Dreams Deferred
This chapter covers Richardson’s life after she graduated from Howard University in 1942. During the next fifteen years, she made a number of decisions that reflected her family’s and society’s gender socialization, which included getting married, having children, and staying married when she would have preferred not to. Eventually, she rejected these gender expectations and divorced her husband. It was during this time that Richardson began routine race service through her activities in the Second Ward Recreational League, which worked to improve black residents’ quality of life in Cambridge’s segregated society. She also publicly raised concerns about the city’s racially segregated school system. These activities gave Richardson valuable organizing experience and prepared her for civil rights activism. Her community advocacy work telegraphed her leadership style, which captivated the nation a few years later.