Biography: Ozeline Pearson Wise was the first Black woman to be employed in the banking department of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. She grew up in Michigan and Massachusetts, graduating from high school in Cambridge, Mass. With the death of her father before she began college, she sought employment in the postal service. Despite a high score on the civil service examination, she was not hired and began to work at various clerical jobs. During World War II, she worked for the U.S. Navy in both ship fittings and personnel. She was then employed for 20 years by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. In 1963, after the death of her husband, John Wise, she went to live in Cambridge with her sister, Satyra Bennett. Very active in St. Paul A.M.E. Church, which her father, the Rev. William B. Pearson, had pastored, she was trustee, Sunday School teacher, and chair of the building fund. Cofounder with her sister, and a charter member of the Citizens' Charitable Health Association, she also worked with Mrs. Bennett in other community organizations. Her contributions to her church were recognized in 1969 and again in 1978.

Description: The Black Women Oral History Project interviewed 72 African American women between 1976 and 1981. With support from the Schlesinger Library, the project recorded a cross section of women who had made significant contributions to American society during the first half of the 20th century. Photograph taken by Judith Sedwick
Repository: Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America.
Collection: Black Women Oral History Project
Research Guide: http://guides.library.harvard.edu/schlesinger_bwohp

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