Meta Pelham

Meta Pelham (October 25, 1855 – August 2, 1941) was an American journalist and clubwoman. She wrote for the Detroit Plaindealer.

Meta Pelham
Born	Meta Elizabeth Pelham (1855-10-25)October 25, 1855 Fredericksburg, Virginia, U.S.
Died	August 2, 1941(1941-08-02) (aged 85)
Resting place	Elmwood Cemetery, Detroit, Michigan, U.S.
Occupation(s)	Journalist, educator, writer, clubwoman
Relatives	Robert Pelham Jr. (brother), Benjamin Pelham (brother)

Early life

Meta Elizabeth Pelham was born in the free black community of Fredericksburg, Virginia^[1] in 1855, to Robert A. Pelham and Frances (Butcher) Pelham. The family, including younger brother Robert Pelham Jr., moved to Detroit, Michigan.^[2] Pelham was one of only four black students in her class, and she graduated valedictorian. She then attended Fenton College Normal School in central Michigan.^[3]

Career

Pelham briefly taught school in the American South, but returned home to Detroit due to bad health. Around 1886, she joined the editorial staff of the Detroit Plaindealer as a writer. She wrote for other newspapers as well.^[4] By historian Gloria Wade-Gayles's count, Pelham was one of 46 black newswomen whose work was published between 1883 and 1905.^[5]

Pelham was a member of the Michigan State Association of Colored Women (a chapter of the National Association of Colored Women), the Detroit Study Club, and the Detroit Federation of Women's Clubs. In 1925, Pelham encouraged African-American women to join her in the field of journalism or to help fund a black newspaper, so that positive news about the African-American Detroiters would reach the public.^[1]

Death

Pelham died in 1941, aged 85. She is buried in the Pelham family plot in Elmwood Cemetery, Detroit.^[2]

References

1. Morris-Crowther, Jayne (2013-03-15). The Political Activities of Detroit Clubwomen in the 1920s: A Challenge and a Promise. Wayne State University Press. pp. 22, 31, 63, 135–136. ISBN 9780814338162.
2. Faig Jr., Ken (October 2015). "Early African American Amateur Journalists" (PDF). The Fossil. 112 (1): 5.
3. Scruggs, L. A. (1893). Women of distinction:remarkable in works and invincible in character. Raleigh. p. 272. hdl:2027/uc1.aa0014724744.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
4. Penn, Irvine Garland (1891). The Afro-American Press and Its Editors. Willey & Company. pp. 419-420.
5. Lutes, Jean Marie (2018-09-05). Front-Page Girls: Women Journalists in American Culture and Fiction, 1880–1930. Cornell University Press. p. 45. ISBN 9781501728303.