Gertrude Elzora Durden Rush
Gertrude Elzora Durden Rush
Gertrude Elzora Durden Rush
Gertrude Elzora Durden Rush was born in Navasota, Texas, United States. She was the daughter of Frank Durden, a Baptist minister, and Sarah E. (Reinhardt) Durden. Following the lead of others in the exodus from the South to the Midwest during the early 1880s, her family left Texas to ultimately settle in Oskaloosa, Kansas.
After beginning her studies at Parsons (Kansas) High School (1895-1898), Gertrude Rush finished in Quincy, Illinois.
After marrying James Buchanan Rush on December 23, 1907, she began studying law with her husband while working in his Des Moines law office. Gertrude furthered her education at Des Moines College (Des Moines University), graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1914. Concurrently, she completed her third year of law study by way of correspondence with the LaSalle University (now La Salle Extension University) of Chicago and received a law degree.
Between 1898 and 1907 Gertrude Rush was a teacher in Oswego, Kansas; governmental schools in Indian Territory (later Oklahoma); and Des Moines.
She became the first African American woman admitted to practice law in Iowa - and one of the first in the Midwest - after successfully passing the bar examination and being admitted to the Iowa bar in 1918. Until 1950 Gertrude Rush remained the only African American woman to achieve such a status in Iowa.
Upon her husband's death, she took over his practice in Des Moines. In 1921 Gertrude Rush won election as president of the Colored Bar Association. Her leadership in that association was unique, as she became the first woman in the nation leading a state bar association that included both male and female members. After being denied admission to the American Bar Association, in 1925 Gertrude Rush and four other black lawyers founded the Negro Bar Association (later renamed the National Bar Association), with the purpose of uniting black lawyers throughout the nation.
In addition to taking over her husband's law practice, Gertrude Rush also took his place as a community activist. She suffered a stroke in 1958, forcing her to semi-retire from her legal practice and community service, but she continued to be involved in social and civic activism until her death in 1962.
In 1985, the National Bar Association established the Gertrude Rush Award, which honors lawyers and judges "based on their leadership in the community".
Gertrude Rush wrote several nationally renowned religious plays and hymns and researched the 240 women of the Bible, completing stories on the women of the Old Testament.
Gertrude Rush was inducted posthumously into the Iowa Women's Hall of Fame in 1994. Two monuments in her honor are located at the Des Moines Public Library and St. Paul AME Church.
Gertrude Rush was a lifelong member of the Baptist Church.
National Bar Association , United States
Gertrude Rush headed the Charity League that served Des Moines' African American community. The league was successful in having a black probation officer appointed in the Des Moines Juvenile Court and creating the Protection Home for Negro Girls, a shelter for working girls.
Charity League , United States
1912
Between 1911 and 1915 Gertrude Rush served as state president of the National Association of Colored Women's Clubs (NACWC).
National Association of Colored Women's Clubs , United States
1911 - 1915
Colored Women's Suffrage Club , United States
Women's Law and Political Study Group , United States
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People , United States
Quotes from others about the person
Dr. Cleota Proctor Wilbekin: "Mrs. Rush not only contributed to this nation and this world but to her own local community, making life better for so many in her cry for justice..."
Gertrude Rush married a Des Moines attorney James Buchanan Rush on December 23, 1907.
