Zerita J. Carter
Public schools educator and widow of leading civil rights activist Walter P. Carter was an avid collector of black dolls
Zerita J. Carter, a retired Baltimore public schools educator who was the widow of noted 1960s-era civil rights activist Walter P. Carter, died Tuesday from complications of lung disease at Sinai Hospital.
The longtime Ashburton resident was 84.
The daughter of Wilbert Richardson, a security guard, and Ernestine Richardson, a child care provider, the former Zerita Joy Richardson was born and raised in West Baltimore.
“As a teenager growing up in segregated Maryland, she worked summers as a dishwasher in Ocean City,” her daughter, Del. Jill Priscilla Carter, a Baltimore Democrat, wrote in an email. “She also worked at Hendin’s Hollywood Fashions, a women’s clothing store, that was on Pennsylvania Avenue.”
After graduating in 1951 from Frederick Douglass High School, she earned a bachelor’s degree in 1955 from Morgan State University.
After college, she worked as a recreation leader for McCulloh Homes, Gilmor Homes and Poe Homes.
One day her older brother, Wilbert “Billy” Richardson, brought Mr. Carter home to meet his sister.
“At the time, my father was working in real estate and Uncle Billy thought he was a good prospect,” wrote Ms. Carter. “No one knew it at the time that he would commit his life to civil rights. He liked my mom’s combination of sweetness and pragmatism, and thought she was an excellent person.”
They married in 1954. Mr. Carter later became an assistant professor of sociology at what is now Loyola University Maryland, and a leading civil rights activist.
“He was eight years older but they clicked,” said Ms. Carter, who lives in Baltimore. “She was humble and unassuming and always said, ‘I always wondered why he liked me.’ ”
Mr. Carter, who died in 1971, was chairman of the Baltimore chapter of the Congress of Racial Equality and a leader in the struggle to desegregate public accommodations in Maryland. He also was the Maryland coordinator for the historic 1963 March on Washington.
Iris G. Reeves, a former 5th District city councilwoman, said she had known Mrs. Carter since 1961.
“I got to know her through her husband, who was a friend of my husband, Norman V. Reeves, [5th District city councilman] so it was a natural transition for us as wives of friends. Plus, they were both active in the civil rights movement,” she said.
“She was really more of a homebody who took care of the homefront and children, which allowed her husband to be in the forefront of the civil rights movement at that time in Baltimore and Maryland,” said Mrs. Reeves, who served on the City Council from 1983 to 1995. “She was the kind of person you would want in a wife.”
Mrs. Carter was an active member of the 5 and 5 Democratic Club during the 1970s and 1980s, and had been a member of the Community Health Council of Maryland.
“Mom believed decency was among the most important of human traits and prided herself on living a life of supreme decency,” wrote Ms. Carter. “She instilled that in us. She was fiercely loyal and devoted to family and friends, an unassuming woman with tremendous wisdom. She was selfless in giving of herself to others and asking nothing in return.”
After her husband’s death, Mrs. Carter became certified as an early childhood educator and taught students at Samuel Coleridge-Taylor Elementary School from 1971 until retiring in 2000. In 1997, she was named Teacher of the Year.
Mrs. Carter was a lifelong active member of St. James Episcopal Church in Lafayette Square, where she volunteered with the church’s food pantry and was a member of the Rector’s Guild and the Call Girls.
Mrs. Carter had a wellhoned reputation as an indefatigable shopper.
“Zerita Joy was a very quiet and gentle individual who had a number of friends,” said Mrs. Reeves. “She had a passion for shopping in thrift stores and loved a bargain. We took excursions to stores in Hanover, Pa., and we particularly liked Value City. You could find us traveling most weekends to go shopping.”
“She made bargain shopping an art, and could be found most days toiling about local thrift shops and stores,” wrote her daughter.
Mrs. Reeves recalled one shopping trip to Hanover on a cold winter’s day. “I had a 1980 BMW . ... The heater wasn’t working and it was freezing. There was an ice cream shop that we liked, so we stopped,” recalled Mrs. Reeves. “We really wanted that ice cream and we got it and ate shivering while bundled up.”
“Zerita Joy’s death is a tremendous loss for me,” said Mrs. Reeves. “She was my road buddy and dear friend.”
Mrs. Carter was an avid collector of black dolls and had amassed a collection of more than 500. She was also a member of the Charm City Dolling Club of Maryland.
She enjoyed playing pinochle and was a member of several card groups, including The Spockettes, that met to play cards and have lunch.
Funeral services will be held at her church, 1020 W. Lafayette Ave., at 11 a.m. Friday.
In addition to her daughter, Mrs. Carter is survived by another daughter, Judith Cox of Baltimore; and two granddaughters.