Minnie Lee Crosthwaite

Minnie Lee Crosthwaite (; 1872–1963) was an American community organizer, women's rights activist, and social worker, one of the first Black social workers in Kansas City, MO.

Biography Minnie Lee Harris was born and raised in Nashville, Tennessee, and attended Fisk University; both her parents had been enslaved. She became a teacher and taught first grade for two years in her hometown, but left the workforce

Career In 1920, Crosthwaite became a volunteer with the Provident Hospital Association. This began her career in the social services. She became a full time social worker in 1922, at the age of 50. She became the director of the Provident Hospital's outpatient clinic and worked in that role until 1947. Throughout her career she supported the hospital, including with an annual fashion fundraiser show that she first organized in 1918, Her annual fundraiser "became the biggest financial supporter for the hospital". Crosthwaite was active in a number of organizations including the NAACP and the YWCA, for which she served as a city and state president. She died in 1963. She was later described as a women's activist and "a leader of the black women's club movement in the city".