Adolphine Fletcher Terry
Personal Information
Born: 1882
Died: 1976
Country of Birth: USA
Nationality: USA
Ethnicity: White
Education
Vassar College 1902
" “To me, the vote represents more than just saying how a person feels about an issue or a candidate,” she said. “It represents human dignity and the fact that a citizen can express his or her opinion on any subject without fear of reprisal. That, I think, is what real human dignity consists of.” (encyclopediaofarkansas.net); "The men have failed . . . It’s time to call out the women." (nps.gov); "
— Adolphine Fletcher Terry
Professional Life
Field of Study: social Activism
Institution/Corporation: None found
Degrees & Memberships: Member: Political Equality League (1911); Congressional Union for Women Suffrage; Trustee of the Little Rock Public Library (1926-66); Women's Emergency Committee to Open Our Schools (1958); YWCA; Association of Southern Women for the Prevention of Lynching; League of Women Voters; National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA); National Women's Party (NWP);
Awards & Achievements
Awards: 2000 named 1 of Arkansas' 15 Most Significant Figures in State History, Arkansas Historical Association; 2023 Arkansas Women's Hall of Fame; 1961 named 1 of 100 Most distinguished Alumni, Vassar College Centennial; 2020 named1 of 100 Outstanding women of the Century, USA Today
Achievements: improved schools and libraries, started a juvenile court system, promoted education and rights for women, and challenged the racism of the Old South by pushing for social change; 1905 co-founded the Southern Association for College Women (later become the Arkansas Association for University Women a division of the American Association of University Women) which provided a forum for college educated women to discuss issues that were important to them; was an advocate of hiring professional school administrators and formed the first school improvement association in Arkansas; led efforts to provide transportation for rural students; 1911 was appointed by the local Women's Christian Temperance Union to investigate juvenile courts that had been established by legislation the group had championed; 1958 with Vivion Brewer and Velma Powell, founded the Women's Emergency Committee to Open Our Schools; formed the first School Improvement Association in Arkansas, forerunner of the Parent Teacher Association; organized the first juvenile court in Arkansas in 1910; chaired the Pulaski County Juvenile Court board for about twenty years; helped start the Girls Industrial School near Alexander (Pulaski and Saline Counties) for girls detained by the court, as well as a temporary home for young people who had no adult supervision; was instrumental in starting the Pulaski County Tuberculosis Association and the Community Chest, the forerunner of the United Way; worked to make Little Rock's auditorium accessible to older people and the handicapped;
most remembered for her role on the Women's Emergency Committee to Open Our Schools (WEC) that was primarily responsible for reopening the Little Rock, Arkansas, public school system and bringing to a close the school district closing in 1958, following the Crisis at Little Rock Central High
her other was highly protective of her own children ( typically overdressing them in layers of heavy cotton fabric, even in the heat of summer, and discouraging them from adventurous play for fear they would be injured) and encouraged educational achievements
entered college at the early age of 15
she and other members of the juvenile court board for Pulaski County took delinquent children into their own homes to keep them out of the state reform school
fought for the creation of the Boys Industrial School and the Girls Industrial School in 1917
helped to form the African-American branch of the Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA) in Little Rock which subsequently opened in 1921
her sister Mary created the Political Equality League in 1911 & she was very active in the organization
was a leader at both the state and national level in the campaign for women's suffrage
she and her sister Mary Fletcher Drennan deeded the Pike–Fletcher–Terry House to the City of Little Rock in 1964 for use by the Arkansas Arts Center which opened as the Decorative Arts Museum on March 24, 1985
was an avid writer and published many works throughout her lifetime including: "Courage!" (1938), "Cordelia, Member of the Household" (1967), "Charlotte Stephens, Little Rock’s First Black Teacher" (1973), "Life is My Song" unpublished
wrote her book "Courage!" (1938) under the pseudonym Mary Lindsey
was 1 of the founders of the Little Rock Housing Association to secure federal funds under the 1937 Housing Authority Act to combat slum housing
was active in historic preservation and the arts
her brother John Gould Fletcher received the Pulitzer Prize in 1938 for his poetry