Bertha Gilkey was born March 18, 1948 in Round Pond, Arkansas, the 2nd of 14 children. In 1960 Bertha and her family moved to St. Louis and resided in a 3 bedroom apartment in Cochran Gardens, the first high-rise development project in St. Louis.

Bertha was an activist for welfare and tenant rights since the age of 14. In the mid-70s, she organized the tenants of a deteriorated public housing complex and fought to gain control of thier community and their destiny. She was instrumental in founding the Cochran Tenant Management Corporation. She also was fundamental in obtaining over $30 Million in federal funds for renovations and new construction within the St. Louis area for better housing.

In 1969, Bertha was 20 years old with 2 children and was a self-proclaimed Black Panther. She led a nine month rent strike of some 22,000 public housing tenants against mismanagement of municipal agencies and the intolerable living conditions of St. Louis high-rise developments such as Pruitt-Igoe and Cochran Gardens. Bertha was the founder and President of Urban Women, Inc., a consulting firm that provided leadership and management training to tenant groups.

Bertha’s experience fell in accourd with the Republican compaign for deregulation and changing the rules of welfare administration. In 1987, Bertha, among other activists, were invited to join President Ronald Reagan as he signed the Housing and Community Development Act of 1987.

1991, Bertha was commended by President George Bush, for her tenant mangement and for attacking “government bureacracy” and the “solutions of the 1960s.”

In 1992, Bertha was honored by Oprah Winfrey and recieved an Essence Award. 1993 Bertha was the subject of an NBC show “Fired Up: The Bertha Gilkey Story”.

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