Elizabeth ‘Betty’ Norris, career postal clerk and trailblazing Black homeowner in Minneapolis, dies at 93

Elizabeth Jean “Betty” Norris commuted by bike in an era when that wasn’t all the rage in Minneapolis, wheeling her way to work from the south Minneapolis neighborhood where she was among the first Black homeowners, to downtown where she built a 30-year career with the U.S. Postal Service.

Norris died on June 9 following an illness. She was 93.

Norris worked the overnight shift as a clerk inside the big, beautiful downtown Minneapolis post office. It was an era when the Postal Service was among the most desirable career destinations for African Americans, said daughter Michele Norris, a national journalist who once hosted National Public Radio’s “All Things Considered” program. While employed there, Norris appeared on the cover of a Postal Service career textbook in bluejeans and a vest.

Michele Norris fondly recalled her mother’s get-up as she tooled her three-speed bike downtown: bell bottoms cuffed with rubber bands so they wouldn’t get greasy, purse in her bike basket and “Jackie O-style scarf on her head.

“She wore cowboy boots and bowties. She was an individual. ... She was not following trends and in retrospect she was probably helping set them,” Michele Norris said.

Norris met her former husband on the job; he worked days as a counter clerk. The two had three daughters together, including Michele.

She found other ways to make the post office more than just a workplace. Norris created a library inside the station, as it was challenging for overnight workers to make it to the public library during the day. With a single room lined with books, she created an organizational system and a system for lending.

“In a world that had not yet opened up in the way that it has now, there were a lot of people of color, a lot of women, a lot of people from small-town America that had made their way to the Twin Cities ... that if circumstances were different, might have been able to get a college education,” Michele Norris said.

Betty Norris read everything: newspapers, Westerns, British mysteries. She liked theater and TV, too, said granddaughter Aja Johnson, who remembers watching “Downton Abbey” together and sharing ice cream. The two spoke daily until her grandmother’s death, Johnson said.

Her sweet tooth was prolific. Norris particularly loved root beer floats and coffee ice cream, which became Johnson’s favorite, too.

“I think the lesson there for me and for my family, too, is she kind of put joy at the forefront of her life, and was always laughing and always finding reasons to be happy. ... I think that’s what we’ll miss most about her,” Johnson said.

Norris was an example for her as she moves into adulthood, said Johnson, who is a law student. She lived on her own until 90 years old, Johnson said.

“She was a cool woman. She grew up in the Depression and was always fiercely independent up until she passed, always put herself first,” Johnson said.

‘Fearlessly loyal to the state’

The Norris family are fourth-generation Minnesotans — which is somewhat unusual. Many Black families made their way to Minnesota during the Great Migration from the Southern states, but the family predated that. Norris was born in Duluth before her family ended up in the Twin Cities.

When Norris and her husband purchased a home in south Minneapolis, in the 4800 block of Oakland Avenue, they were the sole Black family in what was then a white neighborhood. Neighbors hurried to sell their homes as property values began to fall. Nobody wanted to live next to the Negro family and people hung nasty signs outside their homes, Michele Norris said.

But their homes wouldn’t sell. Norris did not shrink and hide her family away. When prospective buyers were at the neighboring homes, Betty sent her brown-skinned daughters out to play in the backyard so they knew exactly who their neighbors would be.

“Mom showed her character and she didn’t cower and she didn’t hide, she didn’t pull the curtains,” Michele said. “They probably worked even harder to make sure their house was a standout, knowing that everyone was watching them.”

Eventually, the only buyer a neighbor could find was another Black family; the Norrises formed a close bond with them. Over time, the neighborhood and schools integrated.

“She really was a Minnesotan, fearlessly loyal to the state, to the sports teams, to the way of life, to the politics of Minnesota, all of that was deeply reflected in who she was,” her daughter said.

Services have been held.