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Nancy Lee

Nancy Lee

Nancy Lee


Nancy Lee

Nancy Lee


Nancy Lee (bottom right)

Nancy Lee (bottom right)

Nancy Harriet Lee, daughter of Mary Elizabeth Butler and Thomas F. Lee, was raised in Bloomingburg, OH. She attended the University of Pittsburgh, intending to be a teacher, but could not fulfill her requirement as a practice teacher because of racial quotas. After this “shocking experience,” she turned instead to social work, ultimately obtaining a master’s degree. She rose high in the Juvenile and the Domestic Relations court systems in Pittsburgh, becoming the first black supervisor in the former. She received numerous community awards and led the drive to fund Pitt’s African Heritage Classroom. She was inspired by Mary McLeod Bethune’s principle, “Each one help one” and once said, “That’s the way we always were as a family, helping each other.”
12 Feb. 1994, Pittsburgh, PA (by telephone)
Interviewee: Nancy Lee
Interviewer: Dr. John Hewitt
- Elizabeth Hemings 1735–1807
John Wayles 1715–1773 - Sally Hemings 1773–1835
- Madison Hemings 1805–1877
- Harriet Hemings Butler 1842–1925
- Nancy Lee 1904–1995
- Clara Fisher Niece