Frances Bates Francis
By Mary Hoar, City of Yonkers Historian
Born in 1902, Yonkers’ ultimate community volunteer Frances Bates Francis spent her earliest years in New York. Born to William and Fannie Bates, Frances and family moved to Yonkers when she was ten. She attended School Two on Waverly Street, then obtained working papers at the age of 14. Mrs. Francis began her career of community service at an early age; during World War I, she helped sell War Bonds.
At the age of eighteen, she married World War I Veteran Roland G. Francis, who served with the “Fighting 15th” of the 369th Infantry.
Roland was one of the founders of the Samuel H. Dow Post 1017, American Legion, in 1929. Together they forged a bond of volunteerism and activism.
One of Frances’ great talents was singing; a soprano with the Messiah Baptist Choir, she performed solos and parts in their religious cantatas, such as “Esther.” She performed at more than one patriotic meeting of the Yonkers Forum of Messiah Baptist Church; the Forum was an active discussion group with a strong history of social service and charitable works. President Marion Moore Day was daughter of “The New York Age” owner and publisher Fred Moore, and stressed the importance of organized efforts to help “less fortunate members” of the group. It also took stands on community injustice, such as sending their resolution to Congress requesting lynching be outlawed in the country or asking Westchester DA Frank Coyne to investigate threats against Black doctors who moved into a White Plains white neighborhood.
From the early 1940s, the couple were active members of the Bethany Lutheran Evangelic Church; Frances was a member of the Altar Guild and Roland was Church Clerk.
Frances, besides being one of the founders of the Dow Post Auxiliary, served as President for two years and chaired its Americanism and Publicity committees. A member of the Westchester County Past Presidents’ Parley of the American Legion Auxiliary, she served as County Chairman of Publicity and Radio, the first African American to have an official role in the county organization.
Active in the Order of the Eastern Star of Prince Hall (Yonkers), Frances served in various capacities, including as the youngest Worthy Matron of the Terrace City Chapter and Grand Matron of Eureka Grand Chapter, Eastern Star of the State of New York and the Bahama Islands. She also was Deputy Grand Matron of the International Conference of the Grand Chapters of the Eastern Star of the United States and Africa.
Frances organized of Girl Scout Troop 41, served as Troop Leader, and was Corresponding Secretary of the Girl Scout Leaders Association. She organized the Bushey Avenue Homeowner’s Association and was its Corresponding Secretary.
Although busy with church and community service, Frances still managed to fulfill one of her dreams by returning to school! In 1932, this lifelong learner enrolled at Roosevelt High School, graduating in 1936 with an academic diploma earned with honors. She then took courses at NYU, studying psychology and public speaking.
In 1942, she graduated from Yonkers’ first Red Cross Nursing class; she earned her cap as a Nurse’s Aide after completing the stringent Red Cross coursework, and helped fill a worrisome World War II Homefront shortage. Mrs. Francis became a licensed Practical Nurse.
She was an active member of the Family Service Society of Yonkers’ Advisory Case Committee and the Yonkers Salvation Army Advisory Council. Other organizations she supported were the Yonkers Historical Society, Nepperhan Community Center, Westchester County Federation of Colored Women’s Clubs, Westchester County Urban League and the NAACP.
Mrs. Francis was politically active, serving many years as a Republican district leader and election inspector. During proportional representation, she not only passed the 1945 Municipal Civil Service Commission test for ballot counting Canvasser, she was selected for the position. Out of sixty Republicans nominated for the job, only 25 were selected. In 1947, she was one of just 20 selected for the job.
On August 5, 1953, Mayor Kristen Kristensen appointed Frances a Trustee on the Yonkers Board of Education, the first Black member of the Board. She was a dedicated Board member, making speeches, attending school activities, programs, graduations, and award ceremonies, while working for change. Among her many accomplishments during her years on the Board, Frances was especially proud of closing School One, a segregated school she felt “offered inferior educational facilities” to Black children. School One students were redistricted to School 5 and School 24; the Dunbar Houses later were built on the School One site. She actively advocated hiring more Black teachers for Yonkers schools. According to a letter she wrote to the Herald Statesman in 1980, she also was “proud of the association with members of the board, and the beautiful way” they worked together.
In 1998, almost thirty-years after her Board of Education service ended, Frances was recognized and honored by teachers and administrators of the Yonkers Public School system. The Yonkers Office of the Aging honored her in 1976 for her support of their services, including serving as a delegate to the Westchester Council of the Aging. Other honors were bestowed by her Eastern Star and veterans’ auxiliary.
Frances Bates Francis passed away April 1991, just a month after her 89th birthday, leaving behind a heritage of activism and community service.
Frances Francis left Yonkers a better place for us all.
