Club woman, civil rights leader, social activist, educator 1866-1923

Mary Morris Burnett the youngest daughter of Cornelius and Caroline Nichols Burnett, was born in Oberlin Ohio. She graduated from Oberlin College in 1886 at the age of nineteen. Ms. Burnett moved to Little Rock Arkansas where she accepted a teaching position at Bethel University. In January 1887, she was appointed assistant principal of Union High School becoming the first African-American female in the state of Arkansas to achieve this distinction. During her short stay in Little Rock, she had begun to receive national recognition as an educator and orator.

On September 8, 1881, Mary Burnett married William Herbert Talbert, a city of Buffalo clerk and realtor. The Talbert's only daughter, Sarah Mae was born in 1892. Following her move to Buffalo, Mary B. Talbert launched a career as a club woman, social activist and civil rights leader.

As a devoted member of the Michigan St., Baptist Church, Talbert was instrumental in the founding of the Christian Culture Congress and served in many positions in the church, including trustee, treasurer, Sunday school teacher and organist. Mary Talbert was also the first worthy matron of Naomi Chapter 10, Order of the Eastern Star.
A founding member of the Phyllis Wheatley Club for Colored Woman in 1899, Talbert led this group in protesting the lack of representation for African-Americans at the Pan-American exposition. She was a founding member of the Western New York Federation of Colored Woman's Clubs and the state-wide organization, Empire State Federation of Woman's Clubs. Talbert served as president of the National Association of Colored Woman's Clubs from 1916-1920. As president, she led the movement for passage of the Federal Dyer anti—lynching bill. Funding to make the Frederick Douglass home a National Memorial in Washington, D. C. Was also obtained during Talbert's tenure.

Talbert was a board member of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and was the first woman to receive that organizations Springarn Medal in 1922. Mary Talbert died in 1923 at the age of 57.

Mary Morris Burnett Talbert is buried in the Talbert family plot and her grave is marked by a simple head-stone that identifies her as "mother".

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