Frances Albrier's Moral Re-Armament Collection

Frances M. Albrier (1898-1987) was a civil and equal rights activist and leader. The granddaughter of a former slave, Frances Albrier moved from Alabama to California as a young woman in 1920 and began nearly six decades of civil rights activism from her Berkeley home. She worked as a nurse, maid and union organizer on Pullman trains. In 1939, Albrier ran for City Council as Berkeley's first African American woman candidate. In 1940, she formed the Citizens Employment Council to fight for jobs and fair employment practices for African Americans. During WWII, Albrier was the first black welder at the Richmond shipyards and integrated Berkeley's league of Women Voters and the Red Cross. She taught Red Cross first aid classes to local youth for many years. In the 1950s, she created the first Negro History Week displays in Oakland which were displayed in department store windows. She was prominent in the National Council of Negro Women and in the Citizenship Education Project, which focused on voter registration. In later life, she was a peace and disarmament activist and also a pioneer of rights for seniors and disabled people.