Chairman of the Cambridge Non-Violent Action Committee Gloria Richardson marches for equal rights for Black people in America. In the 1960s, the Cambridge Movement fueled the fight against injustices and discrimination.
Gloria Richardson
February 3, 2021
Born May 6th, 1922, civil rights activist Gloria Hayes Richardson grew up surrounded by city life in Baltimore, MD. Later moving to Cambridge, Maryland during the Great Depression, her family moved in with her grandfather, who had a large influence in the town was the only Black member of the city council.
After attending college at the age of 16, Richardson graduated with a degree in sociology and began work as a civil service employee for the federal government during World War II. However, upon her return to Cambridge, Maryland after the war, she was refused by the department, who denied work for her and any other Black social worker.
Matters grew worse as the Black unemployment rate grew to 40 percent and segregation increased in the 60s, which was around the time when the civil rights movement hit Dorchester County and the city of Cambridge, as well as when Richardson joined the Freedom Riders.
Later taking lead of the movement in Cambridge, Maryland, Richardson frequently organized sit-ins in movie theaters, bowling alleys, and restaurants to fight against segregation, job equality, and voter registration. After years of protest, the movement was met with a town treaty in 1963, making the Cambridge Movement a staple in the progress towards civil rights for Black people in America.