[6] When she returned to London she joined the International African Service Bureau, under the leadership of George Padmore, and married Ethnan Cummings-John, a radical lawyer.

In 1937, she returned to Freetown as principal of the African Methodist Episcopal Girls' Industrial School, but her political activities caused her great problems with the British Colonial Office.

During these years, Cummings-John gained a licenciate from the London College of Preceptors, and in 1952 the Governor of Sierra Leone, Sir George Beresford-Stooke, appointed her to the Freetown Council.

The Krio-led opposition then successfully demanded the resignation of both women, but the next year Cummings-John was elected to the Freetown Municipal Council.

In 1966, Prime Minister Albert Margai appointed her as Mayor of Freetown, in succession to Siaka Stevens, but she held the position for only a few months.

[9] She settled again in London, where she became an active member of the Labour Party and the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament and also a school governor.