Chicago has lost a long-time champion of labor, civil and women’s rights. Beatrice (Bea) Lumpkin died on June 14, 2026 at 107 years old. In her decades of union activism, Bea could frequently be found on picket lines. In 1974, she was one of the founders of the Coalition of Labor Union Women, one of the partners of Working Women’s History Project, and was highly supportive of our organization.

We’ll be writing more about Bea in one of our future newsletters. A celebration of Bea Lumpkin’s life will be held on August 9 at 1:00 p.m. at CTU Center, 1901 W. Carroll in Chicago.