There she lived with her maternal grandmother, Ella, a formerly enslaved woman who owned land, ran a farm and boarding house, and took in laundry to support her family.
[6] These experiences, as well as her childhood growing up in the South, led Roberts to become involved in the burgeoning Civil Rights Movement, both nationally and locally.
[7] She participated in school desegregation protests in Cleveland and followed the work of local activists Ruth Turner and Lewis G.
[9] In September 1965, she held the first meeting of Domestic Workers of America at St. James AME Church with the help of the Cleveland chapter of CORE.
[10] To recruit new members, Roberts would stand at bus stops where many domestic workers boarded busses and she would hold signs, distribute leaflets, and chant slogans to get them involved.
[11] DWA’s office moved across the city throughout its lifetime and in its early years were primarily funded by a grant from the Council of Economic Opportunity.
[12] Legal Aid of Cleveland, CORE, and other community volunteers helped DWA form a charter and a board; Geraldine Roberts was elected as president of the organization.
[14] By the 1980s, the organization’s funding and membership waned as nationally, many Black women left domestic work and many migrants from the Global South filled their positions.
[11] In the early 1990s, she formed the Grandmothers and Grandfathers Project that sought to organize older members of the community to support Cleveland’s youth.
[3] Guglielmo, Jennifer, A History of Domestic Work and Worker Organizing, https://www.dwherstories.com/ Roberts, Geraldine, Interview with Malaika Lumumba, August 1, 1970.