IV 
115TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. RES. 1126 
Expressing support for the designation of September 23 as ‘‘Mary Church 
Terrell Day’’, and calling on Congress to recognize Mary Church Terrell’s 
lasting contributions to the civil rights and women’s rights movements. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
OCTOBER 12, 2018 
Ms. NORTON submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the 
Committee on Oversight and Government Reform 
RESOLUTION 
Expressing support for the designation of September 23 as 
‘‘Mary Church Terrell Day’’, and calling on Congress 
to recognize Mary Church Terrell’s lasting contributions 
to the civil rights and women’s rights movements. 
Whereas Mary Church Terrell was born on September 23, 
1863, to former slaves; 
Whereas Mary Church Terrell’s father, Robert Reed Church, 
was a successful businessman and one of the South’s first 
African-American millionaires; 
Whereas Mary Church Terrell attended the Antioch College 
laboratory school and Oberlin College; 
Whereas Mary Church Terrell was one of the first African- 
American women to attend college; 
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•HRES 1126 IH 
Whereas Mary Church Terrell’s belief in the importance of 
education led her to the District of Columbia in 1887; 
Whereas Mary Church Terrell taught at the M Street Colored 
High School, now known as Paul Laurence Dunbar High 
School; 
Whereas Mary Church Terrell was the first African-American 
woman in the United States to be appointed to a school 
board; 
Whereas Mary Church Terrell believed that the end to racial 
discrimination could be achieved through education, 
work, and community activism; 
Whereas Mary Church Terrell’s activism was sparked by the 
lynching of an old friend, Thomas Moss, in 1892; 
Whereas Mary Church Terrell used her position to fight ra-
cial and gender discrimination; 
Whereas Mary Church Terrell participated in antilynching 
campaigns alongside Ida B. Wells-Barnett; 
Whereas Mary Church Terrell led the fight to desegregate 
eating places in the District of Columbia; 
Whereas District of Columbia laws of 1872 and 1873 re-
quired all restaurants ‘‘to serve any respectable, well-be-
haved person regardless of color’’; 
Whereas Mary Church Terrell was 86 at the time she 
launched the campaign to enforce these civil rights laws; 
Whereas Mary Church Terrell and several colleagues entered 
Thompson Restaurant on February 28, 1950; 
Whereas the group was refused service on the basis of their 
race; 
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Whereas John R. Thompson Co. was prosecuted for violating 
these laws; 
Whereas Mary Church Terrell continued her fight through 
boycotts, picketing, and sit-ins at restaurants around the 
District of Columbia; 
Whereas, on June 8, 1953, three years after the lawsuit was 
filed, the Supreme Court in District of Columbia v. John 
R. Thompson Co. held these laws were enforceable; 
Whereas Mary Church Terrell also actively fought for wom-
en’s suffrage; 
Whereas Mary Church Terrell was president of the National 
Association of Colored Women; 
Whereas Mary Church Terrell was one of the founders and 
charter members of the National Association for the Ad-
vancement of Colored People; 
Whereas Mary Church Terrell persuaded the National Asso-
ciation of University Women to admit Black members; 
Whereas the Mary Church Terrell House is a National His-
toric Landmark located at 326 T Street NW in the Dis-
trict of Columbia, and is open to the public; and 
Whereas September 23 would be an appropriate day to des-
ignate as Mary Church Terrell Day: Now, therefore be it 
Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 
(1) supports the designation of ‘‘Mary Church 
Terrell Day’’; and 
(2) calls on Congress to recognize Mary Church 
Terrell’s legacy of civil rights and women’s rights. 
Æ 
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