She suffered injuries and indignities, and took her
grievance to court. Like Rosa Parks, who was well-connected with blacks with
power and influence, Elizabeth also had an advantage due to her family.
Elizabeth’s family were part of the small but influential upper middle class
black community in New York City. They were friends with Frederick Douglass,
for example. Also, their church was peopled with blacks with influence.
Her own immediate family were remarkable as well. Her father
held the first patent ever issued to an African-American for his early version
of dry cleaning. Her father used some of his considerable wealth to buy out the
indentured contract of her mother, a slave woman forced into indenture when New
York state abolished slavery. Her mother went on to become a speaker to black
women encouraging them to get education for themselves and their children.
Related to Elizabeth’s treatment, she was encouraged to sue
the transit company for damages. Her father contacted a law firm known for
handling cases of discrimination and abolitionist causes. The newest junior
partner, a recently minted attorney, took her case. The attorney was Chester
Alan Arthur who would go on to become President of the United States. They sued
for $500. In 1855, the jury, however, only awarded her $225 plus 10% for
expenses. The thinking is that blacks of the time didn’t need that kind of
money.
The result of Elizabeth’s lawsuit was that the 3rd
Avenue Railroad Company had to integrate all its streetcars. So, another person
from Elizabeth’s circle boarded a white’s only streetcar, was removed, sued,
and also won his case. As a result, the New York Transit System in its entirety
was ordered to be integrated.
Elizabeth married, and she and her husband lost their
toddler, an adopted child, to illness during the draft riots in New York City
in 1862. A white undertaker helped them smuggle the body through the crowds to burial
in Brooklyn. Shortly thereafter, she, her husband, and her mother moved to New
Jersey to be near Elizabeth’s sister.
When her husband died, Elizabeth moved back to Manhattan and
started the first kindergarten for African-American children in New York. She
taught them until her death at age 76.
An intrepid woman for sure. I am working on a series of
biographies for middle-grade students to give these little known women the
recognition they deserve
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