When a Black Girl Matters

Abstract When she graduated in June 1937, Edith Renfrow became Grinnell College's first Black alumna. While such groundbreaking may seem like an early 20th century example of Black Girl Magic, I argue for the concept of Black Girl Mattering. Turning to life history interviews and a set of family and school photos from Renfrow's girlhood, I find evidence of an upbringing shaped through familial—and especially maternal—investments in her ease, confidence, joy, and quiet defiance. I read these as signs of Black Girl Mattering, which is, I suggest, the backstory to observed instances of Black Girl Magic and which I offer as an important reminder of our collective responsibility to empower Black girls to feel significant enough to exhibit their magic.