English: Biography: One of the incorporators of the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority while a student at Howard University, Norma Boyd taught for more than 35 years in the Washington, D.C., public school system. The second of the three daughters born to Jurrell and Pattie Bullock Boyd, Ms. Boyd was educated in Washington, D.C., and graduated from Howard in 1910. After study at Miner Normal School, she began teaching in 1912. She spent much time taking her students to visit Congress and other institutions to learn about democracy and the political process. She was active in the National Non-Partisan Council on Public Affairs, an organization which lobbied for the improvement of political, economic, and social conditions among minorities and which sought to secure, for all citizens, the opportunity to participate fully in all branches of government at the federal, state, and local levels. Miss Boyd represented the Council as a certified observer at the United Nations, where it was one of the groups submitting recommendations for the United Nations' Declaration of Human Rights. In 1959, she was the founder of the Women's International Religious Fellowship, an organization devoted to fostering understanding among the peoples of the world. She was honored by NCNW in 1947 and AKA in 1975.

Description: The Black Women Oral History Project interviewed 72 African American women between 1976 and 1981. With support from the Schlesinger Library, the project recorded a cross section of women who had made significant contributions to American society during the first half of the 20th century. Photograph taken by Judith Sedwick
Repository: Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America.
Collection: Black Women Oral History Project
Research Guide: http://guides.library.harvard.edu/schlesinger_bwohp

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