| Dates: | 1946-2007, undated |
| Size: | 2.5 linear feet |
| Repository: | Chicago Public Library, Woodson Regional Library, Vivian G. Harsh Research Collection of Afro-American History and Literature, 9525 S. Halsted Street, Chicago, Illinois 60628 |
|
Collection Number: |
2004/03 |
| Provenance: | Donated by Myrtis Minor in April 2004 |
| Access: | No restrictions |
| Citation: |
When quoting material from this collection the preferred citation is: Myrtis Minor Papers, [Box #, Folder #], Chicago Public Library, Woodson Regional Library, Vivian G. Harsh Research Collection of Afro-American History and Literature |
| Processed by: | Elizabeth Loch, Archival Specialist, June 2021 |
Biographical Note
Myrtis Boler Minor was born in Mississippi in 1929. She graduated from Lanier High School in Jackson, Mississippi in 1949. As a high school junior (1948) or senior (1949), Minor and additional Lanier students led a bus boycott in Jackson following an incident involving a fellow classmate. The student, Elport Chess, was beaten and arrested for refusing to give up his seat on a bus to a white woman.
Minor moved to Chicago to train at Provident Hospital School of Nursing in 1952. She lived with her paternal uncle in Chicago. She continued her education at DePaul University, studying speech and English. Minor’s professional experience began at Provident Hospital where she began work as an operating room staff nurse in 1955.
Myrtis Minor’s career as a nurse practitioner in Chicago spanned thirty years. She worked at Cook County Hospital, the University of Chicago, West Side Veterans Administration Hospital, and at several private practices. Minor specialized in operating room nursing and diabetes education/outreach.
Scope and Content
As a high school student in Jackson, Mississippi, Minor was one of the leaders of a 1948/1949 bus boycott for civil rights. Her papers document the Lanier High School bus boycott and her career as a nurse at various Chicago hospitals and private practices.
Arrangement
The collection is arranged into two series by material type; Series 1: Manuscripts, 1947-2007, undated and Series 2: Audiovisual Materials, 1946-1955, and 2007, undated. Both series are arranged in alphabetical order by folder or item title.
Related Materials
Related materials at the Chicago Public Library include:
- Chicago SNCC (Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee) History Project Archives
- CORE (Congress of Racial Equality), Chicago Chapter Archives
- Lambda Pi Alpha, Beta Mu Chapter Archives
- Leonidas Berry Papers
- Sarah White Papers
Series 1: Manuscripts, 1947-2007, undated
| Box 1 | Folder 1 | Backbone newsletter [article on Myrtis Minor on page 2], 1990 December |
| Box 1 | Folder 2 | Chicago Daily Times article on Joe Louis fight, 1947 December 6 |
| Box 1 | Folder 3 | “Hate objects or History? New role for sterotypes” by Minette McGhee [article mentions Minor], Chicago Sun-Times, 1992 February 27 |
| Box 1 | Folder 4 | Lanier High School Class of 1949, Reunion 1982 program, 1982 July |
| Box 1 | Folder 5 | Medic Alert newsletter [Myrtis Minor mentioned on pages 1-2], 1988 |
| Box 1 | Folder 6 | Myrtis Minor’s resume, 1973 August |
| Box 1 | Folder 7 | Primary Documents on Race and Nineteenth Century United States History, undated |
| Box 1 | Folder 8 | The Story of Elport Chess boycott documentation, 2007, undated |
| Box 1 | Folder 9 | Twenty-fourth Annual Fannie Lou Hamer Memorial Symposium Lecture Series program, 2007 October |
Series 2: Audiovisual Materials, 1946-1955, 2007, undated
| Box 2 | 001 | Audiocassette, interview of Myrtis Minor and Joseph Johnson [on the 1948/1949 Jackson, Mississippi bus boycott] by Chicago Public Library archivist Michael Flug, tape 1, sides 1 and 2, undated |
| Box 2 | 002 | Audiocassette, interview of Myrtis Minor and Joseph Johnson [on the 1948/1949 Jackson, Mississippi bus boycott] by Chicago Public Library archivist Michael Flug, tape 2, side 3, undated |
| Box 2 | 003 | CD, StoryCorps interview of Myrtis Minor [on the 1948 Jackson, Mississippi bus boycott and her nursing career] by Dolores Madlever [?], 2007 July 12 |
| Box 2 | 004 | Photograph, Cotton Ball at Parkway Ballroom, Myrtis Boler Minor [pictured left] and Betty Jean Harris [pictured right], 1954 |
| Box 2 | 005 | Photograph, Dr. Whitfield at the Provident outpatient clinic, undated |
| Box 2 | 006 | Photograph, Myrtis Minor at the Provident Prom, 1954 April |
| Box 2 | 007 | Photograph, Provident Hospital Nursing School capping exercises program, 1946 |
| Box 2 | 008 | Photograph, Provident Prom graduating class, 1955 |
