Beatrice Lumpkin, union organizer and civil rights champion, dies at 107

Beatrice Lumpkin spent more than 90 years of her life fighting for fairness. She stood up for workers, pushed for civil rights, and never stopped working to help others. She died on June 14 at age 107 from heart failure at a senior living community in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood.

Lumpkin was born in the Bronx, New York, in 1918. Her parents ran a laundry business, and she saw how hard her mother worked standing on her feet all day. That experience gave her a lasting care for working-class people and shaped the rest of her life.

As a teenager, she joined the Young Communist League, a group focused on workers' rights and free speech. She quickly got involved in picket lines and protests. In 1935, she was even arrested while picketing outside a department store in New York City, though she was released a few hours later.

She graduated from Hunter College in 1939, and later earned two master's degrees. She became a math teacher in the Chicago Public Schools and at Malcolm X College. While teaching, she discovered how ancient Egyptians helped build the field of mathematics, and she wrote a children's book about it called 'Senefer: A Young Genius in Old Egypt.'

One of her greatest fights came in 1980, when the Wisconsin Steel plant suddenly closed. Her husband Frank and thousands of other workers lost their jobs and never got their final paychecks. Beatrice helped lead a 17-year battle that ended with a $15 million settlement for the workers.

Lumpkin also helped found the Coalition of Labor Union Women in 1974, a group that supports women in trade unions. She published a book in 1999 about the Wisconsin Steel fight. Even after retiring from teaching in 1990, she kept organizing — fighting high utility bills, attending rallies, and staying active well into her 100s.

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson declared August 3 'Beatrice Lumpkin Day.' He called her 'a towering figure in the labor movement.' A celebration of her life will be held on August 9 at the CTU Center in Chicago.