Nellie Peters Black

Mary Ellen "Nellie" Peters Black (1851–1919) was a prominent organizer and activist related to women's issues in Georgia.^[1] Black also promoted agricultural reform and increasing educational opportunities, especially for women.^[2] She was an active member of the Atlanta Woman's Club as well as the Woman's Auxiliary of the Episcopal Diocese of Georgia.^[2]

Childhood

Black's father, Richard Peters, moved from Pennsylvania to Georgia to survey the railroads, working as a civil engineer. He settled in Atlanta and married there.^[2] Her mother, Mary Jane Thompson, was involved in social clubs and outreach in Atlanta, where Nellie grew up.^[1] During the Civil War, Nellie helped her mother provide aid to wounded soldiers at various local hospitals.^[2]

Activism

After graduating from Brooke Hall in Pennsylvania, Nellie Peters returned to Atlanta. She soon convinced city officials to build drinking fountains for horses exhausted from the summer heat; it was one of her first examples of civic activism.^[2]

In 1877, Nellie married George Robinson Black who served as a state senator and later in Congress.^[1] Soon after he died of a stroke, Nellie Black became more active in civic reform in Atlanta.^[1] Stemming from her interest in public health, Black helped create the King's Daughters Hospital, the first free hospital in Atlanta.^[2]

Black also served as the Vice President of the Atlanta Anti-Tuberculosis and Visiting Nurse Association, which provided free treatment to both black and white people in the highly segregated society established after the Reconstruction era.^[2]

She worked to increase educational opportunities, especially for women.^[2] Black was an active member of the Atlanta Woman's Club as well as the Woman's Auxiliary of the Episcopal Diocese of Georgia.^[2]

References