Helen Elsie Austin
Helen Elsie Austin (May 10, 1908– Oct 26, 2004), known as H. Elsie Austin as an adult, was an American attorney, civil rights leader, and diplomat from the Midwest. From 1960 to 1970, she served for 10 years with the United States Information Agency (USIA) on various cultural projects in Africa. The first African-American woman to graduate from the University of Cincinnati School of Law,[1][2] Austin was appointed in 1937 as an assistant attorney general in Ohio. She was the first black and the first woman to hold this position.
Helen Elsie Austin
10 May 1908
October 26, 2004 (aged 96)
H. Elsie Austin
Attorney; state official, Foreign Service Officer
Pioneering black lawyer, civil rights and administrator/organizer
- George J. Austin (father)
Austin held legal positions in Washington, DC for several federal agencies during the New Deal. She also worked to advance civil rights for African Americans, serving on numerous committees, and in executive positions. She consulted for National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), and the National Council of Negro Women. She also served as president for the Delta Sigma Theta sorority, "one of the largest African American women's organization in the world."[3]
In 1934 Austin became a member of the Baháʼí Faith in Cincinnati. Ten years later she was elected on the National Spiritual Assembly in the United States, the institution in charge of the affairs in the country. She was a Bahá'i for the rest of her life. Decades later, while serving in Africa, she joined what was then the regional national assembly of North West Africa.
Career[edit]
Austin passed the Indiana Bar that year,[31] and was among the 22 black women lawyers in the state in 1930. She was one of the pioneers noted in the late 20th century by Goler Teal Butcher, a professor of international law at Howard University who established a scholarship for black women.[32][33]
Austin's grandfather Robert Austin did live to see these achievements; he died in October 1930.[30] By then Austin had returned to live with her widowed mother,[34] who was inspired to go back to college.[11]
In 1931 Austin opened a law practice in Indianapolis, Indiana, the state capital,[35] with Henry J. Richardson Jr., also an African American.[36] They were partners for two years, and he became active in the Democratic Party. (In 1932 he was one of the first two African Americans elected on the Democratic Party ticket to the state house of Indiana.)
Austin began to be active with the NAACP, sometimes speaking about its work, and also representing the organization in civil suits challenging segregation and restrictions.[37] Austin also began taking a leadership role in Delta Sigma Theta sorority.[38]
The Baháʼí community in Cincinnati is dated to at least to 1910.[39] Austin began to learn about their practice. A joint meeting of Baháʼí communities of Ohio met in Cincinnati in June 1930, and the group held monthly public meetings in the city.[40] A Baháʼí Local Spiritual Assembly, an administrative group of nine adults, was established in Cincinnati in 1933.[41] Austin considered the religion, reading about it and attending meetings. She met Louis George Gregory, an African-American lawyer and leader in the Bahá'i faith, and Dorothy Baker, who were both influential members who helped her overcome her feelings of bitterness.[25]: 13m39s In 1934 she joined the Baháʼí Faith.[42]
Move to Ohio[edit]
Austin had moved her law practice to Cincinnati, Ohio in 1933. That year, she represented the NAACP in its protest of allocations of public school funding, as segregated black schools were underfunded in comparison to ones for white students.[43] She was approved to plead cases before the Ohio Supreme Court.[44] She was also appointed to the Board of Trustees of Wilberforce University, an HBCU in Ohio that had been owned and operated by the AME Church since the Civil War.[45]
Outside of work, Austin led a private study class on Bahá'i in 1935.[46] The following year, she served on an all-Cincinnati, biracial YWCA committee that met at the West End YWCA, which served blacks who predominated in that part of the city. Affordable housing was a critical issue for lower income people in the city, but the YWCA had room for only 125 residents, and some could not afford to pay both room and board.[47] The committee also met at a site for girls in the Y in Walnut Hills, then a predominately white suburb of the city.[48]
Assistant attorney general[edit]
In 1937 Austin was confirmed in her appointment as an assistant attorney general for Ohio under Herbert S. Duffy[5] which made news in a number of venues,[49] still living at the address of her family.[5]
In March Austin received an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from Wilberforce University following her appointment to its board of trustees.[50] She continued her work in a variety of settings - YMCA[51] in public society,[52] joined a regional committee overseeing the Baháʼí Faith in Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, and Kentucky,[53] and presented at a symposium in Cleveland.[54] Austin was soon also on a Baháʼí committee overseeing radio use by the religion.[55]
By May she had been selected as secretary of the Cincinnati chapter of the NAACP and elected chair of legal committee of Colored Women Federated Clubs.[56] She continued to be noted at speaking engagements and banquets[57] while also named as a member of the state patrol board.[58] The year closed with Austin elected as secretary of the Wilberforce University Board.[59] She was also elected to the Board of the NAACP chapter.[60] She gave a talk for the NAACP in December.[61]
In 1938 Austin continued a busy speaking schedule, beginning with a February talk to a civic club.[62] and for a Baháʼí youth symposium at YWCA,[63] as well as at Green Acre Baháʼí School in Maine.[64] In April she spoke for the NAACP in Dayton,[65] and the youth bar association in Ohio.[66] Her father was remembered during Memorial Day services.[67]
When a successor to Austin was named for the Wilberforce board, his nomination generated controversy because of his ethnicity and religious affiliation. Pending resolution of objections to his nomination, Austin would continue to serve.[68]
Austin was invited to present at a convention on the progress of African Americans.[69] Charles Mason Remey gave a talk on the Baháʼí Faith at the Austin family home in October.[70] and was among the speakers invited on the one hand,[71] and being part of a Baháʼí symposium,[72] and other religious meetings as well.[73]
Because of technicalities, Attorney General Duffy ruled that Governor Davey's proposed appointment to the Wilbeforce board was illegal, and Austin was confirmed to continue as a holdover.[74]
In February 1939 Austin was reported to serve on a committee interracial "good will" meeting,[75] and present at a YWCA in March.[76] In April Austin was among those attending a Kentucky Negro Educational Association conference in Louisville.[77] In May she was among Cincinnati Baháʼís who went to the Baháʼí national convention. She was accompanied by her mother Mary Louise and brother George Austin, Jr.[78]
She finished her two-year term as assistant attorney general.[79] While it gave her many opportunities for building name recognition and a wide network through her public speaking, she gained little trial experience.[80]
DC, Deltas, and Baháʼís[edit]
She started serving on the national legal advisory committee for the Baháʼí Faith.[81]
By September she had moved to Washington, DC. Over the next several years, she handled federal legal matters for the Office of Emergency Management and the National Labor Relations Board. In addition, she later served the city of Washington as advisor and as Recorder of Deeds.[82][13] She was a legal advisor to the District of Columbia government in 1939 and next served as legal advisor to the Office of Price Administration, one of the New Deal agencies.[12]
She also took on a leadership role with Delta Sigma Theta,[83] being elected as the 8th president of the Delta Sigma Theta sorority in 1939; she was re-elected, serving until 1944.[84][85] She also contributed to a Phi Beta Sigma national essay contest,[86] and more meetings.[87]
Austin addressed the Baháʼí national convention of the spring of 1940.[88] and the 1940 US Census marked the monthly income for each mother and daughter earning circa $2400 recorded in Cincinnati[89] - about $42k in 2018 dollars.
In 1941 she participated in a free legal aid bureau of the National Bar Association in January.[90]
She led a youth class at Louhelen Baháʼí School in Michigan in July.[91]
Women in the law were still so few that by 1941, Austin was counted among the first 58 women lawyers in the US.[92] About 1941 she taught at the Robert H. Terrell Law School, becoming the third black woman to teach law in the US.[93][94]
Continuing her work for the Deltas, she presented a "Jobs analysis and opportunities project"(aka OPA) at Delta meeting in 1941.[95] In November Austin joined the Maryland, Virginia and DC Regional Teaching Committee responsible for overseeing efforts to promulgate the Baháʼí Faith in that area.[96] She met with Deltas in Detroit for a Christmas meeting in December.[97]
Commentary on social engagements followed her in 1942,[98] Austin presented the Baháʼí teachings during a national meeting in June marking the anniversary of the founding of the religion.[99] She continued providing service to the national legal advisory committee of the religion.[100] There was comment that Austin worked, like Louis Gregory on travels in the South for the religion as well.[101] In December Austin was reported as Delta President in the midst of coverage of the OPA program.[102] Dwindling coverage shows Austin among the speakers at a Missouri Deltas meeting,[103] and a freshman orientation (though the coverage didn't say where,)[104] while in September Austin was back at Green Acre.[105]
In 1944 Austin was featured during the observance of the centenary of the foundational Baháʼí holy day, the Declaration of the Báb, in a radio interview that was broadcast,[106] and the work of the Race Unity national committee of the Baháʼís also underscored her work.[107] Though the dates are unknown, Claude Albert Barnett, founder of the Associated Negro Press in 1919, corresponded with Austin.[108]
Pioneer and Knight of Baháʼu'lláh to Morocco[edit]
As 1953 opened with the news of the Baháʼí Ten Year Crusade, a program to expand the presence of the religion especially in Africa.[111] Austin was a member of the United States International Teaching Committee reporting on progress started previously,[176] followed by appearing at a World Religion Day observance in Wilmington, Delaware, with coverage by WDEL-TV as it was then called.[177] In February the Baháʼís held a conference in Uganda including Austin,[178][179] as a representative of the US National Baháʼí Assembly.[180] Austin undertook her Baháʼí pilgrimage.[42] American newspaper coverage of Austin's travels to Africa and Europe mentioned her in March,[181] while she returned in April to Cincinnati marking the centenary year of the declaration at Ridván of Baháʼu'lláh, founder of the religion, and the dedication of the House of Worship in Chicago.[182] Austin returned to Cincinnati again in June,[183] chair of the African Committee by September,[184] and into September Austin herself resigned to pioneer to promote the religion requiring another by-election.[185] Ultimately five members resigned to move overseas to promote the religion - Elsie Austin, Dorothy Baker, Matthew Bullock, W. Kenneth Christian and Mamie Seto - and they were replaced by Lawrence Hautz, Charles Wolcott, Charlotte Linfoot, Robert McLaughlin and Margery McCormick.[186]
Austin moved to what was then called the Morocco International Zone centered on Tangier,[187][188] credited with arriving October 23, 1953,[189] for which she was ultimately named a Knight of Baháʼu'lláh.[42] She was named a teacher at the American School of Tangier, during which time she also helped establish Baháʼí communities in northern and western Africa. She still managed to make the news back in the States early,[190] and later[191] 1954. She was appointed as one of the first members of the Auxiliary Board for Africa,[192] assisting Musa Banání.[42]
In 1955 Austin wrote the 18 page booklet Above All Barriers: The Story of Louis G. Gregory[193] which was reprinted in 1964, 1965, 1969, and 1976.[194] Austin wrote of the need for virtues amidst the challenges of pioneering where "all the world's prejucides are on parade".[195] A regional national assembly for north-west Africa was elected by the Baháʼís in 1956 where Austin and Enoch Olinga served as officers of the convention and Austin serving then as chair of the national assembly.[196] She was elected, and chair, again in 1957.[197]
Stateside[edit]
Austin returned to the States again in August 1957 and gave a talk in Hackensack, New Jersey,[198] though she expected to return soon.[199] Still she was in Cincinnati in March 1958 for a reception at Wilberforce.[200] She worked as executive director of the DC office of the National Council of Negro Women (NCNW) and their convention in DC,[201] and reported as a member of the Intercontinental Teaching committee at the US Baháʼí national convention.[202] In July Austin was part of the NCNW reception for the visiting dignitary Kwame Nkrumah then prime minister of Ghana.[203] In October Austin spoke in Chester, Pennsylvania, for a regional meeting of Baháʼís.[204] In November Austin served through the NCNW as it organized exhibits of African-American women at the 35th Women's International Exposition.[205] In May 1959 Austin continued her work with NCNW for a regional convention in New York.[206] Circa June NCNW had a conference giving awards, announcing studies and newspaper coverage mentioned her comment that "inter-racial participation in the conference inspired a hope for a changed attitude toward minority groups in the South."[207] Austin also presided at a meeting on the evening of the centenary of the execution of the Báb.[208] In late May Austin attended a leadership NCNW meeting in Daytona, Florida,[209] directly before going in June to St. Petersburg, and gave a talk for the Baháʼís as part of observing Race Unity Day.[210] In October Austin was back as executive director for NCNW presenting at a meeting in DC.[211] In October Austin was part of the NCNW reception for the Ghana YWCA representative.[212]
United States Information Agency[edit]
Austin was awarded an honorary degree from the University of Cincinnati in 1960,[213] and then was back in north-west Africa, this time in the then named British Cameroons, for the convention to elect the regional national assembly of north west Africa again and was elected.[214] There there was a link made,[215] and she was hired for the United States Information Agency as a cultural attaché,[12] for in 1961 a news bit mentioned she was in Nigeria,[216] and expecting visitors in the fall.[217] She was a teacher living in Lagos.[218] She returned, and while in DC participated in a commemoration of the visit of ʻAbdu'l-Bahá to DC,[219] visiting kin in Ohio and further training in the summer of 1962.[220] She was described as having served as a "women's affairs officer" and had been to Liberia, Ghana, and Togo. She managed a visit with Delta sisters in October.[221] As a member of a national assembly, Austin helped elect the first Universal House of Justice in April 1963.[222] She returned to Nigeria.[223] In 1964 Austin was alternate to Gladys Avery Tillett for Lomé seminar, then cultural affairs officer of Lagos, Nigeria.[224] Austin was returned in the summer of 1965 to Ohio,[225]
Austin was noted in Nairobi, Kenya, October, 1967.[226] In December Austin took part in a Baháʼí inter-continental conference in Kampala, Uganda,[227] Ultimately Austin served on Local Spiritual Assemblies in Morocco, Nigeria, Kenya, and the Bahamas.[42]
In 1968 the USIA recognized her achievements by nominating her for the Federal Women's Award,[12] and by the late summer was giving a talk as part of an observance of the Baháʼí holy day the Birth of the Báb in Cincinnati.[228] In November she was in DC for a Deltas meeting, now a regional women's affairs for east Africa.[215]
In January 1969 Austin returned to the States and was interviewed. "One of the happy things in my work is realizing all people of the world are really alike." She worked for USIA for 8 years,[229] and visited with the Deltas during the trip.[230] In June she was awarded an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters by the University of Cincinnati.[66][231]
Among her last actions in the diplomatic service, in 1970 Austin edited the bulletin Community Action collected into a bound volume,[232] and retired.[12]