The U.S. Census Bureau is proud of its history of continually evolving to 

ensure an accurate count of the people of the United States. To accomplish 

this, the Census Bureau has long embraced the hiring of a diverse 

workforce representative of local communities and the people who were a 

part of the neighborhoods that they counted. For this reason, census work

was often one of the few government jobs open to minorities. Beginning 

with the 1870 Census (the first after the abolition of slavery), the Census 

Bureau began hiring African Americans as enumerators and data 

processors. With the creation of a permanent Census Bureau in 1902, 

African American workers and statisticians found an environment with an 

inclusiveness far greater than many contemporary institutions.

Mary was born on September 23, 1863, in Memphis, Tennessee, to Robert 

Reed Church, a former slave who became the first African American 

millionaire in a southern state, and Louisa Ayres, his second wife and a 

successful entrepreneur in her own right. Realizing the importance of 

education, her parents sent Mary to a preparatory school in Ohio early in 

her life. Mary thrived as a young student and eventually earned admittance to Oberlin College. 

After becoming one of the first African American women to earn a bachelor’s degree (1884) and 

master’s degree (1888), she taught at Wilberforce University for 2 years before accepting a position 

teaching modern languages at the M Street Colored High School in Washington, DC. It was here 

that Mary worked with and eventually married Robert Herberton Terrell in 1891. 

A year after marrying Robert, Mary began her career as 

an activist by working with Ida B. Wells to organize antilynching campaigns and bring attention to the story of her 

friend, Thomas Moss, who had owned a successful 

grocery in Memphis and was killed by racist thugs. 

Additionally, Mary, Ida, and four other prominent African 

American women founded the Colored Women’s League 

in Washington, DC., which eventually morphed into the 

National Association of Colored Women (NACW) by 1896. 

Electing Mary as the organization’s first president, the 

NACW members dedicated their time and resources “to 

uplifting women, children, families...and the community 

through service, community education...and the 

promotion of racial harmony among all people.” 

Specifically, Mary spoke to diverse audiences on topics 

such as African American empowerment and women’s suffrage. 

In addition to giving speeches on civil rights and women’s suffrage, Mary wrote numerous 

publications, including “Lynching from a Negro’s Point of View” (1904), an essay that attempted to 

dismantle the false narrative about why African American men were targeted for lynching, and an 

autobiography, entitled A Colored Woman in a White World (1940).Mary also served on 

Mary Church Terrell (c. 

1910).

Collection of the Smithsonian National 

Museum of African American History 

and Culture, Gift of Ray and Jean 

Langston in memory of Mary Church 

and Robert Terrell.

Mary's 1920 Census Record shows she lived 

with her husband, her biological daughter, her 

son-in-law, and her adopted daughter.

Mary Church Terrell

NAACP Founder, Activist, Census Office Clerk
Washington, DC’s School Board for 6 years, thus becoming the first 

African American woman to be appointed to a major city’s school board. 

She also helped found and a became a charter member of the National 

Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) in 1909.

During World War I, like many Americans, Mary searched for a way to 

serve the nation, so she took the civil service exam. A few days after 

taking the exam, she received a notice to appear at Room 305 of the 

Aetna Building in Washington, DC. Impressed by her ability to speak 

French and German, the commanding officer offered her a chance to 

perform a job where her language ability would be invaluable. However, the military turned down 

Mary’s services after learning she taught at the M Street High School. Undeterred by the rejection, 

Mary instead accepted a position as a Census Bureau clerk. Although she only worked at the 

Census Bureau for a short amount of time, Mary made a lasting impact when she desegregated the 

closest bathroom to her workstation.

After resigning from the Census Bureau, Mary continued her work as an 

activist, wife, and mother to Phyllis—the Terrells’ only surviving biological 

child—and Mary, whom the couple adopted a few years after Phyllis’s 

birth. At the end of the First World War, Mary left the federal service and 

her position with the War Camp Community Service and entered the 

political realm where she served as the supervisor for the Republican 

National Committee’s (RNC) Committee for Eastern District Work among 

Colored Women (1920–1929), campaigned on behalf of Ruth Hanna 

McCormick, a U.S. Senate candidate from Illinois (1929–1931), and worked 

as an advisor to the RNC during Hoover’s 1932 presidential campaign.

Even at the end of her nearly 2-decade career in Republican politics, Mary

continued her activist lifestyle. In 1946, she sued the American Association 

of University Women’s (AAUW) Washington, DC chapter for refusing to 

reinstate her membership, despite having been a member of the 

organization between 1905–1910. Although the AAUW’s national branch 

sued their DC chapter on Mary’s behalf, they lost their case. Undeterred, 

the AAUW added an anti-discriminatory section to their charter and 

admitted Mary into their ranks in 1949. 

One year after being admitted into the AAUW, Mary and a few of her 

colleagues began challenging legal segregation in Washington, DC, by 

entering Thompson’s Restaurant—a local chain of restaurants with four 

locations—and attempting to receive service. When the store’s manager refused to serve her and 

her colleagues, they walked to the law office next door and began the process of suing Thompson’s

Restaurant for violating two forgotten Reconstruction-area laws that required restaurants, hotels, 

and other public businesses to serve “any respectable, well-behaved person without regard to race.” 

As Mary and her colleagues’ legal suit worked its way through the legal system, she also worked to 

desegregate other DC restaurants by organizing and participating in sit-ins, boycotts, and other 

forms of peaceful protests. Finally, on June 8, 1953, the U.S. Supreme Court, via District of Columbia 

v. Thompson Co., ruled in favor of Mary and the District lawyers and declared segregation in 

Washington, DC, unconstitutional. This is one of the first successful lawsuits which challenged 

segregation.

Mary Church Terrell passed away on July 24, 1954, at her home in High Beach, Maryland, at the age 

of 91, outliving her husband by almost 29 years. However, Mary lived long enough to witness the 

U.S. Supreme Court issue its historic ruling in Brown vs. Board of Education, which ended 

segregationist policies in the nations’ schools. We are grateful for Mary’s service to the U.S. Census 

Bureau, her community, and our nation.

HB 23-0003

Mary Church Terrell 

served on the District of 

Columbia School Board 

from 1895–1901 and 

1906–1911.

The Advocate (Charleston, West 

Virginia), June 8, 1911.

Mary Church Terrell 

participated in 

numerous sit-ins, 

pickets, and other forms 

of peaceful protests as 

she worked to 

desegregate restaurants, 

hotels, theaters, and 

numerous other public 

businesses in 

Washington, DC.

The Pittsburgh Courier (Pittsburgh, 

Pennsylvania), July 31, 1954.