Fauset, Crystal Bird
- Steven J. Niven
Extract
Fauset, Crystal Bird (27 June 1893–28 March 1965), African-American legislator, was born Crystal Dreda Bird in Princess Anne, Maryland, the daughter of Benjamin Bird, a high school principal, and Portia E. Lovett. Crystal’s father died when she was only four, and her mother took over his principalship of the all-black Princess Anne Academy until her own death in 1900. An orphan by age seven, Crystal remained true to her parents’ commitment to education. Ironically, her early loss probably improved the educational opportunities of a child born to Maryland’s segregated Eastern Shore. Reared by an aunt in Boston, she attended public school, graduated from the city’s Normal School in 1914, and taught for three years. She later earned a B.S. from Columbia University Teacher’s College in 1931....
