The U.S. Census Bureau has always been ahead of the curve 

when it comes to employing women. Ever since 1880, 

when it started using professional enumerators rather than 

U.S. marshals, the Census Office had employed women in 

that role. With the advent of the Hollerith tabulating 

machine in 1890, women moved into the role of 

keypunchers. The Census Office began using AfricanAmerican enumerators in 1870, but many of these 

enumerators faced harassment and death threats, despite 

their protected status as government agents. This resulted 

in the removal of some agents, like Amelia Thomas of 

Columbus, Georgia, after public unrest. In 1910, the Census 

Bureau issued guidelines that 2/5 or greater AfricanAmerican population should have African-American 

enumerators.

Gertrude Elzora Durden was born on August 5, 1880, in Navasota, Texas. Gertrude’s father, Frank, 

was a Baptist minister, who moved his family north to find better and safer opportunities. The 

family settled in Kansas. They moved frequently as Frank worked at various jobs— including as a 

coal miner, carpenter, and farmer— while Sarah, his wife, kept house and worked as a dishwasher. 

After completing her high school education, Gertrude taught primary school and wrote hymns as 

well as plays such as “Sermon on the Mount” and “Black 

Girl’s Burden.” In 1907, she married Howard Universityeducated lawyer James Buchanan Rush and began 

studying law while working at his law office. 

In early 1910, Gertrude passed the enumerator 

examination and became one of the 1,605 AfricanAmerican enumerators working nationwide. For two 

weeks, starting on Census Day, April 15, Gertrude 

conducted door-to-door visits to 1,531 families—most of 

whom were white. For 

this,she earned 

approximately $42 (2.5 

cents per name), at a time when average weekly pay was $6. In 

Iowa, the biggest problems with the decennial tabulation took 

place in Des Moines, and centered around a small handful of 

people who were reticent to answer any census questions, 

regardless of who posed them. In reaction to the appointment of 

“colored” census takers, the Des Moines Bystander congratulated 

the enumerators and hailed them as respected citizens. 

The Des Moines Register (Des Moines, IA); 29 Nov 1999

The Bystander (Des Moines, IA); 8 Apr 1910

Gertrude E. Rush

Census Enumerator and Legal Pioneer

Gertrude enumerated her own household 

first and listed her occupation as 

“playwright.”

Rush Family 1910 Census 
Gertrude earned her B.A. from Des Moines College in 1914 and then 

completed her third year of school through a correspondence 

program at La Salle Extension University in Chicago. In 1918,she 

became the first black woman to pass the Iowa state bar. She would 

remain the only African-American woman to do so until 1950. 

Unfortunately, her husband died shortly before she achieved this 

honor, but she took over his practice. Over time, she focused her 

work on women’s legal rights in estate cases. 

Gertrude was also active in many community groups. Gertrude was 

president of the National Association of Colored Women’s Clubs 

from 1911–1915, and a lifelong member afterwards. She 

joined the Des Moines Charity League in 1912 and the 

Public Welfare Bureau in 1919. During this time, she 

championed representation in public office for black 

Americans, the appointment of black probation officers, and 

the creation of the Protection Home for Negro Girls. 

Gertrude also actively participated in the National 

Association for the Advancement of Colored People, as well 

as the Young Women’s Christian Association. She also 

participated in various suffragist groups,such as the Colored 

Women’s Suffrage Club, various art and political clubs, and a 

wide variety of Christian organizations, including the 

Women’s Auxiliary to the National Baptist Convention.

Perhaps the most important of Gertrude’s accomplishments 

is her success in the field of law. In 1921, she became the first woman to lead a coed state bar 

association when she became president of the Iowa Colored Bar Association. In 1925, after being

denied admission to the American Bar Association, she and four male lawyers founded the Negro 

Bar Association (now called the National Bar Association). It presently boasts more than 65,000 

members, primarily African-American. 

In 1985,the National Bar Association established the 

Gertrude E. Rush Award, which honorslawyers and 

judges “based on their leadership in the community 

and [who] have demonstrated a concern for human 

and civil rights, and are models for excellence in legal 

education, along with perseverance in the law, public 

policy, and social activism.” In 2010, the National Bar 

Association was one of the groups that worked with 

the Census Bureau to help ensure accurate counts of 

historically underrepresented groups. Gertrude passed 

away in Des Moines on September 5, 1962, but her 

groundbreaking path starting with the Census Bureau 

relied on courage, education and hard work, and left an example many have since been able to 

follow.

Photo from Notable Black American 

Women, Book 2 (by Jessie C. Smith)

The Pittsburgh Courier (Pittsburgh, PA); 27 Sep 1952

Gertrude with the WANBC, 1952

HB-17-0008

By 1930, Frank and Sarah Durden 

were once again living with their 

daughter.

Rush/Durden Family 1930 Census