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Biography · Civil Rights & Community

Dorothy Mae Richardson

1923–1991

United States

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Biography

Dorothy Mae Richardson (May 3, 1922 – April 28, 1991) was an African American community activist who is credited with introducing a new model of community development in the late 1960s when she led a resident campaign for better housing in her neighborhood on the Central North Side of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. In the mid-1960s, Richardson and her neighbors enlisted city bankers and government officials to help improve their neighborhood. Together, they convinced 16 financial institutions to give out conventional loans to the community, which were used to finance the rehabilitation of dilapidated homes.

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Biography text · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Source checked 2026-10-13

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