Adapted from the African American Registry
Crystal Bird Fauset, the first African-American woman to be elected to a state house of representatives, was born on June 27, 1894.
Fauset was born in Prince Anne, Maryland, to Benjamin and Portia Bird, but was raised in Boston by her aunt, Lucy Groves. She attended public schools and graduated from Teachers College, Columbia University, in 1931. As a social worker for the YWCA in New York and Philadelphia, Fauset was named executive secretary of the Institute of Race Relations at Swarthmore College in 1933.
Learn more about Crystal Bird Fauset, free from ExplorePAHistory.com Five years later the Democratic Party in Philadelphia asked Fauset to run for a seat in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives from their district, a position she won. By 1944, she became disappointed with her party’s handling of Black Americans in the war and announced her support for Thomas E. Dewey and the Republican Party.
She held a number of other important positions during her career. She served as chair of the Philadelphia Negro Women’s Democratic League, was on the board of trustees of Cheyney State Teachers College, and was on the board of directors of the Small Business Opportunities Corporation of Philadelphia. Crystal Bird Fauset died March 27th 1965..
Fauset was born in Prince Anne, Maryland, to Benjamin and Portia Bird, but was raised in Boston by her aunt, Lucy Groves. She attended public schools and graduated from Teachers College, Columbia University, in 1931. As a social worker for the YWCA in New York and Philadelphia, Fauset was named executive secretary of the Institute of Race Relations at Swarthmore College in 1933.
Five years later the Democratic Party in Philadelphia asked Fauset to run for a seat in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives from their district, a position she won. By 1944, she became disappointed with her party’s handling of Black Americans in the war and announced her support for Thomas E. Dewey and the Republican Party.
She held a number of other important positions during her career. She served as chair of the Philadelphia Negro Women’s Democratic League, was on the board of trustees of Cheyney State Teachers College, and was on the board of directors of the Small Business Opportunities Corporation of Philadelphia. Crystal Bird Fauset died March 27th 1965.
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