Okay, y’all don’t get mad at me, but THIS is the one I should have done for Valentine's Day. I’mma tell y’all the story of Butler and Mary Wilson. These two lovebirds right here fell in love and got shit cracking in Boston in the early part of the 20th century. I usually start these history posts off with, “So and so was born into slavery, or they were the offspring of slaves, and then they overcame the nonsense and did something dope.” Not the case here! Butler was born to Mary and John Wilson, two free Black folk in 1861 in Greensboro, Georgia. John was a freaking doctor and a civic leader in Greensboro. My guy Butler went from grade school to high school, to college at Atlanta University where not only was he dope in his studies, he was also captain of the varsity baseball team. Meanwhile, Mary was born Mary P. Evans in 1866 to Leary Evans, a craftsman, and Henrietta Evans, who was a college-educated, free Black woman. Both of her parents were activists. In fact, her father was notably arrested in 1858 for being part of a crew who were rolling around Ohio trying to rescue runaway slaves. What I’m trying to tell you is these two had greatness SURGING through their lineage. So okay, back in Georgia, Butler’s parents are tripping because they want him to be a minister, but Butler isn’t feeling it. He’s like, “I know y'all got certain plans for me in the church, but I’m tryna study law, and make a difference in this world!” So he gets accepted into the Boston University School of Law where he earns his LL.B. Meanwhile, back in Ohio, Mary attended Oberlin College and then moved to Washington D.C. to become a public school teacher. She also regularly wrote for ‘The Woman’s Era’ which was the first Black Woman owned publication in the United States. Now trust me, I searched high and low for information on the meet cute, and unfortunately, I can’t find it! But suffice it to say, the two did meet, and it was cute because the two got married after a short courtship in 1894 and went on to have six children…SIX! Things went well for the two and in 1911 Butler became one of the first three Black attorneys to be admitted to the American Bar Association. The funniest part to me is part of the reason these dudes got in in the first place was that the ABA had no idea that they were Black, and when they found out they were like, “Wait a minute, no fair! We don’t want Black lawyers, waaaaaah!!!!” So they rescinded all of the memberships. This however was fought by the Boston Chapter of the NAACP. Now, what was Mary doing during all of this? She was FOUNDING the Boston Chapter of the NAACP! Mary Wilson started in the organization as a traveling organizer and got THOUSANDS of NAACP members in New York, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. She was leading investigations into discrimination, was at the forefront of a campaign to hire Black saleswomen in local department stores, and when her husband was facing ejection from the ABA she fought hard as hell against that too! Both of these two worked tirelessly to improve the lives of the Black community and they did so until their deaths. Mary unfortunately passed away in 1928 and Butler would pass away from pneumonia a decade later in 1939, but the legacy of these two remains to this day. These two were progressive progressives. Like, they saw a future we’re still trying to realize to this day. One of equality. Together, Mary helped Butler form the Men’s League for Women’s Suffrage which, just like it sounds, was a Black focused organization to get men to focus on voting rights for women. This was in the early 1900s, there are dudes today who wouldn’t dedicate any time let alone a large part of their lives to this cause. Mary would form a sewing group to provide warm clothes to Black soldiers fighting in World War I! These two were bout their causes and did everything they could to make the world better! I’m so proud of these two, I’m so impressed by these two, but what I really want to impress is that this is a historical essay for sure, but ultimately it’s a love story, one about the love this couple had for each other, and one about the love this couple had for the overall concept of humanity. Thank you Mary, Thank you Butler!
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