Poole, Drusilla (1887 – 1972)

Poole, Drusilla (1887 – 1972)

  • <p>Drusilla Poole. Image courtesy of the Staten Island Museum.</p>

Drusilla Poole moved to Staten Island from Washington D.C. in the late 1910s with her husband Archibald. She worked for many years as a secretary to the William A. Morris Moving Van Line company on Staten Island and rose to prominence in her Shiloh AME Zion Church community. She was a founder and longtime President of the Women’s Civic and Political Union, which was established in 1919 to educate women of color on Staten Island about their voting rights. She held leadership positions in the National Association of Colored Women, Urban League, NAACP, Empire State Federation of Women’s Clubs, Inc., and Helping Hand Society throughout New York State.

Located at 1635 Richmond Avenue near Victory Blvd, Tompkins Department Store was the site of the 4th Annual Fashion Show of the Women's Political Union organized by Drusilla.

  • <p>Tompkins Department Store at 1635 Richmond Avenue. Image courtesy of Pinterest.</p>
  • <p>Staten Island celebrates the 300th anniversary of Africans arriving in America at the Shiloh AME Zion Church, Drusilla Poole presiding. The New York Age, 13 Sep 1919, p8.</p>
  • <p>Letter from Drusilla regarding money raised by the Helpiing Hand Society for a Booker T. Washington Memorial. Printed in the New York Age 20 July 1916, p8. Courtesy of newspapers.com</p> <p>New York Age 20 Jul 1916 p8, newspapers.com</p>
  • <p>Letter from Drusilla regarding money raised by the Helpiing Hand Society for a Booker T. Washington Memorial. Printed in the New York Age 20 July 1916, p8. Courtesy of newspapers.com</p>