Willie Mae Young Hart (1915–2017) was an American nurse and civil rights activist in Portland, Oregon.[1]

Early life

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Willie Mae Young Hart was born on April 4, 1915, in the town of Vicksburg, Mississippi.[2] She was married to Theodore R. Hart.[2]

Personal life

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Hart attended Saint Mary's Catholic high school and began training to become a nurse.[1][3] She moved to Coos Bay Oregon in 1939 (formally known as Marshfield) and then to Portland.[1] She left Mississippi in the late 1930s after her first child, a son was born.[4] She said fear of violence against black men in the South prompted her decision to move.[4]

Work and activism

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Willie Mae Young Hart helped start Portland's first Black-owned cab company with her friend Carlos Martin and husband Theodore Hart.[1] She also helped found the Portland Chapter of the National Council of Negro Women and Women In Community Services (WICS).[1]

In 2010 at the age of ninety-four she was still active in the community and working for social justice.[2]

Death

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Willie Mae Young Hart died June 24, 2017, at aged 102.[1]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f "Willie Mae Young Hart (1915-2017)". www.oregonencyclopedia.org. Retrieved 2021-06-08.
  2. ^ a b c "Willie Mae Young Hart: Prominent Nurse & African American Leader Throughout Portland, Oregon". Black Then. 2020-10-05. Retrieved 2021-06-08.
  3. ^ Robbins, Yolande (2017-03-19). "Life of St. Mary's grad Willie Mae Young Hart worthy of celebration". The Vicksburg Post. Retrieved 2021-06-08.
  4. ^ a b "Willie Mae Hart · Black United Front Oral History Project · Portland State University". exhibits.library.pdx.edu. Retrieved 2021-06-08.