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Bertha Isaacs

Summary

Dame Albertha Magdelina Isaacs DBE (née Hanna; 18 April 1900 – 1 August 1997) was a Bahamian teacher, tennis player, women's rights activist and politician. After a career as an elementary school teacher, she played on the international tennis circuit, winning both singles and doubles titles in the 1930s.

Bertha Isaacs
Image from a stamp in 2012
Born
Albertha Magdelina Hanna

(1900-04-18)18 April 1900
Saint Matthew Parish, New Providence, Bahamas
Died1 August 1997(1997-08-01) (aged 97)
Nassau, Bahamas
NationalityBahamian
Other namesAlbertha Isaacs
Occupation(s)Educator, tennis player, women's rights activist, politician

Returning to the Bahamas, she became involved in the women's suffrage movement in the country, helping gain the vote in 1962. She was the second woman to be appointed as a Senator in the Bahamas and the first woman to be awarded the honorary title of Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire. An annual trophy awarded at the Commonwealth Caribbean Lawn Tennis Championship bears her name.

Early life edit

Albertha Magdelina Hanna was born on 18 April 1900 in Saint Matthews Parish on New Providence in the Bahamas to Lilla Celeste (née Minns) and Robert Samuel Hanna.[1][2] She attended Girls Cosmopolitan School and later the Victoria Schools of Nassau.[1]

Career edit

After completing her education, Hanna began working as a grammar school teacher.[1] On 20 February 1922, in Nassau, Hanna married Edward Adolphus Isaacs Jr., who was known as Ned.[3][4] After around a decade, she left education and pursued a career as a professional tennis player.[1]

She was a co-founder of the Gym Tennis Club of Nassau.[5] Throughout the 1930s, Isaacs competed in international tennis events.[4][6] By 1934, she was ranked #13 on the U.S. tennis tour and was the title holder in Florida, Georgia and Nassau. She played both singles and doubles, winning the singles match in 1934 and doubles in 1937, at the Southern Open Championship held at Tuskegee Institute.[7][8][9]

When the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) was founded in 1953,[10] Isaacs was one of the founding members of the Women's Branch of the PLP. Because women's roles were limited to fundraising, she turned her attention to the suffrage movement and focused on gaining the right to vote.[1] Socio-economic barriers to women created disadvantages in education, employment, family support, inheritance and political activism. Isaacs and other feminists worked within women's organizations both locally and internationally to lobby for the right to vote. In the late 1950s the PLP platform included women's suffrage, as they were in favor of majority rule government.

In 1958, Isaacs was one of the women who founded and served on the executive committee of the National Council of Women. By 1960, the suffrage movement had gained ground with the United Bahamian Party as well and in 1962, Bahamian women won the right to vote.[11]

In 1969, Isaacs was appointed as a Senator for the PLP,[11] second woman Senator of the Bahamas, after Doris Sands Johnson who had been appointed in 1967.[11]

In the 1970s, Isaacs served on the board of the Licensing Authority.[12]

Awards and honours edit

In 1974, Isaacs was granted the honorary title of Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire. The award marked the first time the honour had been given to a Bahamian woman.[1] The following year, Isaacs was honoured by the Bahamas Lawn Tennis Association when they created an annual award bearing her name. The Dame Bertha Isaacs trophy is awarded at the Commonwealth Caribbean Lawn Tennis Championship to the female player who has demonstrated the highest standard of court behavior, quality of play and sportsmanship.[5]

Death and legacy edit

Isaacs died in August 1997 in Nassau, Bahamas.[1] In 2012, to commemorate the 50th anniversary of women gaining the vote in the Bahamas, a series of stamps was issued featuring prominent women's rights activists. Isaacs's likeness appears on the 70 cent stamp.[13]

Her great-grandson is former Bahamian Major League Baseball player and current San Francisco Giants First Base Coach Antoan Richardson who wears the number 00, representing her birth year to honor her legacy.[14] She was also the sister-in-law of Bahamian lawyer and politician Sir Kendal Isaacs.

References edit

Citations edit

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Womens Suffrage Bahamas 2012.
  2. ^ Bahamas Civil Registration 1900, p. 160.
  3. ^ Bahamas Civil Registration 1922, p. 34.
  4. ^ a b Indianapolis Recorder 1941, p. 7.
  5. ^ a b The Daily Gleaner 1980, p. 12.
  6. ^ The Daily Gleaner 1935, p. 38.
  7. ^ The Pittsburgh Courier 1934, p. 15.
  8. ^ The New York Age 1934, p. 5.
  9. ^ The Pittsburgh Courier 1937, p. 18.
  10. ^ Nixon 2012.
  11. ^ a b c Bethel 2012.
  12. ^ The Tribune 1973, p. 1.
  13. ^ The Bahamas Weekly 2012.
  14. ^ "SF Giants: First base coach Antoan Richardson is changing hearts and changing lives". The Mercury News. 24 July 2020. Retrieved 7 August 2020.

Bibliography edit

  • Bethel, Marion (29 February 2012). "The Women's Suffrage Movement in the Bahamas 1948–1962". The College of The Bahamas. Nassau, The Bahamas. Archived from the original on 14 March 2016. Retrieved 3 February 2017.
  • Nixon, Celeste (8 June 2012). "Plp Founder Cartwright Dies". Nassau, The Bahamas: Tribune 242. Archived from the original on 14 August 2016. Retrieved 3 February 2017.
  • "1937 Tennis Champions!". Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: The Pittsburgh Courier. 28 August 1937. p. 18. Retrieved 3 February 2017 – via Newspapers.com.  
  • "Albertha Isaacs". Womens Suffrage Bahamas. Nassau, The Bahamas. 2012. Archived from the original on 15 May 2016. Retrieved 3 February 2017.
  • "Bahamas Civil Registration, 1850–1959: Bertha Hannah". FamilySearch. Nassau, The Bahamas: Registrar General. 30 June 1900. GS Film #222953, Image 168. Retrieved 3 February 2017.
  • "Bahamas Civil Registration, 1850–1959: Edward Adolphus Isaacs and Bertha Magdalina Hanna". FamilySearch. Nassau, The Bahamas: Registrar General. 20 February 1922. GS Film #223011, Image 37. Retrieved 3 February 2017.
  • "The Bahamas to issue postage stamps on 50th Anniversary of Female Suffrage". Nassau, the Bahamas: The Bahamas Weekly. 19 September 2012. Archived from the original on 17 October 2012. Retrieved 3 February 2017.
  • "The Jackson Brothers Take Dixie Doubles Title". Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: The Pittsburgh Courier. 4 August 1934. p. 15. Retrieved 3 February 2017 – via Newspapers.com.  
  • "Jamaica beat Guyana 3–0". Kingston, Jamaica: The Daily Gleaner. 3 August 1980. p. 12. Retrieved 3 February 2017 – via Newspaperarchive.com. 
  • "Licensing Board Men All Removed". The Tribune. Nassau, the Bahamas. 18 January 1973. p. 1. Retrieved 3 February 2017.
  • "Nassau Woman Takes Singles". The New York Age. New York City, New York. 4 August 1934. p. 5. Retrieved 3 February 2017 – via Newspapers.com.  
  • "Nassau Tennis Teams to Play in the United States". Kingston, Jamaica: The Daily Gleaner. 7 August 1935. p. 38. Retrieved 3 February 2017 – via Newspaperarchive.com.
  • "RAF Gets Two More Bahamians". Indianapolis, Indiana: Indianapolis Recorder. 9 August 1941. p. 7. Retrieved 3 February 2017.

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