The Women of Operation Breadbasket
A Lost Chapter in the Chicago Civil Rights Movement
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 5601945 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Bobby J Smith (0000-0002-1083-9403, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Volume | 57 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 96-118 |
| Publication date | 2025-10-23 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal of Black Studies (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0021-9347 • E-ISSN: 1552-4566 |
| Publisher | SAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1177/00219347251386903 |
| OpenAlex | W4415470410 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 27 |
This study is the first scholarly exploration of the Women of Operation Breadbasket (WOB). Founded in 1967 by Rev. Mrs. Willie T. Barrow, the WOB was the direct-action unit of Operation Breadbasket-Chicago (OB-C), the economic justice arm of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) in the North. Placing Black women at the forefront of the movement in Chicago, the WOB empowered them to assert their agency in the pursuit of social change within their communities. Yet, the WOB remains woefully understudied, rendering it virtually invisible to scholars and the broader public. Consequently, fundamental questions emerge: What were the origins of the WOB? Who was Rev. Barrow, and what role did she play in the WOB? How did the WOB advance the civil rights movement in Chicago? What new insights can we gain by studying the WOB as an organizational site in the civil rights movement? To address these questions, I draw on womanist sociological theory to examine an intrinsic case study of the WOB, recovering this lost chapter in the Chicago civil rights movement. I conclude by considering how the mere existence of WOB is instructive and generative, opening up new avenues for future research
Agency (philosophy) · Civil rights · Economic Justice · Human rights · Movement (music) · Social justice · Social movement · Social rights · American History and Culture · American Political and Social Dynamics · Race, History, and American Society
The Womanist Reader
How Long? How Long
Women in the Civil Rights Movement
Grassroots at the Gateway
The Relationship Between the “Invisibility” of African American Women in the American Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s and Their Portrayal in Modern Film
Adult Literacy Reform Through a Womanist Lens
Ella Baker
Recasting Civil Rights Leadership
Women in the civil rights movement
Gender and the Civil Rights Movement
Crusade” for African American Civil Rights
Bridge Leadership
What's in a Name
Scratching the Surface
The Universal Negro Improvement Association, Southern Christian Leadership Conference, and Black Panther Party
Womanism
The Shaping of Activist Recruitment and Participation
Invisible Southern Black Women Leaders in the Civil Rights Movement
You've Struck a Rock
African-American Women in the Civil Rights Movement, 1954-1965
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |