Black North Dakotans were a rarity during the childhood years of Era Bell. She once remarked that when they traveled thirty miles to join two other black families for Christmas dinner, "there were fifteen of us, four percent of the state's entire Negro population."
Era Bell Thompson SHSND 00262-009
Era Bell Thompson was born on August 10, 1905 in Des Moines, Iowa to Mary (Logan) and Stewart C. Thompson. Her family moved to a farm near Driscoll, ND in 1914 at age 9. She and her three brothers were excited about the move, expecting cowboys and Indians. But they only got her Uncle James who had homesteaded there seven years before.
Era's schoolmates had never before seen a black person. They laughed at her, tried to touch her hair and stared at her light-colored palms. Eventually Era made friends, but she felt out of place.
Farming was hard. When Era’s mother died, the family moved initially to Mandan, taking up residence at 705 5th Ave NW. Era attended Mandan High School in 1922-23. The family moved to Bismarck, where he was worked for Governor Lynn Frazier as a private messenger.
Even in this larger town, there were only two black students. Again, a hush fell over the schoolyard when Era showed up for school. Now in 7th grade, Era learned to loathe Friday afternoons when boy-girl games were played. Worse, one of her textbooks informed that all black people were “thick-skulled.” On the days that slavery was discussed, Era cut class. Despite distinguishing herself as a gifted runner, on the bus she sat in aisle seats so onlookers wouldn’t gawk at her.
She graduated from Bismarck High School in 1924 and subsequently enrolled at the University of North Dakota - Grand Forks. But the YWCA refused her a room and the streetcar would pass her by when she tried to board, and job positions were suddenly filled when she applied.
She was befriended by the Walker family, one of the few black residents in town, who assisted her in securing a place to stay and finding a part-time job with their Jewish next door neighbor woman in the Little Jerusalem part of Grand Forks. The white pastor from the First Methodist Church in Grand Forks, Rev. Dr. Robert O'Brian, and his family would also welcome her into their lives. He became her employer, mentor and benefactor as she completed her education. (Note: The O'Brians are identified as the Rileys in Thompson's autobiography, likely for their protection, as O'Brian's broke with their family who were very influential in the Indiana Ku Klux Klan.)
In college, she fell back on lessons learned from life in Driscoll and Bismarck. She survived the prejudice and made friends. She pursued her love of running, breaking five UND women’s track records – in dashes, broad jump and hurdles – and tied two national records. She also began writing for the campus paper, showing herself to have substantial wit and talent.
Main Street Mandan c. 1920s
Thompson's success at school was interrupted in April 1927 when she became severely ill with scarlet feaver and pleurisy. She returned temporarily to her family now in Mandan where her father owned and operated a used furniture store on East Main Street. After her recovery, she moved to Chicago to find work where she found just as much prejudice among blacks as among whites. She found only low-paying menial work.
She returned to Mandan when her father fell ill and passed away in July 1928. She operated the store and sold off its inventory until she paid off his business and medical debts. In her autobiography, she described the town cheering her on and helping her through the long winter. Era recorded, "by the end of May the last bill was paid. My job was done."
Era Bell Thompson with father SHSND 00262-006
After her experiences in Chicago, she concluded a formal education gave her the best chance to succeed. She returned to UND in 1930, but later transferred to Morningside College in Sioux City, Iowa where Rev. Dr. O'Brian was now the college's President. Thompson earned a Bachelor of Arts in English in 1933.
She returned to Chicago after graduation. Despite her degree, she found little opportunity for a good job. She did domestic work at a Settlement House until she passed the civil service exams and became a typist for the US Employment Services. From 1936-1941, she worked as a junior clerk for the WPA and Chicago Relief Administration. While there, she published her own one-page interoffice newspaper titled TheGiggle Sheet from 1937 to 1941. Eventually, she got a journalism job with The Chicago Defender.
In 1945, Thompson was awarded a Newberry fellowship, which supported her while she wrote her autobiography, American Daughter which focused on how a black family survived "way up there." The book was published in 1946.
Thompson eventually became editor of Negro Digest then joined Ebony magazine in 1947. She was co-managing editor of the magazine from 1951 to 1964, then international editor from 1964 until she retired.
During her journalism career, Thompson reported from Africa, India, Australia, South America and the South Pacific. In 1953, she traveled through 18 African countries for her book, Africa Land of my Fathers. It recounts her frustrated attempts to comprehend her ancestral heritage, and many of her later essays denounce men's treatment of women regardless of race and class. She spent a night in a South African jail in 1957 because authorities said there were no hotel rooms for Blacks.
Thompson died on December 30, 1986 in her Chicago home.
The multicultural center at the University of North Dakota - Grand Forks was named after her. She was inducted into the UND Athletic Hall of Fame in 1986. She was awarded North Dakota's Theodore Roosevelt Roughrider Award in 1976.
The MHSoc's museum and office is located at 3827 30th Avenue NW; Mandan, ND 58554 Contact us at info@mandanhistory.org
