All month long, Warner Library’s blog will be shining the spotlight on historical black figures that have made huge impacts in their communities. The first of 4 is a woman whose name adorns one of the library’s own study rooms: Mazie B. Hall.

Mazie B. Hall was born on July 18, 1902 in Wayne, Pennsylvania, and she lived here for her entire life. Hall was a civil rights activist and an advocate for her community. When Mount Pleasant School, the school that Hall acted as principal at, was closed around 1940, Hall’s influence and activism made it so students from Mount Pleasant could attend Tredyffrin-Easttown School District by pushing for desegregation. Another time that Hall advocated for a cause she believed in was when she worked with her friend, Margaret Collins, in order to create the Pennsylvania Fair Housing Act, the blueprint for Federal Fair Housing Laws, which was to prohibit race discrimination in sales and rentals of housing. Hall also served as a member so many organizations that she was passionate about, such as Tri-County Concerts, the Neighborhood League Nursing Services, Red Cross, Church Women United, The Women’s Christian Temperance Union, The Wayne Fellowship Council, The association of Business and Professional Women of Camden and Vicinity, Black Women Historians, and YWCA.

Mazie Hall was also a talented writer. Below is a poem she wrote titled Proud Black Woman:

The picture was taken from our window display. The theme of the display this month is in honor of Black History Month, where we highlight the artistic talents (poetry, music, paintings, etc.) and history of BIPOC. All of the books in our display were pulled from our Mazie Hall room, which is one of our study rooms that is filled with books from Hall’s personal collection that she graciously donated to Eastern University.

Be sure to stop by the library to view our window display this month, or check out the Reel of the display on our Instagram!