Origins
The WPC formed in 1946 as a civic organization for African-American professional women in the city of Montgomery, Alabama. It was inspired by the Atlanta Neighborhood Union. Many of its middle-class women were active in education; most of WPC's members were educators at Alabama State College or Montgomery's public schools. About forty women attended the first organizational meeting. Mary Fair Burks, who was head of Alabama State's English department, was the group's first president.
The WPC's first undertaking was to register to vote, which was difficult as white administrators subjectively managed a literacy test and tried to prevent blacks from registering. All the WPC members eventually passed the test; they established classes to help other blacks fill out registration forms and pass the test
In 1950, Burks decided to resign from the presidency, while remaining active in the organization. Robinson succeeded Burks as president.
As president, she began to study the issue of bus segregation, which affected the many blacks who were the majority of riders on the city system. First, members appeared before the City Commission to report abuses on the buses, such as blacks who were first on the bus being required later to give up seats for whites as buses became crowded. The commission acted surprised but did nothing.
Read more about this topic: Women's Political Council
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