Wilson, Margaret Bush (1919–)
Wilson, Margaret Bush (1919–)
African-American lawyer and civil-rights leader. Born Margaret Berenice Bush, Jan 30, 1919, in St. Louis, Missouri; dau. of James Thomas Bush (real-estate broker) and Margaret Berenice (Casey) Bush; Talladega College, BA cum laude; Lincoln University School of Law, LLB, 1943; m. Robert Edmund Wilson Jr. (lawyer), 1944 (div. 1968); children: Robert Wilson III.
Began practicing civil-rights and real-estate law (1943); helped the Real Estate Brokers Association, the 1st such organization for black brokers in St. Louis, in obtaining a charter (1944); as the association's counsel, led its legal battle against racially restrictive covenants in housing contracts, which culminated in the Supreme Court's landmark decision in Shelley v. Kraemer that branded such covenants unconstitutional (1948); with husband, had a private practice (1947–65); ran unsuccessfully for Congress on the Progressive ticket, the 1st black woman from Missouri to run for Congress (1948); served as assistant attorney general for Missouri (1961–62); was the 1st African-American woman to serve as chair of the board of directors of the NAACP (1975–84).
See also Women in World History.