Remembering civil rights activist Anna Arnold Hedgeman of Anoka

Anna Arnold Hedgeman
Anna Arnold Hedgeman
Courtesy of Hamline University

Most Minnesotans don't know that a Black woman who grew up in Anoka, Minn., and graduated from Anoka High School — Anna Arnold Hedgeman — was the only woman on the organizing committee for the 1963 March on Washington. She was also the first Black student to attend Hamline University in St. Paul.

Hedgeman was a lifelong activist for civil rights and social justice, but has been largely forgotten.

New York University historian Thomas Sugrue wrote a book exploring the stories of Northern activists who challenged racial inequality, "Sweet Land of Liberty: The Forgotten Struggle for Civil Rights in the North." Hedgeman is featured prominently in the book.

Sugrue spoke in 2018 at the Minnesota Historical Society's History Forum to a sold-out audience that had never heard of that trailblazing Anoka woman.

Hedgeman died in 1990 at the age of 90. There’s now a Hedgeman Center for Student Diversity Initiatives at Hamline University.

Create a More Connected Minnesota

MPR News is your trusted resource for the news you need. With your support, MPR News brings accessible, courageous journalism and authentic conversation to everyone - free of paywalls and barriers. Your gift makes a difference.