Ella Josephine Baker (December 13, 1903 – December 13, 1986) was an
African-American civil rights and
human rights activist. She was a largely behind-the-scenes organizer whose career spanned over five decades. She worked alongside some of the most famous civil rights leaders of the 20th century, including
W. E. B. Du Bois,
Thurgood Marshall,
A. Philip Randolph, and
Martin Luther King, Jr. She also mentored many emerging activists such as
Diane Nash,
Stokely Carmichael,
Rosa Parks, and
Bob Moses. She was a critic of
professionalized,
charismatic leadership and a promoter of
grassroots organizing and
radical democracy. She has been called "One of the most important African American leaders of the twentieth century and perhaps the most influential woman in the
civil rights movement."