Dorothy Bolden (1923 - 2005)

Sat Oct 13, 1923

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Dorothy Lee Bolden, born on this day in 1923, was the founder of the National Domestic Worker’s Union of America and civil rights activist who fought for women’s rights and an end to segregation.

Bolden began working as a domestic worker at the age of nine and would eventually utilize her past experiences to form the Domestic Worker’s Union in Atlanta, Georgia.

The Domestic Worker’s Union had over 13,000 women members throughout the United States and won better pay and working conditions for them. Bolden was also responsible for registering thousands of black Americans to vote.

“I would say to [young people] that you have got to show yourself that you can be independent on your own. You don’t have to follow. Why do we have to follow Tom, Dick and Harry to anything when we have the strength to be ourselves and be what we ought to be. What do you want to be? Ask yourself. Get in the mirror and look at yourself and say, 'So what do I want to be, what do I want to do? Where do I want to go and how do I get there?”

- Dorothy Bolden