Rebecca H. Lester

Rebecca Hurt Lester was an entrepreneur, clubwoman and civic leader in Nashville, Tennessee. She served as treasurer of the Tennessee Federation of Colored Women's Clubs. She was appointed to the Davidson County Colored Women division of the Council of National Defense in various capacities during World War I. Mrs. Lester also served as a Republican primary election clerk and judge for Davidson County in 1922 and 1924, respectively.

Personal history Rebecca was born in Tennessee 1880 U.S. Census, Davidson County, Tennessee, Enumeration District 044, p. 174c, roll 1250. accessed on 6 January 2026. and raised by her sister and brother in law, Rachel and Fountain Winston since infancy.Tennessee, U.S., Wills and Probate Records, 1779-2008. accessed on 6 January 2026. Fountain was enlisted in the 44th United States Colored Infantry Regiment and employed as a porter of Tennessee Governor Malcolm R. Patterson."Uncle Fount" Winston Dead, Nashville Globe, Globe Publishing Co., 6 September 1909, p. 6. accessed on 6 January 2026. In 1887, Rebecca married Frank M. Taylor,Tennessee State Library and Archives, Tennessee, County Marriages, 1790-1959, (Davidson: Familysearch: 15 December 2015), image 835 of 1366. accessed on 5 January 2026. once employed at the notorious Climax Saloon,Davis, Joel, Nashville City Directory, (Nashville, Tennessee: Marshall & Bruce, 1891), p. 844; digital image. accessed on 5 January 2026. later co-owned The Manhattan, a saloon located on Cedar St.Curran’s Report Given Out’’, Nashville Banner, 29 November 1898, p. 1. accessed 5 January 2026. She was widowed in 1899. Rebecca was bequeathed Frank's interest in the saloon and their South Nashville residence. Wills, 1784-1920; Davidson County (Tennessee) County Clerk. accessed 5 January 2026. In 1901, Rebecca wed Dr. John Angelo Lester. "Marriage Licenses", The Tennesseean, 29 May 1901, morning edition. accessed 5 January 2026. Rebecca birthed four children, who all died by 1900. 1900 U.S. Census, Davidson County, Tennessee, population schedule, Enumeration District 102, p. 15 (stamped), dwelling 312, family 348, Rebecca Taylor; roll 1565. accessed 5 January 2026.

Entrepreneur Rebecca Lester owned a women's salon providing chiropody and hair dressing services. Giving herself advantage in the growing hairdressing market, Rebecca obtained a Pure Food and Drug Act license ‘’Prominent Calanthean Honored by the Grand Court’’, The Nashville Globe, Globe Publishing Co., 18 July 1913, p. 4. accessed on 6 January 2026. to certify the safety of her manufactured products. Her home-based business was advertised in the Nashville Globe. ‘’Mrs. Rebecca H. Lester’’, The Nashville Globe, Globe Publishing Co., 21 March 1913, p. 7. accessed on 6 January 2026. Public gatherings such as the annual Greenwood Park Colored Fair is where Rebecca presented her chiropody/hair dressing products and services. There she also displayed her domestic skills, cultural refinement and material endowment. These attributes were an aspiration among rural African American women recently migrating to the city. She won prizes for her embroidery, paintings and canned fruit. ‘’Prizes Awarded at Greenwood Park Fair’’, The Nashville Globe Globe Publishing Co., 17 October 1913, p. 6. accessed on 6 January 2026. In 1915, Rebecca presided over the Women's Business League and participated in Negro Booster Club Week to increase Negro spending. ‘’Business Women Organize’’, The Tennessean, Colonel Luke Lea., 26 September 1915), p. 45. accessed on 6 January 2026.

Social history Rebecca's social and political activities confronted the challenges that the South presented to the African American community. Socially mobile African American women utilized the club movement, unions and associations to satisfy essential needs of the most vulnerable in their communities. The Nashville chapter of the National Association of Colored Women was formed in December 1896.Smith, Christine. S., Woman's Club, The Woman's Era, (Boston, January 1897), p. 6. accessed on 5 January 2026. The next year, the national organization's 1st conference was held in Nashville during the Tennessee Centennial and International Exposition.Terrell, Mary Church. 1897. “President's First Address to the National Association of Colored Women". Mary Church Terrell Papers, Library of Congress, accessed on 5 January 2026. Rebecca's organizing and outreach skills benefited several Nashville women's clubs including Carnation Club, Carnation Club, ‘’The Nashville Globe’’, Globe Publishing Co., 25 April 1913), p. 7. accessed on 5 January 2026. Hubbard Hospital Club, Of Interest to Colored People, The Tennessean, Colonel Luke Lea, 7 December 1913), p. 2. accessed on 6 January 2026. Friday Night Review Club Friday Review Club, The Nashville Globe, Globe Publishing Co., 29 June 1917, p. 5. accessed on 5 January 2026. and Coterie Club. ‘’Mrs. Walter M. Clark Hostess’’, The Nashville Globe, Globe Publishing Co., 5 October 1917, p. 5. accessed on 6 January 2026. Partly social gathering and civic activism, Nashville women clubs modeled hygiene and homekeeping, literacy and education and public health development. At a 1913 Marechal Niel Art Club ‘’Marechal Niel Art Club’’, The Nashville Globe, Globe Publishing Co., 21 March 1913, p. 5. accessed on 6 January 2026. meeting, Rebecca served her guests on chinaware used by Dr. Lester's mother before the Civil War. By 1916, Rebecca was elected treasurer of Tennessee's State Federation of Colored Clubs. ‘’Negro Club Women Conclude Meeting’’, Nashville Banner, 21 July 1916, p. 8. accessed on 6 January 2026. Rebecca held elected positions in several of Nashville's African American mutual aid lodges. The Order of Calanthe, the women's counterpart to the Knights of Pythias of North America, South America, Europe, Asia, Africa and Australia had $10,800 in funds in 1910, with 6,000 financial members. Grand Court of Calanthe, The Nashville Globe, Globe Publishing Co., 22 July 1910, p. 1. accessed on 6 January 2026. Rebecca was a member of the Union Harmony chapter of the Order. At the 1917 St. Louis Conclave, Rebecca was Supreme representative and Grand Worthy Orator at a well-attended public gathering held after the violent East St. Louis massacre. ‘’News of Interest to Colored People’’, The Tennessean, Colonel Luke Lea., 29 July 1917, p. 23. accessed on 6 January 2026. During the 1913 Easter service of the Independent Order of Immaculates at St. Paul AME Church, Rebecca Lester was elected the Grand Queen in honor of Meritorious Service, a new title created the year before. Rebecca was ceremoniously seated in the pulpit in purple robe, gold crown and scepter. ‘’Prominent Calanthean Honored by the Grand Court’’, The Nashville Globe, Globe Publishing Co., 18 July 1913, p. 4. accessed on 6 January 2026. Rebecca was also a member and officer of the Mt Pisgah Chapter 51 of the Prince Hall Order of the Eastern Star. Lester, The Tennessean, Colonel Luke Lea., 8 January 1928, p. 5. accessed on 6 January 2026.

Separate car law Tennessee passed its first statewide Jim Crow laws in 1881. Tennessee. Acts of the State of Tennessee Passed At the General Assembly, 42nd session. Nashville, Tenn.: F. M. Paul, printer to the State, 1881. accessed on 6 January 2026. Immediately thereafter civil suits were initiated to prevent separate and “unequal” railroad accommodations which exposed African American women to smoke-filled, noisy railroad cars, often the site of public vulgarities.Mack, Kenneth W. “Law, Society, Identity, and the Making of the Jim Crow South: Travel and Segregation on Tennessee Railroads, 1875-1905.” Law & Social Inquiry, vol. 24, no. 2, 1999, pp. 377–409. accessed on 6 January 2026. Rebecca traveled regularly by railroad. In 1904 the Lesters entered a civil suit against the Choctaw, Oklahoma and Gulf Railroad for $5,000. In damages.A. Lester and Rebecca Lester…’’, Commercial Appeal, Commercial Publishing Co., 31 May 1904, p. 5. accessed on 6 January 2026. Rebecca alleged that she was denied a sleeping berth and subjected to unequal accommodations which caused her to be assaulted by white men. The following year, the Nashville Streetcar protest against segregated light rail accommodations commenced.Meier, August, and Elliott Rudwick. “Negro Boycotts of Jim Crow Streetcars in Tennessee.” American Quarterly, vol. 21, no. 4, 1969, pp. 755–63. accessed on 6 January 2026.

Republican election activities Rebecca's political activities occurred during the Progressive era, when the ratification of the “justly entitled” Nineteenth Amendment gave women the right to vote. Toppling the nationwide voting barrier for women, Tennessee was the deciding state in a long-fought Republican victory. Rebecca served on the Advisory Committee of the colored Republican state campaign committee. ‘’Politics’’, Nashville Banner, 10 October 1920, p.22. accessed on 6 January 2026. In Tennessee, groups such as the Lincoln League, strategized on effective means to defend African American interests within its fragile political alliance with the lily-white Republican party.Biles, Roger. R. Church, Jr. of Memphis: Black Republican Leader in the Age of Democratic Ascendancy, 1928-1940.” Tennessee Historical Quarterly, vol. 42, no. 4, 1983, pp. 362–82. accessed on 6 January 2026. In the Benevolent Hall on Maury Street, Rebecca served as a clerk of the Third Ward during the 1922 Republican primary election. ‘’Notice, Republican Primary Election, Nashville Banner, 22 July 1922, p.3. accessed on 6 January 2026. Two years later, she served as election judge for the Fourteenth Ward. The certified election poll site was the Lester residence at 153 Lafayette, South Nashville. ‘’Republican Primary Election Notice’’, The Tennessean, Colonel Luke Lea, 27 July 1924, p. 27. accessed on 6 January 2026.

World War I By 1917, Rebecca was authorized by the Council of National Defense to manage war service efforts beginning with her field work for the colored War Saving Stamp (WSS) campaign.Gilmore, Rose Long. Davidson County Women in the World War, 1914-1919. Foster & Parkes, 1923, p. 507 Her committee organized the Bishop Tyree WSS Club, held public meetings, coordinated publicity and received $4,000. of all public pledges. For that patriotic effort, Lester's committee was presented with a silk banner celebrating their success at Meharry Medical College's auditorium.Gilmore, p. 508. accessed on 5 January 2026. Rebecca chaired the Meharry Unit of Fourth & Victory Liberty Loan campaign in 1918 and 1919, respectively, which sold the largest amount of war relief savings bonds. The Meharry Unit of Victory Liberty Loan campaign was presented in uniform during a Nashville parade all wearing a 100 Per Cent sash across their shoulders. Her team participated in local clean-up activities for Civilian Relief. The Meharry Unit, composed of colored women, raised $26,050.00 for the Victory Liberty Loan campaign.Gilmore, p. 377. accessed on 6 January 2026. Lester's outreach efforts were achieved by public campaigning at the Negro YMCA, ‘’National Women’s Prayer Batalion’’, The Nashville Globe, Globe Publishing Co., 6 September 1918, p. 1. accessed on 6 January 2026. Fisk University Carnegie Library ‘’Negro Privates in Army receive Pay’’, The Tennessean, Colonel Luke Lea., 14 December 1917, p. 6. accessed on 6 January 2026. and various churches ‘’Thrift Stamp Meeting’’, The Tennessean, Colonel Luke Lea., 14 June 1918), p. 3. accessed on 6 January 2026. throughout the Fourteenth Ward.

Death Rebecca Lester died at home on January 6, 1928. Lester, The Tennessean, Colonel Luke Lea., 8 January 1928, p. 5. accessed on 6 January 2026.

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