In the 1930s when Parrish learned she could not join a Parent Teacher Association in Louisville , Kentucky , she organized her own in the city 's black-only school . She refused to accept that black children were without a playground and showed up at the mayor 's office to demand one be built . Three weeks later , the children had their playground . When she brought ten little girls with her to the local YWCA , " they called the police and said you may not stay here , these children are not welcome . " She then organized a new chapter : the Phillis Wheatley ( West End ) YWCA . She also served as the first president of the Colored Republican 's Women 's Club in Louisville . In 1932 she served as an alternate delegate to the National Republican Convention in Chicago
National Republican Convention
1932 Republican National Convention
Mary Virginia Cook Parrish