Encyclopedia Of Detroit

Dr. Rosa Slade Gragg was a civil rights activist who advocated for the rights of African Americans and women. Born Rosa Slade in Georgia in 1904, she moved to Detroit in 1941 after completing her education. She attended Morris Brown College as an undergraduate student, where she graduated summa cum laude. In pursuit of a doctorate degree, Gragg studied at the Tuskegee Institute, Wayne State University, and the University of Michigan. She married businessman James Gragg in 1926.

Gragg’s career in activism began in the 1930s; she frequently gave speeches about how to improve race relations in the United States. Then, in the 1940s, Gragg began to get involved in politics. In 1942, President Franklin D. Roosevelt appointed her to a national advisory board, the Board of the National Volunteer’s Participation Committee of Civil Defense. She would later serve as an advisor to two other U.S. presidents: John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson. Gragg was also involved in state and city-level politics. In 1943, Michigan Governor Murray Van Wagoner appointed her as advisor on race relations to the Michigan Office of Civil Defense. In 1949, she was appointed President of the Commission of the Detroit Department of Public Welfare by Detroit Mayor Eugene Van Antwerp.

Gragg’s activism was not limited to the political sphere. In 1947, she founded the Slade-Gragg Academy of Practical Arts in Detroit because she believed that education was crucial in the struggle for black progress. The academy was the first black owned and operated business on Woodward Avenue. It offered classes in trades including tailoring, dress-making, and food service and preparation. Its great reputation earned the academy the nickname Tuskegee of the North.

She was also involved in the National Association of Colored Women and its Detroit chapter. In 1958, Gragg was elected president of the national organization. Her accomplishments in this role were impressive. In 1961, she launched a restoration campaign for the Frederick Douglass house and the following year, Senate Bill 2399 declared the home a historic site. In thanks, Gragg gifted an Abraham Lincoln portrait from Frederick Doulgass’ library to the White House. This marked the first time in United States history that a black organization gave a gift to the White House. In the same year, the club began opening multiple women’s health clinics in Washington, D.C. In 1960, Gragg, still president of the association, also commissioned a written history of the organization by Charles H. Wesley. The book, entitled The History of the National Association of Colored Women’s Clubs: A Legacy of Service, was published in 1984.

While still serving as President of the National Association of Colored Women, Gragg also served as the Vice President of the Council of Women of the United States. In this position, she led in the establishment of a youth center, library, and archives for Bethel A.M.E., the second oldest African American church in Michigan.