"BarbarCyrus" (October 13,1917-September 23,2011)

From  Minneapolis Minnesota she was one of two daughters of Robert & Eva

Mallory.Her daddy was a waiter at one of  the downtown hotels in Minneapolis (the Curtis).The Cyrus family had moved to Minnesota as part of the Great Migration of Southern African American from the south in the early 20 Century.Barbara family received many treats from white Minneapolis residents for moving to a neighborhood that was 'off limits' to African Americans.Undaunted,her family endured and Barbara graduated from Minneapolis Central High School in 1935.

After High School she attended the University of Minnesota and worked in the library at the Phyllis Wheatley Settlement house in Minneapolis,which along,with the Hallie Q.Brown Center in St.Paul,served as a social center for African American University students,Barbara once commented about those years saying,"We had fraternity and sorority dances at Phyllis Wheatley and basketball tournaments and plays."


An active member of St.Thomas Episcopal Church,in 1954,Barbara also founded the "Twin cities Book Club," an African-American woman's literary club that also brought in African American dignitaries to speak.She was also a member of the Pragmatia Sorority and the Socialities Club.She worked as an editor for Honeywell and wrote her own column for the Minneapolis Spokesman and Twin Cities Observer newspaper for many years.Barbara was one of the journalists who accompanied the African American delegation to the 1968 Democratic convention in Chicago,covering it for the Minneapolis Spokesman.

In her later years the encountered health issues that confined her to a wheel chair,yet she remained very active in the Minneapolis and St.Paul Community.Barbara was the focal point of a 2002 University of Minnesota Alumni articles on the history of African American representation at the school.Barbara died of cancer.