died in 1974, and she died in 1979. Her papers are in the collection of

Howard University Howard University is a private, historically black, federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. It is classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity" and accredited by the Mid ...

. Her family's papers are in the Johnston Memorial Library, Virginia State University.

References

External links

"Letter from Myra Colson Callis to W. E. B. Du Bois, August 24, 1933"
in the W. E. B. Du Bois Papers at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst {{DEFAULTSORT:Callis, Myra Colson 1892 births 1979 deaths People from Petersburg, Virginia Fisk University alumni University of Chicago alumni American social workers Alpha Kappa Alpha members