Journey to Justice

Civil rights activist Edna Griffin’s legacy lives on

Before there was Rosa Parks, there was Edna Griffin. Nearly seven years before Parks infamously sat on the bus in Montgomery, Alabama, Edna Griffin stood up against racial injustice in Des Moines, Iowa.

Edna was born on Oct. 23, 1909, in Lexington, Kentucky. Edna was raised in New Hampshire and often moved to various states, such as Massachusetts and Tennessee.

In 1933, Edna graduated from Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee with an English degree. During her academic career, she participated in many protests, such as the opposition of Mussolini’s invasion of Ethiopia. It was at this protest where she met her husband, Stanley Griffin.

The Griffins moved to Des Moines, Iowa on Jan. 2, 1947. There, they had three children; Phyllis, Linda and Stanley Jr.

According to Stanley Griffin Jr., his mother was devoted to helping other discriminated and underprivileged minorities.

“I think [she started her activism] when she was born. She started activism immediately when she was in Tennessee, I think she witnessed all the discrimination there,” Stanley said. “Shortly after they moved to Des Moines, she hit the ground running.”

Briefly, after arriving in Des Moines, Edna became affiliated with the Iowa Progressive Party, supporting Henry Wallace in the 1948 presidential election.

On July 7, 1948, Edna’s daughter Phyllis, as well as her activist counterparts John Bibbs and Leonard Hudson were denied service at Katz Drug Store in

downtown Des Moines due to their race.

A waitress took their ice cream orders and then returned to their table and declared that the establishment did not serve colored people.

Edna asked to speak to the manager, yet the manager simply reiterated their policy to deny service based on race.

Unsettled by this injustice, Edna began a campaign in order to prevent establishments, like Katz Drug Store, from refusing service on the grounds of racial discrimination.

The campaign consisted of boycotts, sit-ins and pickets that took place in front of the store every Saturday for two months.

Edna also gathered a committee to end the usage of Jim Crow laws at Katz Drug Store, as well as filed a civil suit against owner, Maurice Katz, in November 1949.

Local members of the NAACP, Charles Howard and Henry McKnight, represented Edna on her civil case.

The Polk County Attorney’s Office prosecuted Katz in a criminal trial for violating the 1884 Iowa Civil Rights Act. An all-white jury found Katz guilty and fined him $50. Katz filed an appeal, but the verdict was upheld by the Iowa Supreme Court in December 1950.

In the civil suit, Edna and her coplaintiffs, Bibbs and Hudson, sought $10,000 in punitive damages as a result of the Katz drug store incident. The all-white jury on the civil case sided with Edna and the other plaintiffs. Although the jury only awarded $1 in damages, her laywers called it a “moral victory.”

Due to the precedent set in the State of Iowa v. Katz, it became illegal to deny service based on racial identity.

In 1998, the Katz Drug Store was renamed the Edna Griffin Building in her honor.

Edna spent her life trying to improve the lives of others and attempting to eliminate the injustices of the world.

Edna died on Feb. 8, 2000, but her memory still continues to inspire young activists to use their voices to speak out for what is right.

She started activism immediately when she was in Tennessee, I think she witnessed all the discrimination there... Shortly after they moved to Des Moines, she hit the ground running.

Decorah High School students Lauren Johnson and Grace Gerleman dedicated their National History Day project to Edna Griffin. Decorah High School is located in Decorah, Iowa.

“We really wanted to focus on activists in history, mainly women who were able

to stand up for what they believed in,” Gerleman said. “We also wanted to focus on Iowa and choose someone who was not necessarily heard of before, to bring up their story as a person who was important to history that not everyone may know about.”

The pair won multiple awards for their project, as well as an invitation for the 70th Edna Griffin Legacy Awards Dinner.

“Learning about Edna was powerful and gave me confidence. I thought, ‘Hey, she could do this, and she did it years before Rosa Parks.’ She was really powerful and not well-known,” Johnson said.

Edna Griffin was not only a highly influential civil rights activist, but she was a daughter, a mother and a citizen of this country who cared deeply for others.

“My mother was the number one mother in the world, to myself. She was definitely my accompanist. When I played cello in school, she was standing up for union rights in Iowa,” Stanley said.

Edna’s legacy will forever remain, inspiring others to utilize their voices and take action when they believe something is not right.

Story by Ashley Ferrer