St. Louis Episcopalian Chosen to Chair NAACP
Diocesan Press Service. January 20, 1975 [75016]
ST. LOUIS, Mo. -- Mrs. Margaret Bush Wilson, a St. Louis Episcopalian, has been chosen the first black woman to chair the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).
Mrs. Wilson, an attorney in St. Louis noted for her work in city government and as a leader in civil rights, said the NAACP must concentrate on "institutional racism" and attract more young members to the NAACP.
Mrs. Wilson, who has been president of the state chapter of the NAACP for four years and a past president of the St. Louis organization, was elected national chairman at a Jan. 13 meeting in New York.
She will succeed Bishop Stephen G. Spottswood who died in December, 1974, after heading the 64-member board of directors since 1961.
In her new job she will be the immediate superior of Roy Wilkins, executive director of the NAACP.
Upon hearing of her election, many St. Louisans had praise for Mrs. Wilson.
Bishop George L. Cadigan of the Diocese of Missouri called her "one of the most distinguished and honored citizens of St. Louis. Her admirable leadership has been manifested in many, many ways. For 16 years I have been proud to know her as a close friend. Her concern for the important things and her leadership in the NAACP over a lengthy period of time make her the most qualified person for this new and deserved honor.
" In a time of public disillusionment with those in high places, it is a support to my morale and to those who know her that Mrs. Wilson has been elected National Chairman of an organization which respects and works for reconciliation and the dignity of every human being. "
She was given the Bishop's Annual Award in 1963 by Bishop Cadigan. In the Diocese of Missouri she has been active in Lawyers for Housing, which helps provide seed money for housing for the poor.
Mrs. Wilson's rector, Father W. James Walker of All Saints Church in St. Louis, said he was extremely happy to hear of her election "because I feel she is a very able and competent woman. She's been faithful to the NAACP for many years. And she's also been faithful to her church. "
Father Walker said Mrs. Wilson had been an All Saints parishioner since she was a teenager. Currently she serves as the legal counsel to the Vestry.
On the national level, Mrs. Wilson served as parliamentarian for the Episcopal Church's Triennial Meeting of the Women of the Church in 1964 in St. Louis and in 1967 in Seattle.
Other St. Louis leaders called Mrs. Wilson "the legal brains behind many of the programs we had going in Model Cities," a woman who "doesn't hesitate to take on causes that seem immediately unpopular" and "one of those lawyers who should be starving to death because she's spent most of her time giving her talents away to groups or persons who really couldn't afford to pay. "
Mrs. Wilson has headed a rat control program in St. Louis, served as acting head of the Model Cities Agency in 1968-69 and was the first black woman to run for Congress from St. Louis.
She also was active in a reform movement in the NAACP St. Louis chapter. She tried to make the local group more active in fighting for the civil rights of local minorities.
Ernest Calloway, a past president of the St. Louis NAACP, called Mrs. Wilson a woman of the future. He said "it's quite possible the NAACP will get its second breath with Margaret -- we're on the downhill side of the 20th Century and we're facing new problems every year. "