Augusta T. Chissell

Augusta Theodosia Lewis Chissell (1880 – May 14, 1973) was an American suffragist and civic leader in Baltimore, Maryland. Chissell was a leader in multiple community organizations, including as a founding member of the Baltimore branch of the NAACP. In 2019 she was inducted into the Maryland Women's Hall of Fame for her work in promoting women's rights and racial equity.

Early life

Augusta "Gussie" Theodosia Lewis was born around the year 1880 in Baltimore. Along with fellow activist Estelle Young, Hawkins and Chissell dedicated their time to improving the lives of women and Black people in Baltimore, running meetings out of their living rooms.

Chissell was one of the founding members of the Baltimore branch of the NAACP, serving as the first vice president of the organization upon its founding in 1912. She also served as the chair of the Women's Cooperative Civic League, a grassroots organization which addressed issues of housing and public health, including food purity, clean air, and refuse disposal. Black people in the U.S. were routinely kept from voting by efforts such as poll taxes and literacy tests until the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and related court decisions. U.S. Representative Elijah Cummings nominated Chissell, writing about her work:

In 2019, a historical marker was placed at 1532 and 1534 Druid Hill Avenue, the former homes of Hawkins and Chissell, as part of the National Votes for Women Trail.

In 2020 the editors of USA Today published the "Women of the Century" project in commemoration of the 19th Amendment, asking experts from each state to identify ten women who made significant accomplishments in the period of 1920 to 2020. Chissell was one of the ten women recognized for their groundbreaking work within the state of Maryland, three others being Billie Holiday, Adrienne Rich, and Barbara Ann Mikulski.