List of Spelman College people
The list of Spelman College people includes notable alumnae and faculty of Spelman College.
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/91/Marian_Wright_Edelman_01.jpg/120px-Marian_Wright_Edelman_01.jpg)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/96/Harris_mj.jpg/120px-Harris_mj.jpg)
U.S. Air Force photo of Marcelite J. Harris
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/59/Alice_Walker.jpg/120px-Alice_Walker.jpg)
Author Alice Walker
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/77/Audrey_Manley%2C_DHHS_official_bw_photo.jpg/120px-Audrey_Manley%2C_DHHS_official_bw_photo.jpg)
Audrey F. Manley, former Surgeon General of the USA
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/71/AverySunshine2014.jpg/120px-AverySunshine2014.jpg)
Avery Sunshine
Name | Class year | Notability | Reference(s) |
---|---|---|---|
Stacey Abrams | 1995 | Politician, House Minority Leader for the Georgia General Assembly and State Representative for the 89th House District. First African-American woman in the U.S. to win a major party's nomination for governor. | |
Tina McElroy Ansa | 1971 | Author, Baby of the Family, Ugly Ways, The Hand I Fan With, and You Know Better | [1] |
Blanche Armwood | 1906 | Educator, activist; the first African-American woman in the state of Florida to graduate from an accredited law school; Armwood High School in Tampa, FL is named in her honor | |
Daphne L. Smith | 1980 | First African-American woman to earn a Ph.D. in mathematics from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) | |
Mary Barksdale | 1942 | Past President, Jack and Jill (organization) | |
Loretta Copeland Biggs | 1976 | Judge of the United States District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina | |
Janet Bragg | 1931 | Aviation pioneer; first African-American female to obtain a commercial pilot license | |
Rosalind G. Brewer | 1984 | Chief Executive Officer, Walgreens; Chief Operating Officer, Starbucks; Executive Vice President, Walmart Stores, Inc. and President Walmart Stores South, USA; Board of Directors, Lockheed Martin | |
Ada E. Brown | 1996 | First African-American woman federal judge in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas | |
Linda Goode Bryant | 1981 | Documentary filmmaker, Flag Wars; Peabody Award winner and 2004 Guggenheim Fellow | |
Selena Sloan Butler | 1888 | Founder first black Parent-Teacher organization, the National Congress for Colored Parents & Teachers; co-founder the National Parent-Teacher Association | |
Sheila L. Chamberlain | 1981 | Pilot, lawyer | |
Pearl Cleage | 1971 | Novelist, playwright, poet, essayist, and journalist | [1] |
Cassi Davis | 1988 | actress House of Payne | |
Ethel McGhee Davis | 1919 | Student Adviser and Dean of Women at Spelman College | |
Ruth A. Davis | 1966 | 24th Director General of the United States Foreign Service; Director, Foreign Service Institute and two-time recipient of the President's Award for Distinguished Federal Civilian Service | |
Phire Dawson | 2008 | "Barker's Beauty" on The Price Is Right | |
Mattiwilda Dobbs | 1937 | Opera singer; served on the Board of Directors for the Metropolitan Opera and the National Endowment for the Arts | [1] |
Marian Wright Edelman | 1960 | Founder of the Children's Defense Fund; MacArthur Fellow; Heinz Award; Presidential Medal of Freedom | [1] |
Christine King Farris | 1948 | Public speaker and educator who teaches at Spelman College, she is the eldest and only living sibling of the late Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. | |
Tia Fuller | 1998 | Saxophonist, composer, and educator | |
Nora A. Gordon | 1888 | Began the tradition of Spelman missionary work to Africa[2] | |
Beverly Guy-Sheftall | Author, feminist scholar, founder of Women's Research and Resource Center at Spelman College | ||
Evelynn M. Hammonds | 1976 | Dean of Harvard College, Professor of the History of Science and of African and African American Studies at Harvard University | |
Marcelite J. Harris | 1964 | First African-American female to obtain the rank of General in the United States Air Force | |
Paula Hicks-Hudson | 1973 | First African-American female mayor of Toledo, Ohio | |
Varnette Honeywood | 1972 | Creator of the Little Bill character | [1] |
Clara Ann Howard | 1887 | Baptist missionary in Africa, longtime Spelman staff | |
Alexine Clement Jackson | 1956 | Chair, Susan G. Komen for the Cure and former National President of the YWCA | |
Adrienne-Joi Johnson | 1988 | Actress "House Party", "Baby Boy" | |
Bernette Joshua Johnson | 1964 | First African-American and second female Chief Justice of the Louisiana Supreme Court | [3] |
Clara Stanton Jones | 1934 | First African-American President of the American Library Association | |
Tayari Jones | 1991 | Author of Leaving Atlanta and The Untelling and English professor at Emory University | |
Bettina Judd | 2005 | Artist and poet | [4] |
Alberta Williams King | (high school) | Mother of Martin Luther King Jr. | |
Bernice King | 1986 | President, SCLC, daughter of Martin Luther King Jr. | |
Audrey F. Manley | 1955 | President Emerita of Spelman College, former Assistant Surgeon General of the United States, former Acting Surgeon General of the United States | |
Harriet Mitchell Murphy | 1949 | First African-American female judge in Texas | [5] |
Tanya Walton Pratt | 1981 | Judge, United States District Court for the Southern District of Indiana | |
Deborah Prothrow-Stith | 1975 | First female Commissioner of Public Health for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts; Associate Dean for Faculty Development and Professor at Harvard School of Public Health | [1] |
Keshia Knight Pulliam | 2001 | Actress The Cosby Show, House of Payne | |
Tanika Ray | 1994 | Actress and television personality | |
Bernice Johnson Reagon | 1970 | Founder of Sweet Honey in the Rock; MacArthur Fellow; Professor Emeritus American University Curator Emeritus, Smithsonian Institution National Museum American History; National Humanities Medal; Heinz Award | [1] |
LaTanya Richardson | 1971 | Actress (The Fighting Temptations, Losing Isaiah, Malcolm X) and wife of actor Samuel L. Jackson | [1] |
Rubye Robinson | 1963 | Civil Rights activist, Executive Secretary of SNCC | |
Shaun Robinson | 1984 | Co-anchor, Access Hollywood; former host, TV One Access | |
Esther Rolle | attended | Actress, Good Times | |
Dovey Johnson Roundtree | 1938 | Trial attorney, military veteran, AMEC minister, and civil rights pioneer; landmark case: Sarah Keys v. Carolina Coach Company | |
Eva Rutland | 1937 | Author, When We Were Colored: A Mother's Story; Winner of the 2000 Golden Pen Lifetime Achievement Award, and author of more than 20 Romance novels | |
Brenda V. Smith | 1980 | Law professor, American University; appointed by Nancy Pelosi to the National Prison Rape Elimination Commission | |
Maxine Smith | 1949 | Academic, civil rights activist, and school board official | [6] |
Sharmell Sullivan | 1990 | Miss Black America 1991, "TNA Knockout", and wife of professional wrestler Booker T | |
Sue Bailey Thurman | 1920 | Founder and first chairperson, National Council of Negro Women's National Library | |
Alice Walker | attended | Pulitzer Prize–winning novelist, The Color Purple | [1] |
Marian Mereba | 2011 | Singer, songwriter, and producer | |
Talitha Washington | 1996 | African-American mathematician and STEM activist | |
Rolonda Watts | 1980 | Journalist, actor, writer, former talk show host | |
Denise Nicole White known as "AverySunshine" | 1998 | Singer and pianist | |
Kiron Skinner | 1981 | College professor and former Director of Policy Planning at the United States Department of State | |
Ella Gaines Yates | 1949 | First African-American director of the Atlanta-Fulton Public Library System | |
Tanika Ray | 1994 | Entertainment reporter, host, and actress | [7] |
Notable faculty[]
- Alma Jean Billingslea (born 1946), civil rights activist and author
- Sylvia Bozeman (born 1947), mathematician and educator
- Ayoka Chenzira (born 1953), director, producer, writer, and animator
- Pearl Cleage (born 1948), author
- Jelani Cobb (born 1969), writer, author, educator
- Julie Dash (born 1952), filmmaker[8]
- Christine King Farris (born 1927), author, sister of Martin Luther King Jr.
- Shirley Franklin (born 1945), former Atlanta mayor
- Beverly Guy-Sheftall (born 1946), black feminist scholar
- Joyce Johnson (born Joyce Finch), concert pianist and college organist
- Sophia B. Jones (1857–1932), first African-American faculty member, organized nursing program
- Shirley McBay (born 1935), founder of the Quality Education for Minorities (QEM) Network
- LaVon Mercer (born 1959), American-Israeli basketball player
- Howard Zinn (1922–2010), historian
- Etta Zuber Falconer (1933–2002), educator and mathematician
References[]
- ^ a b c d e f g h i "Spelman College". The New Georgia Encyclopedia. Georgia Humanities Council and the University of Georgia Press. Retrieved January 30, 2008.
- ^ Weisenfeld, Judith; Newman, Richard (23 April 2014). This Far By Faith: Readings in African-American Women's Religious Biography. New York, New York: Routledge. p. 224. ISBN 978-1-136-66351-2.
- ^ "Bernette Joshua Johnson". intelius.com. Retrieved July 19, 2015.
- ^ "Bettina Judd — Department of Women's Studies at Univ. of Maryland". wmst.umd.edu. Retrieved 2016-03-05.
- ^ "Harriet Murphy". diversity.utexas.edu. 14 April 2016. Retrieved 11 July 2018.
- ^ "Maxine A. Smith NAACP Collection". Digital Library of Georgia. Retrieved June 3, 2016.
- ^ "Lady Jaguars: 10 Famous Women Who Attended Spelman College". madamenoire.com.
- ^ "Groundbreaking Filmmaker Julie Dash Joins Spelman as Distinguished Professor". Spelman College. September 2017. Retrieved 2019-12-19.
Categories:
- Spelman College
- Lists of people by university or college in Georgia (U.S. state)