Gertie Wood

Gertie Lucina Wood (September 18, 1892 – August 26, 1976) was a Guyanese social worker and women's rights activist. She was the first woman to run for political office in the British West Indies.

Gertie Wood was born on September 18, 1892 of Barbadian parents, businessman George Walter Wood and Catherine Louisa Briggs Wood.

In the late 1940s she emigrated to the United States following the death of her parents and only sibling. She settled in Harlem, where she befriended James Baldwin and worked as a cleaning woman and music teacher. She refused to become an American citizen due to rampant anti-black racism in the US.

Awards and legacy She was awarded the King George V Silver Jubilee Medal and the Order of the British Empire in 1936 for her work with children.