Edna Mae Griffin: Iowa Time Machine February 8, 2000

Iowa Time Machine ⏰: On February 8, 2000, the Civil Rights activist, commonly known as “The Rosa Parks of Iowa,” Edna Mae Griffin, passed away. An accomplished activist, writer, and member of the Women’s Army Corps, Griffin helped ensure equality for all Iowans.

Born in Lexington, Kentucky, in 1909, Griffin moved first to New Hampshire and then to Massachusetts as a child before attending Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee. After earning a degree in English in 1933, Griffin moved to Des Moines with her husband, Stanley, in the 1940s. A teacher by trade and a member of the Women’s Army Corps at Fort Des Moines during World War II, Griffin also cared for three children while Stanley attended the Still College of Osteopathy and Surgery.

On July 7, 1948, at roughly 3:45 p.m., Edna Griffin entered the Katz Drug Store in downtown Des Moines. The manager of the popular lunch counter said, “It is the policy of our store that we don’t serve colored people.” In response, sit-ins and pickets sprang up at several local lunch counters with discriminatory policies, and the state ultimately upheld the manager's conviction for violating a statute prohibiting discrimination in public accommodations. Entering the store with her infant daughter and two other men, a waitress initially took the group’s order for ice cream before returning to inform them that her manager had instructed her not to serve them.

After the manager further explained the discriminatory policy, Griffin launched a campaign against the store. Leading sit-ins, hosting boycotts, and vocalizing at pickets weren’t the only tools used by Griffin against Katz. Working with the NAACP, she successfully petitioned the Polk County Attorney’s Office to prosecute manager Maurice Katz under the 1884 Iowa Civil Rights Act, which prohibits discrimination in public accommodations. An all-white jury found Katz guilty, and a $50 fine led the manager to appeal. The Iowa Supreme Court ruled in “State of Iowa v. Katz” in 1949 to uphold the conviction. In the aftermath, another all-white jury awarded Griffin $1 in damages. Setting the standard, “State of Iowa v. Katz,” built on the 1884 Civil Rights Act to ensure no one in Iowa can deny services based on race. #Iowa #OTD #History #CivilRights