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Elizabeth Jennings Graham was an African-American teacher and church organist; as a young woman, who became noted as a 19th-century civil rights figure after insisting on her right to ride on an available New York City streetcar in 1854, at a time when all such companies were private and most operated segregated cars. Her case was decided in her favor in 1855, and it led to the eventual desegregation of all New York City transit systems by 1865. Graham was born in 1826 (according to her death certificate) or 1830 (according to 1850 census records). After the New York Draft Riots of July 1863, where there were numerous attacks against the black community, Graham and her husband left the city, moving to join her mother and sister in Eatontown, New Jersey. After his death, she returned with her family to New York. Graham started the city's first kindergarten for black children, operating it from her home. ==Early life== Elizabeth Jennings was born free in either 1826 or 1830, one of three children of Thomas L. Jennings and his wife, also named Elizabeth.〔Alexander, Leslie M. African or American? Black Identity and Political Activism in New York City, 1784-1861, (University of Illinois: 2008), pp. 125〕 He was a free black and she was born into slavery. He became a successful tailor, the first known African-American holder of a patent in the United States (his was granted by New York State in 1821), and an influential member of New York's black community. With fees from his patented dry-cleaning process, Thomas Jennings bought his wife's freedom, as she was considered an indentured servant until 1827 under the state's gradual abolition law of 1799.〔("African American Voting Rights" ), New York State Archives, accessed 11 February 2012〕 Elizabeth was born free and received an education. Elizabeth Jennings's mother was a prominent woman who is known for her speech "On the Cultivation of Black Women’s Minds." This speech was produced and given in 1837, when the younger Elizabeth was still a young child. In her speech, Elizabeth Jennings, Sr. speaks about how the neglect of the cultivating mind will keep the blacks inferior to the whites. This will also have the whites/enemies believe that the blacks do not have any minds at all. Jennings believed the mind was very powerful and could help with the improvement to abolish slavery and discrimination. Therefore, she called upon black women to have a mind and take action.〔Alexander, Leslie M. African or American? Black Identity and Political Activism in New York City, 1784-1861, (University of Illinois: 2008), pp. 91.〕 By 1854, Elizabeth Jennings, Jr. had become a schoolteacher and church organist. She taught at the city's private African Free School, which had several locations by this time, and later in the public schools. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Elizabeth Jennings Graham」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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