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The Struggle Of Gloria Richardson

In this July 21, 1963 photo, Gloria Richardson, head of the Cambridge Nonviolent Action Committee, pushes a National Guardsman's bayonet aside as she moves among a crowd of African Americans in Cambridge, Md. (AP Photo/File)
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AP
In this July 21, 1963 photo, Gloria Richardson, head of the Cambridge Nonviolent Action Committee, pushes a National Guardsman's bayonet aside as she moves among a crowd in Cambridge, Md. (AP Photo/File)

Six decades ago, a Black mother and housewife on the Eastern Shore captured national notice for the fearless way she organized African-Americans to demonstrate for jobs, housing, and health care in the sharply segregated city of Cambridge.

That leader, Gloria Richardson, died last week. We ask her biographer, Joseph R. Fitzgerald, why she boycotted the referendum on equal access to public spaces like restaurants. The biography is titled “The Struggle is Eternal”.

Read more about Gloria Richardson:
Gloria Richardson analyzed the system to find solutions
Gloria Richardson, civil rights pioneer, dies at 99

Watch an oral history interview with Richardson from the Library of Congress and the Smithsonian National Museum of African-American History and Culture.

Check out Maryland Morning's interview with Richardson in 2014.

Sheilah Kast is the host of On The Record, Monday-Friday, 9:30-10:00 am.
Maureen Harvie is Senior Supervising Producer for On the Record. She is a graduate of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, and joined WYPR in 2014 as an intern for the newsroom. Whether coordinating live election night coverage, capturing the sounds of a roller derby scrimmage, interviewing veterans, or booking local authors, she is always on the lookout for the next story.