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Mary Green (settler)

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For other people named Mary Green, see Mary Green (disambiguation).

Mary Green (ca 1840s – 1912) is recognized as the first African-American settler to the Arizona Territory. A formerly enslaved woman from the American south, she later became the first black pioneer to own land in Tempe, Arizona and the mother of the first African-American child born in Arizona. Today, Tempe's Mary and Moses Green Park is named after her.

Biography

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Tempe, Arizona in the 1870s, just before Mary Green made her homestead claim.

Mary Green was born into slavery in the 1840s. By the 1860s she was a domestic worker employed by the Columbus Harrison and Marcy Adeline Norris Gray family.[1][2] Columbus Gray was a former Confederate officer from Arkansas.[3][4][5] The Grays, along with Green and her two children, arrived in the Salt River Valley area that is today's Phoenix on August 18, 1968.[6][7][8] They travelled via mule wagon from Union County, Arkansas.[9]

She remained in the employ of the Gray family in the Phoenix area at least until 1887.[10] Green was believed to be illiterate. In 1870, Mary's son Moses was recognized as the first African-American birth in Arizona Territory.[11]

Phoenix, Arizona's City Hall pictured in the 1890s

In 1888, Mary Green became the first black pioneer to file a homestead claim in Tempe, Arizona.[12] That year, she claimed 160 acres of land in Tempe's outskirts for herself and her six children. In 1900, Mary relocated to Phoenix, but her children remained in the Tempe area where they would become ranchers in the Kyrene district.[13][14]

Mary died in 1912 and is interred in Phoenix's Greenwood Cemetery.[10]

In 2023, the City of Tempe's City Council renamed the former Harelson Park to Mary and Moses Green Park to recognize Mary and her son Moses as the first African American landowners in what is now Tempe.[15][16]

See also

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  • Helen K. Mason, Green's great-granddaughter[17]
  • Clara Brown, First black settler to Colorado, who arrived in the territory as a domestic servant as Green did.

References

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  1. ^ "AFRICAN AMERICAN HISTORIC PROPERTY SURVEY" City of Phoenix. Prepared by: David R. Dean and Jean A. Reynolds, Athenaeum Public History Group for the City of Phoenix Historic Preservation Office. October 2004.
  2. ^ Gober, Patricia (2013-02-12). Metropolitan Phoenix: Place Making and Community Building in the Desert. University of Pennsylvania Press. ISBN 978-0-8122-0582-4.
  3. ^ Luberto, Kaely Monahan and Amanda. "Is Arizona erasing Black history? These leaders say contributions 'systemically oppressed'". The Arizona Republic. Retrieved 2025-02-07.
  4. ^ "An AZ Piece Of 'The Great Migration': Phoenix And McNary". KJZZ. 2021-02-22. Retrieved 2025-02-07.
  5. ^ Jr, Alton Hornsby (2011-08-23). Black America: A State-by-State Historical Encyclopedia [2 volumes]. Bloomsbury Publishing USA. p. 36. ISBN 978-1-57356-976-7.
  6. ^ "Today in Arizona History". AP News. 2019-08-14. Retrieved 2025-02-07.
  7. ^ City of Phoenix (2023-02-01), Black History Month - First African American Family in Phoenix and the Black Theatre Troupe, retrieved 2025-02-07
  8. ^ "Copper State, Red Lines: The Long Battle Against Racial Injustice in Phoenix". PHOENIX magazine. 2020-08-19. Retrieved 2025-02-07.
  9. ^ "Mary Adeline Norris Gray article". Arizona Daily Star. 1929-04-03. p. 9. Retrieved 2025-02-07.
  10. ^ a b Carr, Donna L. (February 17, 2023). ""Daisy Ray Green, 1894-1902" Category: Black History". Pioneers' Cemetery Association Phoenix, AZ. Retrieved 2025-02-07.
  11. ^ Reid-Merritt, Patricia (2018-12-07). A State-by-State History of Race and Racism in the United States: [2 volumes]. Bloomsbury Publishing USA. ISBN 979-8-216-14889-0.
  12. ^ "Honoring Tempe's Black History | Downtown Tempe". www.downtowntempe.com. Retrieved 2025-02-07.
  13. ^ Mark, By Jay. "Black history more readily available with curator's book". The Arizona Republic. Retrieved 2025-02-07.
  14. ^ "History of African-Americans in Tempe". Arizona PBS. Retrieved 2025-02-07.
  15. ^ "Street and Park Renaming | City of Tempe, AZ". www.tempe.gov. Archived from the original on 2025-01-24. Retrieved 2025-02-07.
  16. ^ "City Park Map | City of Tempe, AZ". www.tempe.gov. Archived from the original on 2023-06-05. Retrieved 2025-02-07.
  17. ^ Cite error: The named reference :02 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
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