Bertha McNeill

Bertha Clay McNeill (November 12, 1887 – September 21, 1979) was an American civil rights activist, peace activist, and educator. She grew up in North Carolina and earned a teaching certificate there before moving to Washington, D.C., where she studied at Howard University. During her schooling, she became a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority and the Howard University Women's Club. On graduating in 1908, she briefly taught in Baltimore, before transferring to the District of Columbia Public School System. From 1909 to 1916, she taught at the M Street High School, thereafter at Dunbar High School until 1957, when she became an adjunct professor at Howard. During her teaching career, McNeill was the faculty advisor for Dunbar High School's student newspaper, edited several journals for organizations, and contributed articles to African-American newspapers.

One of the few Black activists who were members of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF), McNeill joined the organization in 1934. The following year, she became chair of its Interracial Committee, later renamed the Committee on Minorities and Race Relations, where she pressed for diversification of membership and recognition of civil rights issues as part of the peace movement. She led the organization to oppose lynching and Jim Crow laws and to adopt policies against scheduling meetings and congresses in segregated facilities while actively supporting school desegregation. She also chaired the Committee on Special Problems of Branches, which was responsible for handling accusations against WILPF and its members under McCarthyism. She served as a national vice president of the U.S. branch of WILPF for at least five terms and represented the national organization as a delegate at four international congresses. In 1954, she became the chair of the Washington, D.C., WILPF section and served in that capacity until 1960. McNeill remained active in the WILPF until her death in 1979.