Alexander, Sadie T.M. 1989–1989

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Sadie T.M. Alexander 1989–1989

Lawyer, civil rights advocate

Sadie Tanner Mossell Alexander was a tireless advocate for civil rights whose personal achievements only fueled her desire to evoke change for black people in the United States. A firm supporter of democracy, Alexander reasoned that the United States could only be a strong country if there were opportunities available for everyone. Coming from an upstanding Philadelphia family, Alexander was afforded many opportunities and she made good on them all. That she was the first black woman to receive a Ph.D in economics, the first black woman to graduate from the University of Pennsylvania Law School, and the first black woman to practice law in Pennsylvania are just some of the more significant of her many accomplishments.

Born January 2, 1898 in Philadelphia, Sadie Tanner Mossell was one of three children to Mary Tanner Mossell and Aaron Mossell, a lawyer and the first black graduate of the University of Pennsylvania Law School. Other notable relatives included her grandfather Benjamin Tucker Tanner, the founder of the African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church Review, as well as uncles such as the painter Henry O. Tanner and Lewis Baxter Moore, a dean atHoward University. An aunt, Hallie Tanner Johnson, was a physician who founded the nurse’s school and hospital at the Tuskegee Institute.

First Black Female Ph.D in Economics

At an early age Alexander’s parents separated and she went to live with her mother in Washington, DC. Educated in the city’s public schools, Alexander expected to stay in Washington to attend Howard University when she was informed by her mother that they would be returning to Philadelphia. Unbeknownst to her, Alexander’s mother had enrolled her in the University of Pennsylvania.

High marks at Penn came easy and Alexander graduated with a degree in education in 1918. In addition to classes, Alexander founded the Penn chapter of the black sorority Delta Sigma Theta, which was based at Howard University, and became the group’s first national president. She also earned her master’s degree in economics in 1919 followed by her Ph.D in economics in 1921. She was the first black woman to get a doctorate in economics and would have been the first black woman to receive a Ph.D period, had it not been for Georgiana Simpson, who received her Ph.D from the University of Chicago a day

At a Glance …

Born Sadie Tanner Mossell on January 2, 1898 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Daughter of Mary Tanner Mossell and Aaron Mossell, a lawyer. Married Raymond Pace Alexander on November 29, 1923; children: Mary Elizabeth, born 1934; Rae Pace, born 1936, Education: Univ, of Pennsylvania, B, S. in education, 1918; MS, in economics, 1919; Ph.D in economics, 1921; Univ. of PA Law School, 1927.

Career: Assistant actuary, North Carolina Mutual Life Insurance Company, 1921–23; legal practice in Philadelphia, 1927–79; assistant city solicitor for the city of Philadelphia, 1928–34; appointed by President Harry Truman to his Committee on Civil Rights, 1948; appointed by President John Kennedy to the Lawyer’s Committee on Civil Rights, early 1960s; named by President Jimmy Carter chairperson of the White House Conference on Aging, 1981.

Member: Delta Sigma Theta, American Civil Liberties Union, Americans for Democracy, National Urban League, National Bar Assn., Philadelphia Bar Association.

Awards: Honorary LL.D degrees from University of PA, 1974; Lincoln Unive., , 1977; Swarthmore College, 1979, Public service center of the Phi ladelphia Bar Association named in honor of Alexander and her husband, 1986.

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For her doctoral dissertation Alexander presented, “The Standard of Living Among One Hundred Negro Migrant Families in Philadelphia.” It was, she wrote, “and attempt to arrive at conclusions concerning the migrants in Philadelphia, through an intensive analysis of the budgets of a small number of their group.” The presentation of her Ph.D, regardless of Ms. Simpson’s triumph 24-hours earlier, was a momentous occasion for Alexander. “I was embarrassed and thrilled at the same time,” she’s quoted as saying in her Los Angeles Times obituary. “Coming up the stairs to the platform, I heard a voice say, ’Here she comes.’ It was the president of Bryn Mawr. At that time Bryn Mawr didn’t admit black students.”

Followed Her Father

Although being the first black woman Ph.D in economics carried a great deal of weight in some quarters, it did little in helping its recipient find a job in early 1920s Philadelphia. Instead, Alexander went south to work as an assistant actuary at the black-owned North Carolina Mutual Life Insurance Company. She stayed there until 1923 when she returned to Philadelphia to marry Raymond Pace Alexander, a Harvard Law School graduate. With her new husband’s encouragement Alexander enrolled in the University of Pennsylvania’s Law School, becoming their first black woman graduate, echoing her father’s achievement a generation earlier.

The couple went into practice together--she being the first black woman lawyer in Pennsylvania--and initiated legal battles designed to desegregate hotels, restaurants, movie theaters and otherbusinesses in Philadelphia. Additionally, she served as assistant city solicitor for the city from 1928–1934. Both Alexanders helped found the National Bar Association, an organization for black lawyers and in 1948, Mrs. Alexander was appointed by President Harry Truman to his Committee on Civil Rights.

In a New York forum to discuss the committee’s findings, Alexander identified the gap in America that existed due to the fear and hate between races and called for action. “We must act now,” she’s quoted as saying in the New York Times, “because the gap between what we believe as American ideals and what we practice is creating a moral dry rot within us. We are threatening the emotional and rational bases of our democracy. We must act because the mental health of America is threatened by this gap.”

In addition to her law practice and various appointments, Alexander was active in many organizations designed to further the cause of racial equality and unify all Americans. She was secretary of the National Urban League for 25 years, a member of the National Advisory Council of the American Civil Liberties Union, and was also involved with Americans for Democratic Action. In the early 1960s she was appointed by President John Kennedy to the Lawyer’s Committee on Civil Rights.

Slowed Down

The Alexanders also raised two daughters, both born in the mid-1930s. A strong advocate of women in the work place, Alexander was pioneering in her belief that a woman could have a challenging and rewarding career while raising children and maintaining a healthy family life. As she told Paula Giddings, author of In Search of Sisterhood, “The satisfaction which comes to the woman in realizing that she is a producer makes for peace and happiness, the chief requisites in any home.”

Upon the death of her husband in 1974 Alexander slowed her work schedule down considerably. While she continued her work with various organizations occasional law case, it was at a much less rigorous pace. She retired for good at the end of 1979 and was named by President Jimmy Carter as the chairperson of the White House Conference on Aging which took place in January of 1981. Two years later Alexander was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease and moved to Cathedral Village, a Philadelphia retirement community. There she live quietly until 1989 when she died of pneumonia at the age of 91.

Her death marked the extinguishing of a flame that saw civil rights as a piece of a larger puzzle. According to Alexander, civil rights did necessarily mean just the advancement of black people; it meant the advancement of the country. As she told students at Spelman College in 1963, “In our struggle to secure equality of opportunity, personal security, respect for individual dignity, and rights of full citizenship we are making a heroic struggle not only for ourselves but, of greater importance, a struggle for the survival of the United States.”