ida m. bowman becks

As a renowned lecturer, clubwoman, and suffragist, Ida Bowman Becks led the local African American community in the pursuit of equality. Becks was born in Armstrong, Missouri, and showed promise as a student at Lincoln School, where she graduated as class valedictorian in 1899. She then attended the Chicago School of Elocution, using that training to gain national attention as a public speaker. In 1908, she moved to Kansas City and worked as a field representative for the Florence Crittenden Home and the Foreign Mission Board of the National Baptist Convention. Becks became active in several charities and women’s clubs, and she was instrumental in the establishment of the Yates YWCA and the Kansas City Urban League. Her speeches in favor of women’s suffrage, given at numerous churches and clubs, were praised for their eloquence. Audience members described Becks as fearless and persuasive, and her participation in public debates furthered her oratorical reputation. She went on to become a delegate to the 1921 NAACP convention in Detroit, a board member of Wheatley-Provident Hospital, and organizer and chair of the Kansas City chapter of the Negro Women’s National Republican League.

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