Answer:
Step-by-step explanation:
1. Mary Ellen Pleasant is nowadays called "Mother of civil rights in California" because she won several lawsuits for the rights of African-Americans.
2. She is considered to be the first African-American female millionaire
3. While it is noted that she was often mistaken for a white and white-passing, she did not conceal her race from other black people and was considered the important black figure in the city.
4. She earned her fortune because she took the business opportunity of owning young men’s boarding houses, and usually the luxurious ones.
5. Her life remains a mystery and that is partly because of the Pleasent herself - she hid many of the facts and created a veil of mystery around her in order to become the bigger and more influential figure, considering her race and sex were disadvantages at the time.