The family of Elizabeth “Betty” Garman Robinson established this fund to honor her life and legacy, passion for organizing, love of Baltimore, and persistent fight against injustice. Proceeds will be donated to organizations reflecting her values. Thank you for your contribution.

Betty Garman Robinson was born January 8, 1939 in New York City and raised in Pleasantville, NY. Betty moved to Atlanta in March 1964 to work full time in the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) office. During her years with SNCC Betty was Chair of the University of California, Berkeley Friends of SNCC chapter; the Northern Friends of SNCC Coordinator; and a member of the SNCC staff in Atlanta, Georgia, Greenwood, Mississippi, and Washington, D.C. Betty served on the SNCC 60th Anniversary Conference Planning Committee and is co-editor of Hands on the Freedom Plow: Personal Accounts by Women in SNCC (University of Illinois Press, 2010).

In 1972, Betty moved to Baltimore to work in a factory, organizing a rank-and-file movement within the union. For 17 years after that she worked in public health, first as a researcher in occupational medicine at Baltimore City Hospitals and then at the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health as a researcher on injury prevention and HIV-AIDS studies. Betty also was the Lead Organizer for the Citizens Planning and Housing Association (CPHA), which organized communities to take action on quality-of-life issues in the Baltimore region. In 2003, she was one of 10 Baltimoreans to receive an Open Society Institute Community Fellowship to popularize the history of social justice organizing in Baltimore and bring organizers together across issues and constituencies. Betty was dedicated to and involved with her community. She was a founding member of Baltimore Racial Justice Action (BRJA), began the Baltimore chapter of Showing Up for Racial Justice (SURJ), worked with the Baltimore Algebra Project, was appointed to and served on the Baltimore City Civilian Review Board, volunteered for many other organizations, and was passionate about mentoring the next generation of Baltimore organizers. 

Betty died unexpectedly in October of 2020. She is survived by her brother, two daughters, three grandchildren, and an extremely large network of other family and friends who love and miss her deeply.