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Editor's Note, Wornie L. Reed

Trotter Review

Since this winter issue of the Trotter Institute Review coincides with Black History Month, we are dedicating this issue to an important figure in Afro-American history —- William Monroe Trotter, after whom the Institute was named.

The lead article is the transcript of a speech given by Massachusetts State Representative Byron Rushing during the Black History Month ceremony at the Massachusetts State House on February 1, 1987, on the importance of knowing black history. The other articles and the poem in this issue were taken from presentations made at a symposium on William Monroe Trotter during the re-opening celebration last …

William Monroe Trotter: A One-Man Protester For Civil Rights, Robert C. Hayden

Trotter Review

William Monroe Trotter was the first, the only and the last of Boston’s significant protest leaders for civil rights, equality and justice for black Americans in this century. He gained national stature between 1901 and 1934.

Trotter was uncompromising in his demand for complete and immediate equality for black Americans in the early 1900s. His stress on militant protest for integration, legal and voting rights for blacks during the first quarter of this century became the hallmark of the modern civil rights movements of the 1954—65 period. William Monroe Trotter was a man 50 years ahead of his time.

William Monroe Trotter: A Twentieth Century Abolitionist, William A. Edwards

Trotter Review

William Monroe Trotter was a twentieth century abolitionist. He was a man of principle whose dedication to the cause of equality was never disputed. Many criticized his methodology, but the l960s saw a revitalization of his direct action approach. His life is an interesting profile in the study of leadership. He left no long standing organization, but in the history of the NAACP we can see his influence, His life is also the story of opportunities that converge but do not merge.

Geraldine Pindell Trotter, Julie Winch

Trotter Review

Geraldine Louise Pindell (or “Deenie” as she was known to those in her circle) was born on October 3, 1872, the daughter of lawyer Charles Edward Pindell and his wife, Mary Frances Pindell. Socially, the Pindells belonged to Boston’s black elite. Eschewing the Baptist and the AME churches, the Pindells were Episcopalians. Genteel, cultured and wealthy, the family was not without a commitment to the welfare of the larger black community. Geraldine’s great-uncle, William Pindell, had been one of the leaders in the struggle against school segregation in antebellum Boston.

Geraldine Pindell had known William Monroe Trotter, six months her …

Uncle Monroe, Peggy Trotter Dammond Preacely

Trotter Review

Poem by Peggy Trotter Dammond Preacely, the grandniece of William Monroe Trotter.