Beneta A. Edwards
*Beneta Edwards McHie was born on this date in 1913. She was a Black social worker and librarian.
Beneta Amelia Edwards, born in Saint Paul, Minnesota, was the daughter of Benjamin Franklin Edwards and Lola Dodd Ford Edwards and had one sister, Leatrice Dodd. Her grandparents escaped from Kentucky (Annie Ford) and Texas (Benjamin Edwards) to Chicago separately through the Underground Railroad and during the Great Migration. Her parents met after her father was mustered out of the Army, and from there, they moved to St. Paul.
Edwards and her sister grew up in a home with a tradition of involvement in women's education and racial justice issues. Their community was called Rondo, a predominantly Black community destroyed by America’s urban renewal in the 1960s.
In her youth, she participated at the Hallie Q. Brown Center and took piano lessons from the MacPhail School of Music. Edwards attended McKinley Elementary and Mechanic Arts High School in Saint Paul. As a student, Edwards was engaged with the community and was especially interested in theater throughout her later life. She enrolled at Hamline University and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in sociology in 1935.
She married John McHie, Jr., and the couple had two children: John McHie III and Benjamin McHie. She adopted Marcel Laursen. She worked for the Hennepin County welfare department for many years and then moved on to do research and administration as a librarian for the Minneapolis Public Library. She also started her secretarial service.
As an adult, her community involvement spanned a wide range of groups, including the Adelphia Club, the Credjafawn Club, and the Twin City Forty Club. Political organizations included the Governors Human Rights Commission and church groups included the Saint Agnes Guild of Saint Thomas Episcopal Church (Minneapolis), where she was an organist for over 30 years. She was a long-time member of the National Association of College Women. Beneta Edwards McHie died on October 29, 1989.
