This is Vera Mae (Berry) Pigee (9/2/1924 - 8/18/2007). I was not familiar with her or her work until my trip to The Mississippi Delta in July 2018. She was born to sharecroppers Wilder Berry and Lucy Wright Berry near Glendora, Mississippi. That’s also in the Delta; that’s where many historians believe Emmett Till was murdered. JW Milam, one of the men that killed Emmett, lived there. We went there too, that’s an entirely different post. But I mention it for context, Vera Pigee must’ve been affected by her environment and the things happening. She studied cosmetology in Chicago then returned to Clarksdale, Mississippi (not too far from Glendora) and opened a salon. From her salon she began to work as an activist. Pigee’s Beauty Shop became a hub of the work, hosting meetings and a resting place for members. I’m 1955, she was voluntold to be the first secretary of the Coahoma County NAACP Branch. Reminder: NAACP branches were targets of violent White supremacist acts so the work was dangerous, period. Pigee was an advisor to the Coahoma County NAACP Youth Council and organized, trained, and educated young people and other leaders throughout the state. She was instrumental in the desegregation of the bus station in Clarksdale in 1961; she coordinated the youth acts and protests in the bus station. On June 7, 1963 her home, along with Aaron Henry’s, was shot up by night riders, or White supremacists who only attacked at night because they were cowards. However, she continued her work. She spent a lot of time teaching; see y’all, I told you there’s something about Black historymakers and teaching! She later left Clarksdale and earned a doctorate from Wayne State in Detroit and remained in Detroit, still doing the work, until her death. We saw a reading of a play titled “Beautiful Agitators” while in Cleveland, Mississippi at the Grammy Museum (yes, a Grammy museum in the Delta). The play highlighted the work of Clarksdale citizens in the Civil Rights Movement. Right on Vera Pigee, a leader and an organizer, a far too unsung hero. #verapigee #veramaepigee #clarksdale #naacp #mississippidelta #aaronhenry #blackhistorymonth #mrkblackhistory #jaaamaccordingly (at Clarksdale, Mississippi) https://www.instagram.com/p/BtdVRRlHTjz/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=4136422b2rzh
