Phyllis Terrell was born on April 2, 1898 in Washington, DC. to Mary Church Terrell, an activist and civic leader, and Robert H. Terrell,the first Black municipal court judge in D.C., and was appointed by Presidents Taft, Roosevelt, and Wilson. She was named after Phyllis Wheatley, the first African-American author of a book of poetry, and had an adopted sister, Mary. Phyllis married first Lieutenant William C. Goines in 1930, and later married Lathall DeWitt Langston. Her mother, Mary Church Terrell was the president of the National Association of Colored Women which exposed Phyllis Terrell to activism involving rights for women and races. Seeing her mother's work, prompted Phyllis to join the National Association of Colored Women. Phyllis and her mother, Mary, kept in contact through letters where Phyllis addressed her mother as "My dearest mother," and signed the letters "Your little daughter, Phyllis" or "Lovingly, Phippie" for almost 40 years.
Activism
Phyllis, along with her mother, picketed the White House during the National Woman's Party demonstrations that called on President Woodrow Wilson to support a federal woman suffrage amendment. She and her mother received pins commemorating their participation in the White House protest in 1921. In August 1939, Phyllis along with her mother Mary, visited San Francisco and Oakland on a tour of California. While there Phyllis visited the home of Irene Belle Ruggles, the president of the California Association of Colored Women and The Association of Colored Women of San Francisco, and listened to her mother give a speech commending the hospitable people they met on their trip and the glories of Treasure Island. She became the postmaster for new generations of suffragists and civil rights organizations. She also assisted historians and scholars regarding the plight of African Americans and worked closely with National Association of Colored Women's Clubs. Phyllis Terrell watched the launching of a ship with Harriet Tubman's name in 1944 with a group of women from the National Council of Negro Women. The National Association of Colored Women, or NAWC, was founded in 1896 by black reformers like Sojourner Truth, Frances Ellen Watkins Harper, and Harriet Tubman. These women were often excluded from organizations, so they created the NACW to empower women like themselves. It eventually became the largest federation of local black women's clubs and Mary Church Terrell, Phyllis’s mother became the first president. The NACW advocated to improve the lives of African Americans. Their motto was “Lifting as We Climb” which embodied their mission of advocating for women’s rights along with improving the status of African Americans.|alt=|240x240px
Phyllis attended the best schools in the northern United States and graduated from Wilberforce University, a historic black university, before becoming a teacher. While a senior student at Howard University College of Music, Phyllis was assigned to conduct piano classes in the absence of the professor. She was one of the most promising students in the College of Music, commended for her natural talent at playing piano.
