Anna Arnold Hedgeman being sworn in to New York City mayoral cabinet, 1954, National Afro-American Museum and Cultural Center.
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Anna Arnold Hedgeman grew up in Anoka, MN and was the first Black Student to attend Hamline University. She graduated in 1922 but couldn’t find a job teaching in St. Paul because she was Black. Hedgeman devoted her life to equal opportunity and civil rights. She was the first Black woman to serve in the Mayor of New York City’s cabinet and the only woman on the organizing committee for the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom in August, 1963. As the Coordinator of Special Events for the Commission of Race and Religion of the National Council of Churches, she organized over 40,000 marchers from Protestant churches to participate. Hedgeman is also a founding member of the National Organization for Women (NOW) a grassroots organization designed to end discrimination and bring about societal change.
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