Hidden Figures: Delilah L. Beasley #BlackHERstoryMonth 1/28 (Patreon)

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Delilah Leontium Beasley (September 9, 1867 – August 18, 1934), was a historian and newspaper columnist for the Oakland Tribune in Oakland, California. Beasley was the first African-American woman to be published regularly in a major metropolitan newspaper. Beasley was also first to present written proof of the existence of California's black pioneers in her book Slavery in California (1918) and her classic, The Negro Trail-Blazers of California (1919). Her career in journalism spanned more than 50 years, and was hugely impactful on the print industry. She detailed the racial problems in California and the heroic achievements by Blacks to overcome them during the late 19th century and early 20th century.

Beasley was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, September 9, shortly after the end of the Civil War, in 1867. As a child, Beasley attended segregated Cincinnati public schools and developed an interest in journalism; by the age of twelve had begun to write and publish short social notices in the local black newspapers and some white newspapers, such as the Cleveland Gazette. Yet, as the oldest of five children, Beasley was required to find a full-time job when her parents' died while she was still a teenager, causing her to drop out of school to become a maid and hairdresser. Beasley later studied hydrotherapy and medical gymnastics, and became a massage therapist for pregnant women. She worked in Chicago, New York, and Michigan, eventually settling in Berkeley, CA in 1910 to work as a nurse for a former patient. Beasley never lost her love for journalism, however, and in 1883, she began writing about church and social activities for a black newspaper in Ohio called ‘The Cleveland.’ Three years later, she published her first column in ‘the Cincinnati Enquirer.’

After moving to Oakland, California at the age of 39, Beasley began attending history lectures and researching at University of California, Berkeley and writing essays for presentations at local churches. She trained herself in historical research, visiting private and public libraries, exploring archives, and conducting oral interviews with elderly black residents about their personal experience. In 1910 the Black American population in Oakland was 3,055, a community which, despite its small number, supported many institutions and community formation in the 1910s and 20s. Among these institutions were black-owned small businesses, churches, and private social-welfare organizations. In addition, several black newspapers were published in Oakland, including the Oakland Sunshine, which began publication in 1902, and the Western Outlook, established in 1894. In 1915, Beasley began a column exclusively for a black audience in the Oakland Sunshine.

Inspired by her column, Delilah Beasley went on to chronicle African American "firsts" and notable achievements in early California in her book The Negro Trail-Blazers of California (1919). Beasley's Trail-Blazers book included diaries, biographical sketches, poetry, photographs, old papers, conversations with old pioneers, and a comprehensive history of early legislation and court cases, giving many hundreds of names of blacks in California from the pioneer period to the late 19th century who had been written out of history up until this point. Beasley self-published and distributed the book, which she had painstakingly researched over the course of nine years, putting herself into severe debt. Her book is recognized as the first to compile proof of Black communities in California dating back to the 1800s.

Despite this, her work on the The Negro Trail-Blazers was well-received, and by 1925 Beasley was writing regularly for the Oakland Tribune, making her the first black American to be published regularly in a major metropolitan newspaper. At the Tribune, she authored the Sunday column Activities Among Negroes, often spending over forty hours a week collecting material about Black American churches, social events, women's clubs, literary societies, and local as well as national politics. By highlighting such items, she served the larger goal of demonstrating the capabilities of Black Americans while building a strong readership for her column and a network of sources from whom she could count on receiving information. Having a regular column in a white daily newspaper also gave Beasley the ability generate publicity for black political struggles and activities, and she often confronted misconceptions and contradictions as a newspaper journalist. Recognizing her large platform and access provided by the tribune, leverage, Beasley regularly traveled around the country to persuade the editors of major newspapers everywhere to stop using racist language in print, and through her vast impact on print media, the mainstream white american press topped using words like ‘drake’ and the n word, and began to capitalize the ’N’ in Negro. She also regularly spoke at rallies and protests against racism.

Beasley never married and belonged to many civic organizations that advocated for the advancement of Black Americans and women, including the NAACP,  the Alameda County League of Women Voters, the National Association of Colored Women, the Alameda County League of Colored Women Voters, the Public Welfare League of Alameda County, the League of Nations Association of the California Federated Women's Club, the Oakland Council of Church Women, and the Linden Center Young Women's Christian Association. She also formed her own group to encourage literacy amongst black americans, entitled The Delilah L. Beasley Literary and Improvement Club.

In 1920, Oakland's black club women, including Delilah Beasley and others, organized the Linden Center Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA) to combat the racism of the all-white YWCAs branches in the city. The Linden Center YWCA provided an array of services, including "religious and vocational training, adult education, counseling services, and a full calendar of recreational and cultural programs" for Black Americans. In the mid-1920s, Beasley was named a national historian of the National Association of Colored Women (NACW). In 1933, it was at Beasley's public urging through her column that California State Assemblyman William F. Knowland, then assistant publisher of the Oakland Tribune, and Assemblyman Frederick M. Roberts of Los Angeles County, introduced an anti-lynching bill, that passed unanimously in both branches of the California Legislature. It was the state's first mob violence law.

Beasley continued writing her column for the Tribune until her death in 1934.

Delilah Leontium Beasley died on August 18, 1934, at Fairmont Hospital in San Leandro, California. According to her death certificate, the cause of death was arterio-sclerotic heart disease with hypertension. Her home at that time was listed as being in Oakland, California. She was laid to rest at Saint Mary Cemetery in Oakland. Twenty years later, a monument was erected, and a perpetual care endowed. Carved on the old tombstone is a simple epitaph: "Author and columnist, a native of Ohio and for 25 years a resident of Oakland."

#DelilahBeasley #HiddenFigures

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Links:

The Negro Trail Blazers of California Paperback – April 3, 2007: https://www.amazon.com/Negro-Trail-Blazers-California/dp/1594625921

'The Oakland Tribune Journalist Who Highlighted Black Trailblazers:' https://www.kqed.org/pop/102326/rebel-girls-from-bay-area-history-delilah-l-beasley-pioneering-journalist

'Delilah L. Beasley wielded her pen to bring about change:' https://aaregistry.org/story/delilah-l-beasley-wielded-her-pen-to-bring-about-change/

'Delilah L. Beasley and the Trail She Blazed:' https://library.csun.edu/SCA/Peek-in-the-Stacks/delilah-beasley

'The Pioneering Black Historian Who Was Almost Erased From History:' https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/07/us/black-history-month-delilah-beasley.html

Delilah Beasley (Wikipedia): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delilah_Beasley