Elizabeth
Harden Gilmore
Elizabeth Harden Gilmore was a pillar
of the Charleston community, as well as an active member of Simpson Memorial
United Methodist Church. There are many
accomplishments she achieved that were also the first of their kind in West
Virginia. She spearheaded many projects
of social importance in Charleston, and sat on the board of many civic
organizations.
Elizabeth
Gilmore was very active in the 1950’s and 1960’s civil rights movement in the
state of West Virginia. She was leader
of her daughter’s Girl Scout troop, which met at Simpson. This troop was the first African-American
troop to be admitted into Camp Anne Bailey.
In 1958, she helped to found the local chapter of CORE (Congress of
Racial Equality). She served as the
group’s co-chair and executive secretary and it was in this capacity that she
led the first sit-in of a local store, The Diamond. 1960 saw the opening of the Diamond’s lunch counter to African
Americans. As a result of CORE’s
efforts, other stores soon followed suit.
Ms Gilmore was also on the Kanawha
Valley Council on Human Relations. She
participated in panel discussions on racial and religious differences. She also participated in a project called
CHOOSE (Clearing House for Open Occupancy).
This group sought to get African Americans placed in neighborhoods from
which they had been excluded through a consortium of willing renters and
sellers.
Elizabeth Gilmore’s talents also
enriched the Charleston Area Chamber of Commerce. She served on that group’s education task force. She served on the Volunteer Service Bureau,
the community Welfare council, and was also involved with the U.S. Commission
on Civil Rights. She served on the
Executive Board of a grassroots organization, the “Citizens Committee for a
West Virginia Human Rights Law”; the organization credited with the eventual
passage of A West Virginia civil rights law.
In 1969, she became one of the initial appointees to the West Virginia
Board of Regents, serving through the late 1970’s.
She was co-founder of Harden and Harden Funeral Home with her husband, Silas. Elizabeth Gilmore was also the first woman licensed as a funeral director in Kanawha County. The building is still located at 514 Broad Street in Charleston, and was left by Elizabeth Harden Gilmore to Simpson after her death in 1986. She is one of those who have gone before, a backbone of our church and the African American community. Civil rights and social activist, mother, wife, and faithful church attendee, Elizabeth Harden Gilmore is another example worthy of following.