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72867_Mess_Text_SF2K 2/1/01 9:33 PM Page 1MessengerS P E L M A NVOLUME 114 NUMBER 2 SUMMER/FALL 2000Photo: Wilford Harewood2 VoicesThe Revival of the Spirit8 Books & PapersCOVERThe SpelmanPhilanthropic SpiritSee page 14.Founders DayHonorees (left to right) Maxine D.Hayes, C’69, speaker and honorarydegree recipient, President Manley,Lena Johnson McLin, C’51, honorarydegree recipient, and Virginia TurnerDowell, C’47, Founders Spirit Award.See page 10.The Year of the Sciences10 Founders Day 2000A Seamless Integration ofTradition and InnovationMaxine Hayes, M.D., M.P.H, C’6912 Commencement 2000Leadership in the Millennium:The Legacy and the PromiseShirley Ann Jackson, Ph.D.Sister to Sister LetterSee page 20.Golden Girls, C’50See page 29.F e a t u r e14 LEAVING A LIVING LEGACYA Conversation with Isabella McIntyre Tobin, C’4516 THE SPELMANPHILANTHROPIC SPIRIT20 Alumnae NotesFounders DaySee page 10.Photo: Bud smithVoicesSee page 2.26 Reunion 2000ReunionSee page 26.Photo: Bud SmithPhoto: Bud Smith1

72867_Mess_Text_SF2K 2/1/01 9:34 PM Page 3what I could only begin to think about — taking theblessings that I had been given, taking my education andbeginning to put them together in a way that would makea contribution on behalf of all people. Not just for me butfor those who were waiting for just a helping hand and akind word to know that they too could achieve their Godgivenpotentials.I went up to her after she finished speaking and said,“I want to work for you this summer.”She said, “I have no jobs.”I said, “I have to have some money. I don’t haveenough to get through school without making some, butif I figure out how to be paid, will you put me to work?”She said, “ Why would I refuse an offer like that?”So I went out and got what was then called a “LawStudent Civil Rights Research Council Internship Grant.”That was back in those days when there were folks whothought it was a good thing for young law students tolearn about civil rights work and would actually pay us apittance to do so during the summer. So I went to work forMarian in that summer of 1970. And from that experience— working on behalf of migrant laborers, particularlychildren, and working to determine how to stop thespread of segregated academies, working to further theeducation for all children who often were shut out ofschools altogether — the world opened up to me andgave me a vision of what it ought to be because of thework of people like Marian.That vision is something that has changed somewhat.Some days the rainbow does not break through quiteenough. It looks a little gray as I carry it around in myhead but its always there. And it’s that vision that we haveto recreate in this country — not just for each of us butfor all of our people. The challenges ahead of us are goingto be difficult. There is so much that we can do with thekind of energy that’s in this room from song, from wordand from prayer. How then do we go about focusing thatenergy in order to achieve that vision so that we knowwithout thinking that we are finally doing right again?We begin by recognizing that every person is worthy ofdignity and respect. We stand up against disrespect, intolerance,discrimination and hate wherever we see it and wecall it by name. We do it by starting with an economy thatactually gives a legitimate opportunity to all Americans— a new energy that can only flow from a new vision.Service for others changes what you see and what you feel.It is not leadership by two men. It is leadership by millionsof men and women. Bill Clinton and Al Gore cannotchange this country. They can propose policies. They pushthrough changes that on paper appear good. But the onlyway this country will begin moving back towards the visionthat I carry, and that I hope you share, of a country livingup to its ideas is if all of us are a part of the change thiscountry represents.Hillary ClintonWife of Democratic Presidential Candidate, Bill ClintonSisters Chapel Campaign Speech October 1992There is in every person something that waits and listens for thesound of the genuine in herself. This is your assignment. What is yourname? Who are you? Can you find a way to hear the sound of thegenuine in yourself? … Now if I hear the sound of the genuine in meand if you hear the sound of the genuine in you, it is possible for meto go down in me and come up in you. So that when I look at myselfthrough your eyes having made that pilgrimage, I see in me whatyou see in me and the wall that separates and divides will disappearand we will become one because the sound of the genuine makes thesame music. … And when these two sounds come together, this is themusic God heard when He said, “Let us make man in our image.”Howard Thurman“The Sound of the Genuine”Baccalaureate, 1980S U M M E R / F A L L 2 0 0 03

72867_Mess_Text_SF2K 2/1/01 9:34 PM Page 4The 1980sJOHN WESLEY DOBBS’ GREATEST ACHIEVEMENT WAS AS THEpatriarch of a remarkable black family of high achievers— an internationally famous operatic singer and fivecollege professors. All of the Dobbs women graduatedfrom Spelman. This is Spelman’s highest number ofgraduates from one single family. The Dobbs familymaintains strong Spelman ties. All six daughters of Johnand Irene Dobbs were honor graduates. Every Dobbs is apolitician. And every Dobbs daughter would be qualifiedto give a lecture in public affairs even though none ofthem was a major in political science.Maynard Holbrook JacksonFormer Atlanta Mayor1982 Dobbs Lecture Series in Public AffairsSisters ChapelYOUR CONTRIBUTION TO GOD’S WORK, TO GOD’S LOVING WAYS, ISutterly irreplaceable. Nobody can do what only you cando. And so, friends, the world depends on you. And youcan make a difference. And your actions can make a difference.They have made a difference. The United StatesCongress decided to deal with the issue of sanctionsagainst South Africa after it had been utterly inconceivable,and the President of the country was forced to obligesanctions against South Africa, against his will, againsthis desire, because the people wanted it so. People demonstrated,protested. You have done so and you’ve made adifference. And so on behalf of the people back home, Isay, “Thank you.” You will make a difference. The worldwill be a better place because you have been around.Most Reverend Desmond TutuArchbishop of Johannesburg, South Africa1984 Nobel Peace Prize recipient1986 Spelman College International Peace andHumanitarian Award RecipientFirst National Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday CelebrationSisters Chapel, January 1986IN 1953, I WAS COMPLETING MY SOPHOMORE YEAR UNDER THEadministration of Miss Read when word reached campusthat a man, Dr. Albert E. Manley, had been selected as thenext president of Spelman College — a man. This couldnot be! And so a quiet, dignified protest was staged. Inthose days, Spelman women protested in a very, very, ladylikefashion. We wore our gray sweat shirts to chapel in“mourning-like” fashion, and we refused several meals,walking out leaving the food untouched. (Of course, thatwas not a very difficult thing to do.) The Ivy Oration (theclass valedictory) was a protest statement for the next twoyears. The protest speech was subdued only because stu-dents constantly were reminded by faculty and alumnaethat this was a black man coming, and surely this wassome progress. Dr. Manley arrived on campus in the fallof 1953. I must admit, I was one of the leaders of a groupof concerned students to first visit him. We told him therewere serious problems on campus that must be addressedimmediately. For example, three of us were premed students,and we wanted to go to Morehouse to take chemistryclasses, as the chemistry classes offered by Spelmanat that time were for home economics majors. And secondly,the lights-out at 10 P.M. had to go. Many of us werework-study students, and after classes and labs all day,student leadership activities in the evenings, there was notenough time before 10 P.M. to study. Well, things werechanged. Can you imagine Spelman women begging togo to Morehouse to take chemistry classes from Dr. HenryMcBay? But we did and were the first to do so. In addition,in each dormitory was designated a study room wherestudents could go and study after 10 P.M. Then we thoughtthat maybe this man is not too bad after all. Needless tosay, we all fell in love with Dr. Manley, and I must certainlyplead guilty.Audrey F. Manley, M.D.Deputy Assistant Deputy for Health“Leadership Through Service”1989 Founders Day AddressThe 1970sMAKE A DECISION AS TO WHAT YOU WANT TO BE. I WAS DETERMINEDto make it, despite my handicapped situation, because Iwanted to play, skip and run and jump like the other kids.I was always somewhat of a dreamer and always searchingfor what my contribution to society was going tobe. Probably one of the greatest things about the athleticworld is that you have freedom of choice. However, theremay be times when you’ll make the wrong decisions, butyou must be big enough to stick by them. Things worthobtaining in life are worth sacrificing for.Wilma RudolphGold Medal Olympic Champion (Track)1979 Founders Day ConvocationI’M TELLING YOU ABOUT SOME SEVEN YEARS OF RESEARCH THAT I’VEhad the privilege to be involved in — the tracing of ablack family back to 1700 — nine unbroken generationsof them. The result is a book that I am very heavilyengaged in writing. I need about five more months ofactual writing to finish the manuscript. The book will bepublished in the spring of 1971.The title will be BeforeThis Anger. (Editor’s Note: This was the book’s original4S P E L M A N M E S S E N G E R

72867_Mess_Text_SF2K 2/1/01 9:34 PM Page 5Oh it was a wonder! It was something that the Negro womenwill always remember as long as there’s one living. They’llalways remember the sacrifice and the dedication and the lovefor our dear Jesus that helped them to establish Spelman Seminary.And oh, if they could see it now, they would be so glad!Annie Alexander, F.S. (1876–1982)1978 Founders Day at age 101title. You may be more familiar with its final title,Roots.) In a sense, that is the story of all black people.Symbolically, we have this same story.Let me tell you the truth. Talent is distinctly secondaryin any of the creative arts. The thing that is absolutelyparamount, if you hope to succeed in any of them, is thatyou, the individual, somehow have an innate extremeself-discipline capacity — the capacity to do the best thatyou possibly can do. You send it out and get it thrownback at you time and time again but you keep sending itback and keep doing the best that you can do until oneday it works. For me, I have no memory about being aprofessional writer. I wrote every single day seven days aweek for eight years before the first story of mine wasaccepted. Writing a book is like having a baby. Blessedwith a strong sense of or black history, black culture, andblack heritage, I began to match the known with theunknown. Through oral tradition, my mother, aunts andgrandmother had passed down seven unknown distinctsounds of dialects in their stories about our family. If Icould find out what country those unknown sounds camefrom, then I could write a book with all this material.Over 1000 African dialects are spoken but from the collectivesounds that I documented, most of them were translatedinto the Mandinka dialect from the Gambia.There is an expression called the “peak experience.” It isthat emotion that nothing in your life can transcend. Iknow I had mine in that back country of back West Africa.When we got to that village there were four little silly boyson the lookout. I had never been anywhere in my life thateverybody surrounding me was jet black and that hit melike a bombshell. I remember glancing at my own hand,to my own color, in contrast. I was smitten with a crushingfeeling of guilt — like being the impure among thepure. On the other hand, I have never felt blacker in mylife than that morning on the hill in the inner village.They had never seen a black American before. They sawme as a symbol of all of us. The translator said: “Yes, wehave been told by the forefathers that there are many of usthat are in exile in that place called America and in otherplaces.” And the old man told me, through an interpreter,of the Kinte clan. “Praise be to Allah for one lost from uswho God has returned.” My emotions had become physiologicaland every one of my senses had become muted.On our return, when we stopped in a village, the interpretersaid to me to show the villagers my copy of Ebonymagazine. In that setting, the old men’s fingers wouldcome across the silhouette bone structure of tribes ofAfrica in Ebony because every single one of us in thiscountry who is black — some 25 million of us — withoutexception comes from the seed of somebody wholived in one of those villages, spoke one of those dialects,belonged to one of those tribes, was captured in some wayand brought to one of those slave ships across the sameocean into a succession of plantations on up to the CivilWar and something called the Emancipation, and fromthat day to now — an illusion called freedom. And that’sthe story of all black people.And that’s what I’m writing. I told him that what wedo in the writing business is saturation research. I havebeen involved for some two years. What in this book I wantto communicate is telling the humanistic story of one particularfamily and in so doing, telling the story of all of us— millions of us — no matter who we are, wherever welive. This is a book that will be published next spring, 1971,simultaneously into 14 languages. It also will become amajor motion picture, supposedly four hours long, in orderto tell the story of the black people the way it was. (Editor’sNote: Instead, Roots was produced as a 12-hour,Emmy-winning ABC television miniseries.) The firsttime, I am writing the script. I know about that. The picture,the book, the whole thing I hope to project aroundand to the world that it is not just an emotional cry but it isdocumented fact, that it is true that “Black Is Beautiful.”Alex HaleyAuthorConvocation 1970S U M M E R / F A L L 2 0 0 05

72867_Mess_Text_SF2K 2/1/01 9:34 PM Page 6The 1960sIF YOU TAKE YOUR COLLEGE YEARS TO WASTE YOUR TIME AND TALENT,to become socially wise and to grow feathers of sophisticationand external “vogueness,” life will give you a ticket,which you will spend all your days struggling to pay. …How fitting it is today, as we remember the sacrifices of theearly dreamers here in Atlanta, who dreamed of a schoolon this hill for Negro women coming out of the nightmareof slavery and the Civil War. These women weredreamers, but they did not park by their dreams; theybroke camp and started for the high and demandingmountains. What an appropriate time it would have beenfor them to park by their dreams, for the smell of gunpowderwas still in the air, and the ashes of burned ruinswere still piled high in the streets of Atlanta. No one wouldhave blamed these early dreamers if they had taken seriouslyenough the adverse circumstance of the times topull over by the side of life’s highway and wait for a morepromising time. Thank God today that you and I are witnessesto their dreams unfolding before our eyes intomountains of reality.The Reverend Harry S. WrightMinister, Shiloh Baptist ChurchBennettsville, South Carolina1967 Founders Day Anniversary Vesper SermonCOLLEGE IS LIKE A RULER WHO IS RICH IN ATTRIBUTE AND READYTO reward her good citizens but who is careful of hergifts. She is generous only to those who work in sincerityand truth and who supplement their wishes by continuallabor and deeds. The initiative is yours, for all effectiveeducation is self-education. The College can provideexcellent arrangements — good faculty, library, laboratories.But it is in your free self-determination that theissue rests. To such students, Spelman College distributesfine gifts which will certainly fit them better for thestruggle of life.The 1950sThis is the first time that I have been introduced by my full name,Robert Lee Frost — something saved for a southern audience. I wantto preface the saying of my poems with a brief discussion of the paradoxembodied in the coupling of the words “liberty” and “equality”— words which I feel are completely antithetical. I’ll begin by speakingof the difference between a penny saved and one that is earned.There is a difference, for one that is earned represents enterprise andambition. Next, there is a distinction between liberty and authority,for each must limit the other in order to live within the scope ofhuman rights. From this idea, I have developed this view of the paradoxof liberty and equality, two words that have long been combinedin people’s thinking. Of liberty and equality, liberty is best and equalitysecond best, yet at a Sunday School picnic it would be better tohave the best handicapped a bit so the others might win.Robert FrostPoetPoetry Reading in Sisters ChapelJanuary 1955 (prior to his 80th birthday in March)6S P E L M A N M E S S E N G E R

72867_Mess_Text_SF2K 2/1/01 9:34 PM Page 7One of the gifts the College has for you is to helpdevelop a sound religious, moral and social outlook,which will guide your daily lives.Second, the College wants to present you with experiencesthat will enable you to develop appreciation for thepossibility of creativity in all areas of human endeavor.Third, the College wants to present you with freedomof inquiry — to study the ultimate questions of man’snature, his worth, destiny, values, beliefs and his kinshipwith the divine.Fourth, the College wishes to provide an environmentwhere you can develop leadership.The fifth gift is the opportunity to achieve excellence, oneof the most important gifts, which the College has for you.If Spelman succeeds in giving these gifts to the studentand she lives by their precepts, this student experiencesno difficulty in adjusting to the sixth gift which fallsinto the realm of the practical — the experiment in communityliving. Here, within the walls of the various dormitories,a young woman experiences life in theminiature universe and learns to assume her matureresponsibility in the greater universe.Albert E. ManleyPresident of Spelman CollegeFirst Chapel Talk, 1963–1964YOU CAN HOLLER BLACK POWER FROM NOW UNTIL THE YEAR 2000but it won’t get you anything without a program, and untilStokeley gets a program you ought to tell him where to go.Violence is a “cop-out” and its only results are less housingand less jobs. We must be angry in a constructive way.Marian E. Wright, C’60Attorney1968 Founders Day AddressThe 1930sFINALLY I SUPPOSE UPON A SEVENTIETH BIRTHDAY ONE IS PRESUMEDto have accumulated enough wisdom on the art of living toleave a wise word. There is not much that I feel moved tosay; that little is this: I am especially glad of divine gift oflaughter; it has made the world human and loving, despiteall its pain and wrong. I am glad that the partial Puritanismof my upbringing has never made me afraid of life.I have lived completely, testing every normal appetite, feastingon sunset, sea and hill. I am pound of a straightforwardclearness of reason, in part a gift of the gods, but alsoto no little degree due to scientific training and inner discipline.By means of this I have met life face to face, I haveloved a fight and above all I have done the work which Iwanted to do and not merely that which men wished to payme for. This is the essential difference between Heaven andHell.Dr. W.E.B. DuBoisNegro Sociologist, former editor of The Crisis,Sociology professor at Atlanta University70th Birthday Celebration on February 23, 1938 inSisters ChapelThe 1920sSOME STUDENTS ARE ALMOST GOOD STUDENTS. THERE IS A DIFFERencebetween “almost” and “quite.” It would be much betterto do a thing entirely than almost. Don’t have “almost”in your character. You should have a complete fulfillmentof what you are trying to do.Treavor ArnettPresident of the Board of Trustees of Spelman CollegeChapel Speaker, October 1928The 1940sI HAVE MET TWO PEOPLE IN THIS COUNTRY WHO HAVE IMPRESSEDme deeply as having God in their hearts — John D. Rockefeller,Jr. and a porter on an overnight train. …It isn’t hard not to drink if you don’t start. After startingit isn’t so easy. Think very carefully before you start.You can have a much better time sober. As for me, I like agood time, but when I have a good time, I want to knowI’m having it.”Lady Brooke AstorAn American from VirginiaMember of the British Parliament for 25 yearsEaster Service, March 1947S U M M E R / F A L L 2 0 0 07

72867_Mess_Text_SF2K 2/1/01 9:34 PM Page 8Books&PapersBOOK REVIEWSA NGELA B ROWN T ERRELLFrom Mama to Me:The Family MemoriesJournal for Mama toWrite — and for HerDaughters, Sons andFamily to Enjoy.ForeverWritten and illustrated by Cheryl D.MunsonFamily gatherings mean so manythings for so many of us: a chance toget together with loved ones, eatplenty of favorite foods, relive thegood times and sometimes commiserate(good-naturedly, of course)about the bad times. But one thingthat reunions, holiday get-togethersand homegoing celebrations (funerals)have in common is revelations.We learn something new or somethingheld secret about someone orsomeplace that opens avenues to newunderstanding about our families,ourselves.Sadly, though, while we mean toget back to Aunt Sally or Cousin Joeto learn more about what theyremember of some family lore, ourbusy lives interfere and we miss ourchance. Not only that, but every personwho hears the same story willremember it differently.That’s why the appearance ofCheryl D. Munson’s new family memoriesjournal, From Mama to Me is sodelightful. Artist and designer of thenoted Cousin Mattie’s Daddy’s Sister’sPeople line of pictures, greeting cardsand dolls based on her soft sculpturecollages, Ms. Munson has compiled afamily album for people to give totheir mamas (or other elderspokespersons of the family) to befilled in to preserve memories,thoughts and impressions for posterity.The album opens with “A Messageto Mama from the Author”:“You are about to read a wonderfulstory! A story thatwill take you back intime. A story that willwarm your heart. Astory that will bringback loving memories.A story aboutyour life. And thebest part of the storyis that you get towrite it!”The journal’scategories includea listing of allremembered relatives,“Your Mama’s People and YourDaddy’s People”; a place to writememories of growing up, “WhenMama Was A Little Girl,”; a sectionabout raising a family; and a partwhich gives the writer a chance topass down philosophy and vision forthe future enlightenment of the family,“Lessons from Living.”The prompts in each category arehelpful for triggering memories andeven encouraging the writer to havesome fun. I imagine the writing spacegiven for some areas will not be bigenough to contain all of the memoriesthat will crop up, such as the favoritesayings — the kind that we’ve allheard from our elders and find ourselvesrepeating to our children.Best of all, this spiral-boundalbum is beautifully put together,from the padded cover to the pictorialvignettes that show families atplay, at work, sharing meals andgames, getting hair combed. It’s akeepsake and a reminder to all of usto record and share memories.It’s the best way to write our ownhistory.The album is available from theauthor’s Web site at www.cousinmattie.comor from Gifted & Black, 4828Redan Road, Suite 247, Stone Mountain,Georgia 30088.These Bones Are NotMy Childby Toni Cade Bambara, edited byToni MorrisonAnyone who knew about the streak ofmissing and murdered children thatshook Atlanta to its core during theearly 1980s will be intrigued with thelast novel written by the late ToniCade Bambara, who died before thebook could be published. These BonesAre Not My Child (Putnam), is apoignant story of those harrowingdays, when youngsters were snatchedoff the streets by a mysterious killer orkillers and their bodies discoveredweeks or months later.Ms. Bambara, noted author(Gorilla, My Love and The SaltEaters) and filmmaker, was living inAtlanta during that time.Told from the viewpoint of a hardworkingmother struggling to keepher family in food and clothes andwith a roof over their heads, the storyshows the negative attitudes takentoward the children, who were poorand black; the bungling and coverupsby city officials, the police andthe media; the fear that gripped thecity as it battled with fragile race rela-8 S P E L M A N M E S S E N G E R

72867_Mess_Text_SF2K 2/1/01 9:34 PM Page 9tions and rumors; and the peoplewho feared despoiling the image ofthis citadel of the New (progressive)South more than they wanted toinvestigate the murders.The novel brings back painfulmemories to those of us who lived inAtlanta at that time, but at the sametime provides a cathartic releaseas we’re able to look back from adistance.Edited by Pulitzer Prize-winningauthor and editor Toni Morrison,the book should be read byanyone who has lived in or heardabout Atlanta. This could happenanywhere.A paperback edition will be publishedthis winter.Those Who TrespassAgainst Usby Gretchen Cook-Anderson.(Writer’s Club Press,iUniverse.com, Inc.)When you first meet Rachel Moore-Shelton, you know beyond a doubtthat she is thoroughly infected withthe Capitol Hill Syndrome — blindambition. A messy desk, late hoursin the office and little time spent ondeveloping a personal life all pointto this political malady.As she struggles to meet a deadlineto write a speech for GeorgiaCongressman Raymond Jackson Jr.,a leader in the Congressional BlackCaucus, we begin to sympathizewith this young woman who,because of her convictions, took ajob in politics instead of the plushcorporate job her family and friendsthink she is entitled to. But thenmurders occur and circumstanceschange, threatening her life andillusions. Rachel is thrust into therole of fugitive, catching the eye of asuspicious D.C. cop who hounds her,then reluctantly begins to believeher story.Without giving away any moreof the plot — so the reader canenjoy the full intrigue of the story— it’s sufficient to say that theauthor knows her city and the workingsof Capitol Hill. Ms. Cook-Anderson,a Spelman alumna, C ’90, hasworked as a lobbyist on the Hill andcurrently specializes in publicaffairs. While many nonfiction writersstruggle with their first novel,Ms. Cook-Anderson haswritten a commendablestory, full of all of thetwists and turns and surprisesappreciated byreaders of mysteries. Herplot is believable (as muchas any of the happeningsin Washington, D.C. can bebelieved!) and her charactersare well developed. We’relooking forward to her nextnovel adventure.Angela Brown Terrell is afeatures book editor at GannettNews Service.Good ReadingE LOISE A BERNATHY A LEXISAwakening Mercyby Angela Benson(Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.)If you enjoy great fiction and appreciatea good romance, but often findyourself dismayed by the exploitive plotsand situations presented in so much ofour literature, then this book is for you. Angela Benson, C’81, weaves awonderfully realistic and romantic story based on a foundation of biblicaltruth. Awakening Mercy tells the story of a young single mother (whoalso has a Spelman connection) and a man still picking up the pieces ofthe devastating end of his marriage. Upon meeting, their individual andcollective futures depend upon their ability to realize and rectify painfultruths in their lives. It is refreshing to experience characters that are dealingwith the joys and challenges of living, while striving to exhibit characterand faith.Stress Management for Christiansby Vanessa Hartsfield(Relief Publishing)Vanessa Hartsfield, C’78, has developed a workbook that outlines thecauses and forms of stress and provides tools to get at the core of howstress works in our lives. What makes this workbook different from manyof the other stress management resources on the market is that it encouragesand teaches solutions for stress that are found in the Bible. Scripturesidentifying the sources of stress, strategies for coping with the issuesof life and developing practical habits for managing stress are clearlypresented, accompanied by thought provoking questions and checklists.As a complement to her in-depth study on the biblical aspects of stress,Ms. Hartsfield is a Massage Therapist.A History of the Visual Arts at Spelman Collegeby Jenelsie Walden HollowayThis concise booklet of the history of the visual arts at Spelman Collegebegins in the 1920s, and moves through the thirties and forties when theAtlanta University System — at the time, Spelman, Atlanta Universityand Morehouse — stood at the core of the black Atlanta cultural experience.It chronicles the roles of artist and teacher Hale Woodruff andsculptor Elizabeth Prophet in the development of the fine arts programfor the University System. In 1952, Jenelsie Walden Holloway, C’41,returned to her alma mater to teach and continue the tradition of excellencein the arts begun by Woodruff and Prophet. With text and photographs,Holloway concludes with the University System’s growing yearsand the accomplishments.S U M M E R / F A L L 2 0 0 09

72867_Mess_Text_SF2K 2/1/01 9:34 PM Page 10The Year of the Sciences10A SEAMLESS INTEGRATION OFTRADITION AND INNOVATIONSpelman College Founders DayApril 11, 2000M AXINE H AYES, M.D., M.P.H., C’69S TATE H EALTH O FFICERW ASHINGTON S TATE D EPARTMENT OF H EALTHAs I reflected on the theme, “A Seamless Integrationof Tradition and Innovation,” I pondered the twowords, tradition … innovation, and all theimplications of putting those two concepts, old… new, together. Three questions came to mind as Ithought about integrating these two concepts.(1) What has Spelman College been traditionally?(2) Why is maintaining those traditional values soimportant while embracing change and innovation atthe same time?(3) What are the challenges and opportunities in thenext decade, century and millennium for bringing thesetwo concepts together?The answer to the first question, I think, can besummed up by two words, leadership and service. This hasbeen the primary motivation of every president and clearlyreflected by what so many Spelman grads do after leavingthis school. Let me share a story of one such alumna.Over 30 years ago, a girl from Jackson, Mississippi,who grew up in poverty, dared to dream of one daybecoming a scientist and finding a cure for cancer. Shedid not have anyone in her family or circle of friendsthat had come close to doing that type of thing or evendaring to think about it. There were no scientists, nodoctors, in her family or anyone she knew. She workedhard in high school, loved the sciences and did manyscience projects for science fairs, winning prizes for herefforts along the way. She dreamed of becoming acytotechnologist: a word her school counselors couldhardly spell. One day a group of women in Jackson, whowere leaders called “Links,” took upon themselves toadopt three promising students from the three segregatedpublic high schools in Jackson, and this younggirl was one of them. Among the Links were Spelmangraduates and one of them over time became a mentorto the young girl who dared to dream of becoming a scientist.Convinced that this girl would flourish in theSpelman environment, she encouraged her to apply toSpelman College. The girl came to Spelman, arriving atthe gates with one suitcase of clothes and a small scholarshipof $250.00. Her father would do his best to supporther way. Indeed, she thrived in the Spelmanenvironment and after one semester did well academically.Tragically, the father of that young girl died overthe Christmas break her freshman year and the futureseemed dim as hopes were shattered. But the Collegeleaders would not have it be, as they saw promise in thatgirl from Mississippi who dared to dream, and so theyprovided full financial support for her to continue. Thatyoung woman fulfilled their hopes and became an outstandingstudent, majoring in biology; went on to studyabroad as a Merrill Scholar, graduated from Spelmanwith honors, entered medical school, broke the colorbarriers at Vanderbilt, becoming the first person of colorto do postgraduate work in pediatrics, got a Master’sdegree in Public Health from Harvard and returned toserve her community in Mississippi, building a clinicthat still stands today to serve the underserved. Hercareer could have had other paths of comfort and fulfillmentof selfish desires, but leadership and service toothers was the only path she would ever embrace, dedicatingher life to serving others. Who can answer thequestion of why the service ethic was so strong? I amqualified to answer because, my Spelman sisters, I wasthat young girl from Mississippi that dared to dream.Spelman’s tradition of instilling values of service andleadership in its students is why we come and we leavewith those values embedded as a core of our being.S P E L M A N M E S S E N G E R

72867_Mess_Text_SF2K 2/1/01 9:34 PM Page 11While I was busy serving the underserved in Mississippi, another Spelmanitewas serving the underserved in the inner city of Seattle, Washingtonin much the same way. She was a pediatrician who also built a clinic. Shewas a native of Atlanta. Her name was Blanche Sellers Lavizzo. I never got tomeet her, but Blanche lived a life of leadership and service in her communitythat was so strong that when she passed away unexpectedly, the communitywould not be satisfied until they could find someone much like herto finish what she started. Their search led to me, another Spelmanite. A fewyears ago, I met Dr. Lavizzo’s daughter who said to me, “Maxine, you areliving my mother’s dream.” Dr. Lavizzo had dreamed of one day workingfor the Washington state government in health policy, which is exactly whatI am doing today.Spelman has the distinction of also having the largest faculty of AfricanAmerican women with Ph.D. degrees in math in the country. Students are fortunateto come here and work with faculty who represent realistic role modelsfor them. I am proud that Spelman has been, and continues to be, responsiveto the scientific challenges by providingan educational environmentthat prepares young womenfor careers in bench research,clinical science and practice orhealth policy.This brings me to my finalpoint: What opportunities andchallenges in science and healthrelatedmatters await Spelmanfor the next decade, century andmillennium?I will answer this from a publichealth perspective. Let meMaxine Hayes, M.D., M.P.H.S U M M E R / F A L L 2 0 0 0begin by saying that some of thegreatest public health achievementsof all time were accomplishedin the last 100 years:pasteurization, immunization, sanitation, fluoridation, motor vehicle safety,healthier mothers and babies, decline from coronary heart disease and stroke,family planning and recognition of tobacco use as a health hazard. Our lifespan has increased 30 years since 1900, and 25 of those 30 years of increaseare due to advances in public health. As remarkable as these achievementshave been, their full potential remains unrealized, particularly for membersof minority populations. We have a lot of work to do in the century ahead tobuild on what we have accomplished so far.For example, we have made great strides in reducing infant mortalityrates and vaccinating children against diseases. Yet, profound racial disparitiesin infant mortality rates persist as they do for other diseases. Today, whenyou look at the population as a whole, we are dying from behaviors we canchange. For example: The real causes of death and disability relate to personalchoices like smoking, eating too much, drinking too much, not gettingenough exercise and injury — intentional and non-intentional.We have witnessed many scientific breakthroughs at the dawn of thisnew century as advances in biomedical research and technology in healthcare will profoundly change medicine and public health as we know ittoday. Futurists tell us that by year 2020, when we list the causes of death inPhoto: Bud Smiththe U.S., cancer will no longer be on the list. My childhood dream of a curewill be reality. With completion of the Human Genome Project by year 2003,our whole approach to health promotion, disease prevention will be very differentbecause we will be able to design for individuals based on their geneticmakeup — individualized health programs designed to guaranteeoptimal health and well-being. Biomedical research will continue toadvance our knowledge at a phenomenal pace, but this will exceed our abilityto keep up in terms of applying what we know so everyone benefits equally.Now, what does all of this have to do with Spelman? What are the challengesand opportunities for bringing the concepts of tradition and innovationseamlessly together in the next decade, century and millennium?The opportunities are enormous, though challenging. The persistence ofpoverty and of racial/ethnic disparities in health outcomes across the agespan continues both here in America as well as abroad. Whether youapproach the connection between wealth and health from a passionatesocial justice perspective or are led there by crunching the numbers, theconclusion is inescapable: people who are poor and oppressed bear a disproportionateburden of illness, disease and premature death. The majority ofthe burdens are in people of color. In public health, we are committed to targetingthose at highest risk, to benefit the broader population. Closing thegap must be a priority for public health in the next century, for we havemissed many opportunities in the century we just closed — as well as thelast decade — to reduce inequities and make good health a fair chanceinstead of a lottery.Creating a national health care system that balances cost, quality andequity is a key piece of this puzzle.Throughout this next century, our nation must turn to a vibrant scientificcommunity to find new solutions to age-old problems. The student population,from which scientists and innovators must be drawn, demographers tellus will be increasingly female and non-white. We will need minority womencommitted to what Spelman has stood for over the years, “leadership andservice.” We will need women who understand the broad dimensions ofhealth and the importance of balance in physical, spiritual and emotionalhealth and well-being. We will need leaders who see value in the fields ofsociology, anthropology, theology, psychology, the behavioral sciences andknow how to integrate them with medicine and public health. We will needleaders in law and ethics, with moral grounding to create and influencemore equalitarian health policies and priorities. We will need leaders andlarger team focus on prevention, social determinants of health and commitmentto investments in early intervention before health fails. We will needleaders with courage to fight racism and all the other “isms” that are presentin our health care system. Race should not determine what medical proceduresor tests one receives, but there is clear evidence that it does.So, my Spelman sisters, you stand at a time, a place in history where youcan really make a difference leading and serving in communities across thisnation, having been prepared and grounded in the Spelman experience. Ihope many of you who are science majors will be inspired to go out into thisnew, challenging world, as well as those who can see how they might workwith you, our future scientists — whether in medicine, health-relatedfields, public health or health policy — as partners in making the next 10years, the next 100 years, the next 1000 years a healthier place. You arestarting with much better ammunition than your predecessors could haveever imagined. I wish you Godspeed!11

72867_Mess_Text_SF2K 2/1/01 9:34 PM Page 12The Year of the Sciences12LEADERSHIP IN THE MILLENNIUM:THE LEGACY AND THE PROMISESpelman College CommencementMay 21, 2000S HIRLEY A NN J ACKSON, PH .D.P RESIDENT, RENSSELAER P OLYTECHNIC I NSTITUTEWith pride and support, I say to you, thegraduates, the women of Spelman, “Fastenyour seatbelts. This is where it allbegins.”Each of you has arrived at this point by a uniquepath — using your own study habits, conquering yourown obstacles, motivated by your own particular interestsand goals. You have worked together, collaboratedon projects, competed for recognition and encouragedone another through rough times. For most of you, ourcelebration today — the awarding of your degrees —represents the last lesson you will take together, the finalpoint at which all your paths intersect. From this pointforward, you will be moving into uncharted territory.The legacy of Spelman is a rich and illustrious one.Throughout the last century, Spelman women havebeen societal leaders and change — agents in medicine,politics, education, the arts and many other fields.As graduates, you are expected to carry on that traditionof leadership.But what is leadership? Throughout my career, Ihave met leaders from around the world. And, despitethe different paths they took to their current positions,the different personality traits they possessed and the differentgroups they were leading, they all shared a passion,an inner strength and a vision of purpose that setthem apart from their colleagues. Being a leader is away of life: One cannot just talk about it; one must live itBesides leadership, Spelman graduates share anotherdistinct trait that sets them apart from others — theyare problem solvers. Sophia B. Packard and Harriet E.Giles solved a problem when they left their New Englandhomes to establish a school for African Americanwomen in 1881 in the post-Civil War South, where noother educational opportunities existed for the freedfemale slaves and their daughters. Others have followedsuit. Georgia Dwelle Rooks was appalled by the conditionsof women in the slums of Atlanta and establishedthe first hospital for African American women inAtlanta. Concerned that the plight of children aroundthe world was being ignored, Marian Wright Edelmanfounded the Children’s Defense Fund to address children’sissues such as hunger and poverty, and she hasraised America’s consciousness in the process. Determinedto help women make healthy decisions and tosupport those suffering from AIDS-related illnesses,Dazon Dixon Diallo established SisterLove, the onlyorganization in Atlanta dedicated to filling this need.The list goes on. And in this audience, there are storiesof philanthropy and dedication that would make us allproud.With this rich legacy, you represent the promise ofthe new millennium. The world needs your leadership,enthusiasm, passion and problem solving now morethan ever.We must be connected and reconnected. Connectedto, and not disconnected from, the technologies that willdrive our economy, our society and the global marketplacein the coming decades. These technologies —especially information technology and biotechnologyand their nexus with nanotechnology and the modelingof complex systems — hold out great promise forimproving the quality of life, whether through communications,commerce or the diagnosis and treatment ofdisease. We thus must embrace technology if we intendto be players in the global economy. However, far toomany of us are disconnected.The “disconnect,” which has received quite a bit ofpolitical attention lately, is the so-called “digitaldivide.” This gap between the information haves andhave-nots is a crevice that splits along racial, as well aseconomic, lines.S P E L M A N M E S S E N G E R

72867_Mess_Text_SF2K 2/1/01 9:34 PM Page 13More than 40 percent of American households own computers, and onequarterof all households have Internet access.As connectivity has grown, the digital divide actually has widened formany groups. During the decade examined, the gap between those at thehighest and lowest education levels increased 25 percent, and the dividebetween those at the highest and lowest income levels grew 29 percent.Households with incomes of $75,000 and higher are 20 times more likely tohave access to the Internet than those at the lowest levels and more thannine times more likely to have a computer at home. White Americans aremore likely to have access to the Internet, from home, than blacks or Hispanicshave from any location.The digital divide is a reality. It also is a metaphor for lack of access toand participation in technological pursuits by certain groups, especially thepoor and minorities.So, if America is to remain on the forefront of technological advancesand economic prosperity, we must find a way to connect every segment ofsociety into the technological economy.The first thing that must be doneis to increase the number of ourchildren graduating from highschool. According to the most recentstatistics published by the AmericanCouncil on education, three-quartersof African American children arecompleting high school — but thisis actually two percentage points lessthan in 1990. In fact, in each of thepast three years, the number of ourstudents graduating from highschool has decreased.Shirley Ann Jackson, PH.D.Moreover, our children are notstudying math and science — twosubject areas that will be critical inthe future. A 1996 survey showed that 44 percent of black students have takenchemistry, compared to 58 percent of white students. And less than 20 percentof Hispanic and black students have taken physics, compared to 26 percent ofwhite and 44 percent of Asian students.On the other hand, the numbers of our graduating children who go offto college has improved — up to 39.6 percent. Since 1992, the college graduationrate has increased by 6 percent. Yet these numbers hide the fact thatless than one-third of our youth aged 18–24 actually are enrolled in college.In contrast, 40.6 percent of white young adults are enrolled.Academic, business and political leaders talk about connectivity — tothe Internet, to computers, to the Information Superhighway — as one ofthe greatest challenges facing America, at the most fundamental level. Weneed to reconnect — to our families, to our communities and, most importantly,to our children — yes — to get them to use technology to our commonpurposes, but also to reconnect to the humanity and emotions whichgive richness to our lives.I speak to you today of the personal importance, for each individual, ofhaving a strong “moral compass” to undergird your vision of purpose. Astrong “moral compass” not only is essential for true personal success, butalso forms the basis of enlightened leadership.S U M M E R / F A L L 2 0 0 0Now, many people speak of a “moral compass.” What do I mean by it? I meanthat inner core of personal belief grounded in all you have been taught — byyour parents and your teachers — the set of principles that will provide the pointof reference for your personal choices, much as a magnetic compass provides apoint of reference for the traveler in an unfamiliar terrain. What are your core values— the principles on which you will refuse to compromise? What defines youridentity? What are your goals? What are your priorities? When you are presentedwith a significant conflict — when the achievement of a particular goal seems torequire you to compromise your values — what will you do? How will you makethat choice? What are the measures that, for you, define success?So, why do I speak to you on the one hand about science and technology— the promise and the challenge of it — and, on the other, about a moralcompass? Spelman women — African American women — have achievedacross a spectrum of fields. Their achievements grew out of their vision of purpose.Their perseverance and direction were guided by their moral compass.Our numbers are woefully low in fields where I believe we can make a difference— in this instance in science and technology-based careers. But the fundamentalmessage is that we — you — are very talented, can do anything,but you must believe to achieve.You must believe that no field of endeavor is foreclosed to you, no darkenedglass ceiling left intact. Why a darkened glass ceiling? Well, it refers to the oftenintangible, but real, barrier we face that limits our possibilities, or what webelieve to be our possibilities. We may not always know what is on the otherside, or who is on the other side, but we want to go there — to see and to do.The darkened glass ceiling suggests that certain fields are beyond what womencan or should do — beyond what African Americans can do — beyond especiallywhat African American women can do. Everyone does not aspire to be ascientist or engineer — nor should they. The real message is that you mustbelieve that you can do anything and can go anywhere and not be shackled byothers’ expectations of what you can achieve.When I was a freshman at MIT, a professor — in whose course I wasearning an “A” — when we discussed a choice of major for me, told me that“colored girls should learn a trade.”“Colored girls should learn a trade.” Now, how was I, newly separated frommy family and friends and trying to overcome my own fears, how was I to reactto so limiting and denigrating a suggestion of my possibilities as “colored girlsshould learn a trade.” Well, I chose a trade all right — I chose physics.Since that time, I have felt that there is no field of endeavor I cannot pursue.I felt this at AT&T Bell Laboratories as a research scientist, at Rutgers Universityas a professor of physics, especially at the U.S. Nuclear RegulatoryCommission, where I had the opportunity to put into place and to implementpolicies and practices which had national and global impact with respect to thesafe use of nuclear materials and nuclear power. None of these activities wereeven imagined for an African American female when I was growing up inWashington, D.C., but they were, and are, totally consistent with what myfather taught all his children. He always said, “Aim for the stars, so that youcan reach the treetops, and, at the very least, you will get off the ground.” Hisessential message was — and my message to you is — that if you do not aimhigh, you will not go far. Just a few minutes from now you will become graduates— alumnae of Spelman College. This ceremony today signifies that youare entrusted with your own futures. As you go forward, keep your memories,but do not look back. Face the future with confidence, with your moral compassesintact. I wish for each of you a long and prosperous voyage.13

72867_Mess_Text_SF2K 2/1/01 9:34 PM Page 14MessengerF E A T U R ELEAVING A LIVING LEGACYA Conversation with Isabella McIntyre Tobin, C’45Philanthropic Spirit14Call Isabella McIntyre Tobin a philanthropist, andshe quickly dismisses the designation. “I am notin that league,” she chides, referring to the likes ofthe Rockefellers, the Cosbys and other well-knownmultimillion dollar donors. But among Spelman alumnae,Tobin is in a league by herself. Since graduatingmore than a half century ago, her cumulative giving toher alma mater exceeds that of any other living alumna.In addition to the annual fund each year, she has supporteda range of campus priorities, including the Initiativesfor the ’90s Campaign, scholarship support andRevival of the Spirit: The Campaign to Preserve andRenovate Historic Sisters Chapel.A native of Rochester, New York, she heard about andcame to Spelman by chance, a transfer student from NewYork University. After receiving her sociology degree in1945, Tobin became a social worker in the Atlanta PublicSchool System and later finished her 38-year career as ahigh school guidance counselor. She is the widow ofLucius Miles Tobin, a minister, who taught philosophyand religion at both Spelman and Morehouse. Thesedays, Isabella Tobin spends her time tackling the dauntingtask of cataloguing family photos, books and treasuresthat chronicle a life rich in experiences. To stay fit,she does water aerobics, enjoys container gardening andspends time with family and friends. In this conversation,she shares her perspective on being a deliberate donor.Messenger: Reflecting back on your days as a studentat Spelman, you have said that Miss Read had aprofound impact on shaping you. Can you share how?Tobin: Most people think of Miss Read as being quiterigid but, she was really quite nice to know. She trulyloved her Spelman women, more than we realized at thetime. Anytime anyone outstanding would come to downtownAtlanta, Miss Read would go to meet and persuadethem to come to [Sisters] Chapel for eight o’clock a.m.convocation for “her girls” to see and hear. I remembermeeting the great southern tenor Roland Hayes, and MarianAnderson and Paul Robeson. I still recall how largePaul Robeson’s hands were when I shook them! We didn’tappreciate it at the time but Miss Read made sure we wereexposed to greatness.Isabella McIntyre Tobin, C’45S P E L M A N M E S S E N G E RPhoto: Wilford Harewood

72867_Mess_Text_SF2K 2/1/01 9:34 PM Page 15Messenger: Were there other people in your life who influencedbuilding your philanthropic spirit?Tobin: My mother. As a child, we were conditioned to participatein giving no matter how small the amount. I remember theannual fundraising drive at elementary school. The teacher wouldplace a piggy bank on the corner of her desk where it would stay forthe week, and no one bothered it. My mother had five children, soshe would give each of us a nickel [to donate]. We were poor byNorthern standards, but we always had our basic needs met, if onlymonth to month.Messenger: Were there others who influenced you?Tobin: A favorite sociology professor, Ira D. Read and, of course,my husband, who was a minister.Messenger: Many consider you to be a living legend foryour service and generosity. How do you feel about this idea?Tobin: I don’t consider myself a philanthropist — that’s anotherleague. But my giving, well, it’s no great thing on my part ... justbetween me and the Supreme Being. I feel if I have a blessing, it’smy duty to pass it on. Blessings are not meant for me alone. I likedoing for people [because] I’ve had a lot of people who’ve helpedme through the years. In fact, last Fourth of July, I made a list ofall the people who’d helped me throughout my life, just for fun. Icounted 67, though I’m sure it was incomplete.Messenger: What is the most characteristic aspect of yourphilanthropic spirit?Tobin: I never cared much for conspicuous consumption. I droveVWs for the longest — paid cash each time and didn’t have anycar note — while other teachers would drive up to school in their“deuce and a quarters.” I also never had a mink coat, though allmy friends did. I just didn’t think it was worth all that money.Messenger: I understand that from the time you graduatedfrom Spelman in 1945 until now, you have included yourannual gift to the College in your yearly budget. What advicedo you have for young alumnae about managing theirmoney and integrating giving into their lives?Tobin: I look at that from two points of view. [First], I feel that ifyou’ve graduated from Spelman, you need to give back. I don’tbuy into or understand the attitude of “I paid my tuition — thatwas my giving.” In all fairness, not having any children probablyhelped me to be in a position to perhaps give a little more thanothers, but it’s important to give, no matter what the amount. Wehaven’t arrived yet, despite what some may think. It’s importantto support the school that has given us so much. [Second], givingis like anything else; you have to be taught, and we have to startwith our children. Black people haven’t been taught to give.I don’t mean just the penny you don’t want, but to budget forgiving. I always saved a little, no matter how much I was making.Messenger: Though you have never sought recognition foryour giving, what’s your legacy to Spelman?Tobin: To me, giving — well, it’s nothing much to think about.It’s just something that you do. If my giving is highlighted, maybeit will encourage others to do the same.Isabella McIntre Tobin,C’45, (center) joins withclassmates singing theSpelman Hymn duringReunion 2000.Photo: Bud SmithS U M M E R / F A L L 2 0 0 015

72867_Mess_Text_SF2K 2/1/01 9:34 PM Page 16MessengerF E A T U R ETHE SPELMAN PHILANTHROPIC SPIRITPhilanthropic Spirit16Spelman women and philanthropy. Not an unlikelynotion, you might be thinking. After all, Spelmanhas a rich history of preparing generations ofAfrican American women who lead, volunteer,serve and nurture. What is surprising are alumnae givingstatistics. Consider this: Spelman women 41 years andolder give 87 percent of all alumnae contributions to theCollege annually, yet they make up only 45 percent of thetotal alumnae population. The correlating fact is thatalumnae 40 years and younger represent 55 percent of thealumnae population and give 13 percent of the contributions,according to a recent study of Spelman alumnae.Further, the study indicates that overall, 15 percent of allalumnae contribute to Spelman in a given fiscal year,compared with peer school comparisons ranging from 45percent to more than 60 percent.What are we to make of this? Do the findings suggest thatbeing philanthropic is commensurate with one’s life cycle(thus income)? Is it a question of generational differences inhow we raise our African American girls? Does charitableenlightenment play a role in alumnae giving? The answer, itseems, is yes — and no — to all of the above.In this story, we profile several Spelmanwomen, each representing different ages,lifestyles, incomes and charitable experiences,to better understand why and howalumnae give.Making a Gift, One Dollar at a TimeAt 104 years old, Annie Alexander(1876–1982) was the oldest living alumna atthe time of Spelman’s Centennial Celebration in1981. To mark the historic event, Ms.Alexanderpresented Spelman with a $100 gift, which she hadfaithfully saved toward for more than a year.Though $100 may not be considered a major gift bymost measures, it was significant for Ms. Alexanderin that it marked her largest personal lifetime gift toher beloved alma mater. Her gift symbolized a pivotalachievement nearing the end of her life, whereby shewas finally able to give Spelman $100. Why did shegive? In her centennial speech, she remarked, “I justwant Spelman to go on and on to higher heights!” Ifselflessness, goodwill and a charitable act of the heart arehallmarks of philanthropic spirit, then Annie Alexanderembodied that ideal.For most, like Ms. Alexander, who are not wealthy byvirtue of inheritance or other means, to be philanthropic— regardless of the dollar amount — is an exercise inexemplary fiscal discipline and management. Take theinspirational story of Osceola McCarty. In 1998, the SpelmanBoard of Trustees honored Ms. McCarty with theNational Community Service Award. She made headlinesby giving $150,000 to the University of Southern Mississippi.A modest person, who made her living as a laundrywoman, she felt that she should give so someone elsecould get the education that she was not able to obtain.The most impressive point to her story is the discipline ittook to save dimes and quarters over so many years sothat she could amass a sizable amount to donate. In herlifetime, Osceola McCarty did not enjoy fame nor monetaryfortune, yet her philanthropic spirit moved her to doa single and simple act of kindness that changed the philanthropicworld overnight.S P E L M A N M E S S E N G E R

72867_Mess_Text_SF2K 2/1/01 9:34 PM Page 17(L-R) President Audrey F. Manley, C’55; AdrienneLance Lucas, C’90; and Dr. June Gary Hopps,C’60, chair of the Spelman Board of Trustees at thepresentation of the plaque honoring the largestclass gift at Reunion 2000.The New PhilanthropistsBy any measure, large or small, the means to give, coupledwith the desire to give, are both necessary for charitablegiving to take place. For young alumnae, higherstarting salaries and dramatically increased earningpotential early in their careers are two trends that cantransform young alumnae giving. Compared to 20–30years ago, it’s quite likely that today’s Spelman grad willbegin her career at a salary commensurate with her parent’sending career salary, even adjusted for inflation.Nationally, the average starting salary for recent collegegraduates is $31,824, according to a recent Atlanta JournalConstitution article. For Spelman women enteringthe workforce upon graduation, the average tends to behigher than the national norm, and higher still for thosewho immediately or shortly thereafter pursue post-undergraduatedegrees. A third key trend transforming howyoung alumnae give is technology. Automatic deduction,wire transfers and giving online are just a few of the technology-basedways of giving that have sparked the interestof young adults.Yet high incomes and technology aside, effective financialmanagement is a challenge for many African Americans,and the situation is particularly acute among ouryoung adults. In its recent and popular Black Wealth Initiativeseries, Black Enterprise magazine asserts that“building lasting, multigenerational wealth does not comefrom a sprint-like effort. It requires the focus, discipline,tenacity and conditioning of a marathon runner— a long-distance performer who sets goals,exceeds them and, once one set of objectives hasbeen accomplished, sets his or her sights on newcontests to win. Those individuals realize thatwealth-building is a lifetime pursuit.”Indeed, Ms. Alexander and Ms. McCartyunderstood and lived this tenet, the latter withoutthe benefit of an education. The question forSpelman women today is, do we have the samediscipline required to save and invest in an overwhelminglyconsumption-oriented society?The good news is that if recent success storiesare an indication of what’s to come, it seemsyoung alumnae are up for the challenge. At thedawn of the nineties, a new generation of Spelmanwomen emerged that is slowly gainingmomentum into the new millennium. Fueled inpart by expanded career opportunities, a strongeconomy, technology and the excitement generated duringthe Spelman Campaign: Initiatives for the ’90s, youngalumnae are beginning to make a difference. If the trendcontinues over time, a paradigm shift will begin to emergein their historically low participation and giving patterns.Take the Class of 1990, for example. A year and a halfprior to their 10-year reunion, they made a pact to makea difference at Spelman by proclaiming a bold $100,000goal for their 10-year reunion gift.“We’ve always been a trailblazing class and began tothink about what would be a phenomenal goal for the Year2000 and the new millennium,” commented AdrienneLance Lucas, who spearheaded the fundraising effort.Typically, fundraising expectations are conservativeamong 10-year reunioners, and even lower among fiveyearreunioners. After all, they represent the babies of thephilanthropy world. They’ve not yet learned the ropes fromtheir more seasoned alumnae. Fortunately, the Class of1990 didn’t heed the naysayers. At their 10-year reunion inMay 2000, the Class of 1990 announced their fundraisingsuccess and by the end of the fiscal year in June 2000, theyproudly presented a check for $70,958 to the College. Shortof their original goal, yes, yet spectacular in their achievementof raising the single largest 10-year class reunion giftto date. Further, 33 percent of the class participated, representingyoung women in occupations ranging from schoolteachers to corporate professionals to stay-at-home moms.Photo: Bud SmithS U M M E R / F A L L 2 0 0 017

72867_Mess_Text_SF2K 2/1/01 9:34 PM Page 18Houston alumna Sibyl AveryJackson, C’79 with husband Alfred,was first alumna to arrange afundraiser for the AlumnaeEmpowerment Fund.18Ms. Lucas credits technology as key to their success.“We were excited about using technology to locate andcommunicate with our classmates, especially since we areso geographically dispersed. We used our Website to raisemoney, track our progress and post regional activities,including [things with] Morehouse,” she added.In one year, these driven and competitive young Spelmansisters shattered the philanthropic glass ceiling andraised the bar for alumnae.Working TogetherAs part of the Sisters Chapel Campaign, The Lilly Endowment/UNCFHBCU Program awarded a $1 million grant toSpelman in 1999 for capital and scholarship support. Halfof the grant was used to establish and provide seed moneyfor The Alumnae Empowerment Fund, an endowed, needbasedscholarship fund. The goal of the Fund is to increasethe College’s ability to provide scholarship aid by leveragingalumnae support. The underlying concept of the Fund,akin to a mutual fund analogy, is simple: pooled resourcesgo farther than scattered individual resources. Awards fromthe Fund enable students to continue to pursue their educationalgoals at Spelman despite financial challenges.Since its inception in 1999, 15 students have received needbasedscholarship awards totaling $75,000 from the Fund.One of the stipulations of the Lilly award is that alumnaemust raise an additional $500,000 for the Fund by 2004. TheNational Alumnae Association of Spelman College (NAASC)agreed to provide alumnae leadership in a partnership withthe College to raise the additional funds for this studentscholarship initiative. The cooperative venture is a naturalpartnership since the NAASC has existing, ongoing scholarshipprograms through its fifty national chapters.In Swahili, ujima means “collective work and responsibility.”It also describes the fundraising ingenuity of Houstonalumna Sibyl Avery Jackson, C’79. Ms. Jackson,with her husband Alfred, is the first individual alumna toarrange a fund-raiser for the Alumnae EmpowermentFund. The Jacksons rallied support from professional colleagues,friends and alumnae alike from around the countryto attend an exquisite gathering in their Houston hometo meet Spelman President Audrey Manley.“Alfred and I have thought about this project for sometimeand wanted to contribute to Spelman in a great way,”Ms. Jackson said. “A lot of who I am was shaped during myexperience at Spelman. I have acquired lifelong friendsthrough the sisterhood. Our goal was to ensure that otherAfrican American women were able to have that same experience,”she added.The Jacksons’ personal gift of $70,000, coupled with anadditional $26,340 raised the night of thereception, provided a significant boost tothe Alumnae Empowerment Fund.“I believe there are other alumnae outthere who would be honored to do thesame for Spelman,” she said.Ms. Jackson tapped and pooled theresources of several professional colleaguesand friends (many of whom areSpelman alumnae), further strengtheningthe Fund with an impressive $96,340contribution.Yielding Silent PowerCan the philanthropic spirit be fueled bytragedy? While a senior at Spelman,Indianapolis native Shawn Jiles,C’88, was diagnosed with a fatal illness.Despite her poor health, she managed tocomplete her education and graduatedwith her class. It was clear to Shawn thather life would be cut short, so she planteda seed of philanthropic spirit within herfamily. In her few remaining days, shetold family members that she wantedSpelman to go on and on. After Shawn’spassing on April 28, 1990, she becamethe inspiration for a scholarship to sup-S P E L M A N M E S S E N G E R

72867_Mess_Text_SF2K 2/1/01 9:34 PM Page 19Admissions Series byVarnette P. Honeywood, C’72.Indeed, the philanthropic spirit can be hidden by one’sdaily behaviors yet illuminated through a piece of paperyears later. An anonymous alumna, who earlier had beenclose to Spelman but in later years had grown away fromthe College and her classmates, was critical of manythings at today’s Spelman. Yet she was loyal to the institutionand had not forgotten her promise to give back.Though this anonymous alumna had not been in touchwith Spelman, she felt that a bequest would be the bestway to help ensure Spelman’s future. Her gift was a surprise$1 million bequest to Spelman.The philanthropic spirit can also be expressed by thesharing of one’s talents. Artist Varnette Honeywood was ahistory major when she entered Spelman in 1968. Fromthe beginning, her artistic talent was evident, but it wasnot until Ms. Honeywood took a Spelman art class thather talents blossomed. Now a renowned artist, Ms. Honeywoodcelebrated her color-infused popular style when shecreated and donated a series of Spelman admission materialsand Christmas cards for the College. The relationshipbetween Varnette Honeywood and Drs. Bill andCamille Cosby was ever evolving. So it was not a surprisethat she, albeit unwittingly, was a catalyst in the $20 millionCosby gift to Spelman and was asked to create theCamille Olivia Hanks Cosby Academic Center openingprograms. The vibrancy of the colors, the passion andlove for Spelman, the talent used to ensure that Spelmanwould go on and on ... all were there as an expression ofher philanthropic spirit.So it seems that the Spelman philanthropic spiritmoves according to its own timetable and through manyvehicles of expression, be it a bequest, group effort or thetransference of stock. It shows itself at all levels, be they$100 or $1,000,000. The philanthropic spirit can beexpressed anonymously or not; it can be shown throughthe sharing of one’s special talents or an unexpectedwindfall. Indeed, all alumnae leave a mark when theygive back, and become part of the growing legacy ofAfrican American women philanthropists. In the truespirit of philanthropy — that is, an active effort to promotehuman welfare — it’s not so much about howmuch one gives. In the end, what is most important isthat we’ve all done our part, our personal best, to ensurethat Spelman College goes on and on to higher heights.Annie Alexander would have it no other way.Contributing writers:Trisa Long PaschalVice President of Institutional AdvancementKaren ClayDirector of Major GiftsPatricia Graham Johnson, C’73Interim Executive Director of NAASCP4 InitiativeSpelman alumnae possess the philanthropic spirit. It is Spelman’s challenge toprovide a focused framework by which the spirit can be released. In an effort tofulfill this mission, the P4 Initiative was launched in 1999 to nurture the existingtrend among alumnae. The specific strategies are as follows:P1 AlumnaeP2 AlumnaeP3 ReunionP4 PledgeProfileTo focus fundraising educational and development efforts on youngalumnae in an effort to increase giving from recent graduatesParticipationTo increase alumnae giving from the current 15 percent to45 percent by 2010.Patterns of GivingTo encourage giving during the years between reunions based on afive-year reunion cycle.FulfillmentTo encourage alumnae to fulfill their promise to give during telefundand increase fulfillment from 65 percent to 95 percent by 2003.S U M M E R / F A L L 2 0 0 019

72867_Mess_Text_SF2K 2/1/01 9:34 PM Page 20Alumnae NotesSister to Sister:As we enter a new era, the AlumnaeAffairs goal statement isto develop a comprehensiveprogram through theOffice of Alumnae Affairs to increasealumnae participation in the SpelmanCollege mission by focusingon leadership development, recognitionand fundraising.Stewardship is usually associatedwith how we manage or distribute ourmoney and resources. Yet,each day as I go about myresponsibilities as the Directorof Alumnae Affairs, I havethe opportunity to witnessthrough information andexperience the achievementsof Spelman women. Becauseof this, it has become quiteclear to me that the Office ofAlumnae Affairs must offerencouragement, assistanceand insistence where thepromotion and recognitionof Spelman women is concerned.In other words, wemust also be good stewards ofour success. We must use ourstories, experiences andexample to educate and inspire oursisters — and ourselves.The world is aware of Spelmanwomen. This is evident in the local,national and international exposurethat alumnae receive. Let me give youa few good examples…For five consecutive years, Tiffany& Co. in Phipps Plaza, Atlanta, hassupported Spelman by hosting“Breakfast at Tiffany” featuringThe Alumnae AchievementAwards. Amidst diamonds and otherprecious stones, 10 alumnae are honoredin five encompassing field areas.Marian Wright Edelman,C’60, received the Presidential Medalof Freedom , the Nation’s highestcivilian honor, in a ceremony in theEast Room of the White House inAugust 2000. The award was presentedby President Clinton, joined byFirst Lady Hillary Clinton.Can you imagine having a stationof the of the United States post officenamed in your honor? You should!It’s possible. I know because a postoffice in Chattanooga, Tennessee isnamed the Grace L. Hewell Station,named for our alumna of theClass of 1940. The naming ceremonywas held on May 10, 2000, theday on which the stamp honoringPatricia Roberts Harris, former U.S.J. Thomas Carroll, vice president ofTiffany & Co., greets Eloise AbernathyAlexis, director of Alumnae Affairs, whilehosting the fifth annual Breakfast atTiffany featuring the alumnae achievementawards.ambassador and recipient of one ofthe first honorary degrees given bySpelman in 1977, was first issued.Madame Felicity ChizalelemaMalewezi, C’68, was onthe Spelman campus with a delegationfrom Malawi during a recent tripto the United States. She shared herwork and experiences as educationproject officer with the United NationsChildren’s Fund and as wife of VicePresident Justin C. Malewezi of theRepublic of Malawi, East Africa.The Alpha XI Zeta Chapter of ZetaPhi Beta Sorority, Inc. honored MaryJamerson Moore, High SchoolClass of 1923, as Zeta of the Year.Mrs. Moore continues to be activelyinvolved in and around her Tuskegee,Alabama community.The American Bar Associationselected Dovey JohnsonRoundtree, Esq., C’38, to receivethe prestigious Margaret BrentWomen Lawyers of AchievementAward for 2000. This award honorsoutstanding women lawyers whohave achieved professionalexcellence in their areas ofspecialty and have activelypaved the way to success forother women lawyers.Those traveling Interstate75/85 south throughdowntown Atlanta duringthe summer months saw theelectronic billboard showcasingJill Ashton, C’91in a HookMedia advertisement.Jill is a business strategistwith the company’sBoston office.I close by seeking yournomination of classmates,Spelman mentors, and colleaguesfor an AlumnaeAchievement Award, Founders SpiritAward, Honorary Degree or an externalaward opportunity. The official launchof the Alumnae Affairs Web page andonline community will make submittingyour alumnae notes and nominationsalmost effortless! (See the backcover.)If you’ll just provide the information,it’s up to us to do the rest. It’smore than our job, it’s our mission. Ilook forward to sharing your goodnews with the world!Photo: Bud SmithIn sisterhood,Eloise Abernathy Alexis, C’86Director of Alumnae Affairs20 S P E L M A N M E S S E N G E R

72867_Mess_Text_SF2K 2/1/01 9:34 PM Page 21BREAKFAST AT TIFFANYFeaturing The Alumnae Achievement AwardsArts & EntertainmentThis awards ceremony has become amuch-anticipated part of the Founders Dayschedule of events, drawing honorees andattendees from across the country.The following Alumnae AchievementAward winners for 2000 were honored byat the annual Breakfast at Tiffany:CommunicationsEducation/NonprofitPeggy L. Hayes, C’86Independent FilmMakerKathleen McGhee-Anderson, C’72Playwright/ProducerShirley Wesley King,Ph.D., C’72EducationalConsultantDeborah JohnsonMitchell, C’80Teacher, SlaterElementary SchoolBusiness/Law/GovernmentScience/HealthRaymone K. Bain, C’76Co-Founder and VicePresident of Davis,Bain & Associates, Inc.Brenda C. Siler, C’75Director of PublicRelations, AmericanSpeech-Language-Hearing Association(ASHA)Betty Stevens Walker,J.D., C’64Partner, Walker &Walker Associates, P.C.Elynor A. Williams, C’66President andManaging Director,Chestnut Pearson &AssociatesGreer L Geiger, M.D.,C’76Ophthalmologist/Vitreoretinal SurgeryFleda Mask Jackson,Ph.D., C’73Public HealthResearcher & ProfessorPhotos: Bud SmithS U M M E R / F A L L 2 0 0 021

72867_Mess_Text_SF2K 2/1/01 9:34 PM Page 22Alumnae Notes1923 H.S.Mary Jamerson MoorePersonal Achievement: Honored as “Zeta ofthe Year” during the Finer Womanhood Programsponsored by the Alpha Xi Zeta Chapterof Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc. in Tuskegee,Alabama. The program was held on March 26,2000 at the Tuskegee Municipal Complex.1938Dovey Johnson RoundtreeProfessional Achievement: Selected to receivethe prestigious Margaret Brent WomenLawyers of Achievement Award for the year2000 by the American Bar Association Commissionon Women in the Profession. Thisaward honors outstanding women lawyerswho have achieved professional excellence intheir area of specialty and have acted as mentorsand role models to pave the way to successfor other women in the legal profession. She isgeneral counsel for the National Council ofNegro Women in Washington, D.C.1940Grace HewellPersonal Achievement: A United States Postalstation was named in her honor on May 10,2000. The Dr. Grace L. Hewell Station islocated at 6050 Shallowford Road in Chattanooga,Tennessee, 37421-9998.1947Mildred Ponder-StevensPersonal Achievement: Serves as NationalHonorary Chairperson for Sisters ChapelRevival of the Spirit Campaign.1946Ollivette Smith AllisonPersonal Achievement: Recipient of the SpelmanCollege Board of Trustees Local CommunityService Award, presented during the fallsemester Opening Convocation on Thursday,August 31, 2000. Since 1976, Mrs. Allison hasserved as executive director of the CarrieSteele-Pitts Home (CSPH) for Children insouthwest Atlanta.1949Pinkie Gordon LaneProfessional Achievement: Published her fifthbook of poems, Elegy for Etheridge, drawingattention to the efficacy of ancient poeticmode in a contemporary world. ( LSU Press,2000. The cloth version is ISBN 0-8071-2544-x; in paper the ISBN is 0-8071-2545-8.) Dr.Lane conducted a reading and interpretationof her poetry during the Margaret WalkerAlexander National Symposium and PoetryFestival in July 2000 at Jackson State Universityin Jackson, Mississippi.Personal Achievement: Dr. Lane received theExcellence in the Arts award from the Arts Councilof Greater Baton Rouge and La CapitaleChapter of the Links, Inc. on August 27, 2000.1954Juel Pate Borders-BensonProfessional Achievement: Speaker forFounders Day 2000 Palm Sunday WorshipService on April 16, 2000 in Sisters Chapel. Sheis associate minister at the Wheat Street BaptistChurch and a practicing gynecologist atthe Juel Pate Borders Professional Corporationin Atlanta, Georgia.1955Eleanor Williams TraylorProfessional Achievement: Served as a paneliston the topic of “Art and Intellectual Tradition”during the Margaret Walker AlexanderNational Symposium and Poetry Festival inJuly 2000 at Jackson State University in Jackson,Mississippi. Dr. Traylor is chair of theEnglish Department at Howard University inWashington, D.C.1957Frances Ellison-DansbyPersonal Achievement: Elected the first AfricanAmerican female president of the Atlanta WestEnd Rotary Club on July 1, 2000. She is alicensed master social worker, a notary publicand a licensed realtor.1960Marian Wright EdelmanProfessional Achievement: Awarded the PresidentialMedal of Freedom, the nation’s highestcivilian honor, by President Clinton onWednesday, August 9, 2000 in a White Houseceremony. The Presidential Medal of Freedomis awarded by the President of the UnitedStates to persons who have made especiallymeritorious contributions to the security ornational interests of the United States, to worldpeace or to cultural or other significant publicor private endeavors. She is the founder andpresident of the Children’s Defense Fund.1964Leronia Stokes JoseyProfessional Achievement: Named as directorof government and community relations forthe Maryland/Delaware Region at ComcastCable on August 1, 2000. She currently sits onthe Board of Regents for the University Systemof Maryland and chairs the Regent’s Committeeon Advancement.1966Phoebe L. BaileyPersonal Achievement: Speaker for Vesper Servicehosted by the freshman class on Sunday,April 9, 2000 in Sisters Chapel. On July 1,2000, she began her term as president of theNational Alumnae Association of SpelmanCollege for 2000–2002.Professional Achievement: Assistant principalof the Eighth and Ninth Grade Academy atAvondale High School in Decatur, Georgia.Deborah Peak CrockettProfessional Achievement: Named School Psychologistof the Year by the Georgia Associationof School Psychologists (GASP). She is just completingher tenure as president of the NationalAssociation of School Psychologists. She is theorganization’s first African American president.Brenda GreeneProfessional Achievement: Elected to the boardof the National Association of Women in Education(NAWE) and chair of NAWE’s EthnicWomen’s Caucus.Michael Purify JonesProfessional Achievement: Elected as a Fellowof the American Medical Writers Association.She is currently a member of the executivecommittee and the board of directors.Charlotte L. McConnellProfessional Achievement: Assumed the positionof executive director of Family and Child Servicesof Washington, D.C., the District’s oldestprivate social service organization, on March 6,2000. She is also currently an associate professorof social work at Howard University.Elynor WilliamsProfessional Achievement: Joined the ranks ofentrepreneurs as president and managingdirector of Chestnut Pearson & Associates, aninternational management consulting firmspecializing in corporate community interactionsand public responsibility strategies.1967Madelyn NixProfessional Achievement: Featured in theAtlanta Journal-Constitution article, “Pagesfrom Georgia’s Past,” which appeared Monday,February 7, 2000, highlighting her experienceas a student integrating Atlanta publicschools in 1961. She is a partner in the lawfirm of Hartman, Underhill & Brubaker inLancaster, Pennsylvania.1970Bernice Johnson ReagonProfessional Achievement: Speaker during theannual African American Heritage Festival atStillman College in Tuscaloosa, Alabama inFebruary 2000. Her topic was “Passing theMotherload: Do You Know the AncestralSongs?” where she discussed the origin of thespiritual and its importance today. She isfounder, member and artistic director of SweetHoney in the Rock, the African Americanwomen’s a cappella quintet, which has performedfor over 25 years.Harriette WatkinsProfessional Achievement: Received theAtlanta Business League’s League LeadershipAward at the 22 nd Annual Chief ExecutiveOfficer Appreciation Luncheon on Tuesday,May 23, 2000. She was recently named managerof Georgia Power Company’s new DiversityAction Department in Atlanta, Georgia.1971Tina McElroy AnsaProfessional Achievement: Serving as producer/executiveproducer of the DownSouthFilmworks, Inc. independent feature film,Baby of the Family. Her husband, Joneé Ansa,is director/director of photography and thehusband-wife team has collaborated on thescript, which is adapted from her 1989 NewYork Times Notable Book of the Year novel.The film is due for release in spring 2001.1973Patricia Graham JohnsonProfessional Achievement: Appointed theinterim executive director of the National AlumnaeAssociation of Spelman College. During hercareer she served Spelman College for 15 yearsas acting director of admissions, director ofalumnae affairs and planned giving officer.1977Judith Jones McKinleyMarried: James R. McKinley on Saturday,August 5, 2000 at Southgate Baptist Church inSt. Croix, Virgin Islands.1978Vanessa Walker HartsfieldProfessional Achievement: Author of StressManagement for Christians (Relief Publishing,P.O. Box 652, Lithonia, Georgia 30058;ISBN 0-9665825-0-0), a book developed toteach Christians why stress exists and how tohandle it as the Bible describes. She is also acontributor to the Women of Color StudyBible: World Publishing, Inc., 1999, IowaFalls, Iowa 50126. (See the Good Reading columnin the “Books & Papers” section.)Laura J. PickettProfessional Achievement: Speaker for theSpelman –Morehouse Homecoming 2000Opening Worship Service on Sunday, October15, 2000 in Sisters Chapel. Her message wasentitled, “Standing in Your Purpose.” EvangelistPickett is the Assistant Minister at CapitolView United Methodist Church and co-founderof Pickett Outreach Ministries, Inc.1979Jerri DevardProfessional Achievement: Promoted to managingdirector, Internet marketing and customeracquisition, for Citigroup e-consumer.Personal Achievement: Ms. Devard’s reputationfor savvy professionalism resulted in herbeing quoted in the March 2000 Essence magazinein the article, “How Black Can You Be?”She also is serving as co-chair for Revival ofthe Spirit Sisters Chapel Campaign.1980Agnes Johnnetta CarswellEducation: Executive Master of Arts of Scienceand Communications from Barry University.She has been accepted to Nova SoutheasternUniversity to pursue a JD.Personal Achievement: Director of Medical Missionsfor the International Hospital Relief Foundation,Inc., a position that has given her theopportunity to travel to Africa three times and toCentral America to assist over 2,000 people.Professional Achievement: Directory SalesRepresentative for BellSouth.22 S P E L M A N M E S S E N G E R

72867_Mess_Text_SF2K 2/1/01 9:34 PM Page 23In Memoriam1938Jessie Overton Hubbard1930Evelyn Green FreemanRetired teacher of English compositionwho for more than 50 yearstaught students the finer points ofEnglish grammar and literature atBooker T. Washington High Schooland the University of Arkansas.Services: July 24, 2000, ProvidenceBaptist Church, Atlanta, Georgia1932Ernestine Anthony LipscombServed as president of the NationalAlumnae Association of SpelmanCollege (NAASC) from 1934–38. Sheretired as director of the library atJackson State University.Services: April 8, 2000, Central UnitedMethodist Church, Jackson, Mississippi.1936Birdie “Connie” WallaceRobinsonRetired teacher, counselor and principal;donor and volunteerDied: May 31, 2000Services: June 6, 2000, South-ViewCemetery, Atlanta, GeorgiaBirdie “Connie” Wallace Robinsonwas 19 when she received her bachelor’sdegree from Spelman College.She immediately began what wouldbe a 41-year tenure with the AtlantaBoard of Education in Atlanta, Georgiaas a teacher, counselor and principal.After her retirement in 1977,she remained actively engaged inmany civic, social and charitableendeavors, especially Spelman Collegeand the National Alumnae Associationof Spelman College (NAASC).Her dedication and service on behalfof Spelman is well documented. Shewill be long remembered as one ofthe “Wonderful Wednesday” volunteers— a group of retired alumnaewho offered their time, wisdom andexpertise weekly in the Office of AlumnaeAffairs.HolmesFamily matriarch, community andchurch volunteer, fervent gardenerand readerDied: August 29, 2000Services: September 8, 2000, Chapelof the Chimes, Oakland, California1942Emma Laura WilkinsRetired teacherDied: November 18, 1999Services: November 22, 1999, ForestLawn Mausoleum Chapel, Anniston,AlabamaEmma Laura Wilkins taught for 30years in the public school system andpioneered her own methods of structuredprograms for her mentallychallenged students. She enjoyedserving, traveling, working in herflower garden and gathering eachmonth for her bridge club.1944E. Frances Lemon GibsonRetired U.S. Navy Departmentemployee and dedicated churchmemberDied: March 7, 2000Services: March 13, 2000, ShilohBaptist Church, Washington, D.C.E. Frances Lemon Gibson graduatedfrom Spelman College at the age of 19and went on to work for the U.S. NavyDepartment for 31 years. She alsoserved her church for over 50 years invarious clubs and committees and ascircle leader, church school teacher,tithing finance committee memberand assistant superintendent of thechurch school, just to name a few.She remained faithful to her almamater through the NAASC and classactivities.1948Carrienelle Flannagan GadsonTeacher and administrator, churchand community volunteerDied: May 2, 2000Services: May 11, 2000, St. Andrew’sEpiscopal Church, Tuskegee Institute,Alabama1949Berthena Hunt GentryDevoted wife, mother, retired teacherfor the Kansas City School Board,1950–1992Died: December 27, 1999Services: January 4, 2000, Saint PaulA.M.E. Church, Independence, Missouri1952Bettye J. CrockettRetired teacher, community andchurch worker, volunteerServices: September 26, 2000, BrownsAvenue Baptist Church, Atlanta, Georgia1953Carolyn Hill WyattWife, mother, retired elementaryteacher, church and community volunteerDied: August 11, 2000Services: August 15, 2000, Allen TempleA.M.E. Church, Atlanta, GeorgiaCarolyn Hill Wyatt was the epitome ofa gracious and genteel woman whowas able to balance the roles of wife,mother and professional and losenothing of substance in the process.She worked in the Atlanta PublicSchool System for 35 years, and faithfullyserved her community andchurch. She remained active in thelife of Spelman College, keeping trueto the mission and ideals of her almamater.1958Dentye M. SmithRetired English teacher and librarymedia specialist, church and communityvolunteer, humanitarian,philanthropistServices: August 5, 2000, WestMitchell Street C.M.E. Church,Atlanta, GeorgiaDentye Smith was a graduate of theSpelman Nursery, and it was this experiencethat established her desire toattend Spelman College. As a Spelmanstudent she flourished, majoring inEnglish with minors in biology andeducation. Dentye Smith consideredmembership in the glee club and thechorus among the most significantaspects of her life at Spelman. Upongraduating from Spelman in 1958, sheprogressed from her role as a student tothat of a loyal alumna, serving as aCollege volunteer, and a member andofficer of the Atlanta Chapter of theNational Alumnae Association of SpelmanCollege. Throughout the years,Dentye Smith gave consistently of hertime, talent and treasure to her almamater. In 1996, she helped write a newchapter in philanthropy for Spelmanalumnae and African Americanwomen when she made a leadershipgift to the College in support of TheSpelman Campaign: Initiatives for the’90s. Because of her spirit of giving,Spelman students, faculty and staffmoved into a new state-of-the-art sciencecenter at the beginning of the2000–2001 academic year.1970Barbara L. Johnson HawkinsDied: April 30, 2000Services: May 6, 2000, Mount TaborMissionary Baptist Church, Miami,FloridaMother, church worker, educatorBarbara Hawkins was considered an“educational visionary” within theMiami-Dade County Public SchoolSystem, which honored her as Principalof the Year in 1998. She won thehonor after leading North Carol CityElementary School’s 560 students inan educational turnaround, significantlyraising scores in math computation,application and readingcomprehension.1972Sandra Reed Riley GibbsCorporate business analyst, communityand church volunteerServices: February 17, 2000, Christiansfor Change Baptist Church, Riverdale,GeorgiaS U M M E R / F A L L 2 0 0 023

72867_Mess_Text_SF2K 2/1/01 9:34 PM Page 241981Angela BensonProfessional Achievement: Author of Tellingthe Tale: The African-American Fiction WritersGuide, a unique and inspiring step-by-stepguide for black writers published in May 2000,and Awakening Mercy, an inspirationalromance, the first novel in a series. (See theGood Reading column in the “Books &Papers” section.)Sheila L. ChamberlainPersonal Achievement: First African Americanever to run for the District Three county commissionerseat (Islamorada, Florida) in thehistory of the Florida keys. Experienced in federal,state and county levels of government,Chamberlain is a veteran of the United StatesArmy, with active duty during the Grenada/Panama invasion and the Persian Gulf War.She was the Army’s first African Americanwoman combat intelligence helicopter pilot.Jann P. PrimusProfessional Achievement: Selected to receive aRole Model Award at the Minority AccessNational Role Models Banquet on September17, 2000 in Washington, D.C. Ms. Primus washonored for her work in recruiting, motivatingand inspiring minority students in the field ofbiomedical research.Helena-Joyce WrightProfessional Achievement: Named IndividualArtist of the Year by the Oakland Chamber ofCommerce for her efforts as an actress, writerand artistic director of the former OaklandEnsemble Theatre.1982Kyndra Young WilliamsMarried: George Williams at Christ ChurchLogwood in Brookline, Massachusetts.1983Gail M. AtleyPersonal Achievement: Serves as one of fourco-chairs for the Sisters Chapel Revival of theSpirit Campaign.Hazel Dean-GaitorEducation: Successfully defended her dissertationon March 2000 for a Doctor of Science(Sc.D.) degree in biostatistics at Tulane University.1984Shaun RobinsonProfessional Achievement: Weekend co-anchorand correspondent since May 1999 for AccessHollywood, a nationally syndicated entertainmentnews magazine show.1985Patrice Shelton LassiterProfessional Achievement: Speaker for SpelmanConvocation on February 24, 2000. Sheis the author of Generations of Black Life inKennesaw and Marietta, Georgia.1986Peggy HayesProfessional Achievement: Her independentfilm, NANDI, is in Blockbuster video storesnationwide.Eloise Abernathy AlexisMarried: Autry Alexis, II in a covenant marriageceremony on Saturday, August 19, 2000at the Atlanta Contemporary Art Center inAtlanta, Georgia. Her husband is an alumnusof Grambling State University and Presidentand CEO of Lex & Associates, a marketing andpromotional products company.1987Tara L. BucknerProfessional Achievement: Accepted the positionof community liaison manager for theGreater St. Louis Empowerment Zone. TheEmpowerment Zone is a HUD-designatedcommunity that includes portions of St. Louis,Wellston (St. Louis County) and East St. Louis,Illinois. Tara was formerly with the St. LouisPlanning and Urban Design Agency.Alva Bell BullardMarried: Carl Bullard on October 14, 1999Birth: Daughter, Erica Monique on March 18,1998 and son, Alan Michael, on July 16, 1999.Professional Achievement: Named chief informationofficer/senior vice president at SymmetricalResources in Deerfield Beach, Florida.You may contact Alva at alvab@symresources.com.Karla Mann McKinneyBirth: Daughter, Kamille Jade, born June 5,2000, weighing 8 lbs.13 oz. She brings bundlesof joy to her Dad, Jeff, and big sisters KristynJoi, 6, and Kelli Jai, 4.Kimberly RussawProfessional Achievement: Relocated toAtlanta, Georgia to serve as senior channelmanager for channel business development atThe Coca-Cola Company.Joni Johnson WilliamsPersonal Achievement: Speaker for the SpelmanCollege Vesper Service hosted by DeltaSigma Theta Sorority on Sunday, September24, 2000 in Sisters Chapel. Her message wasentitled “Self–Skills–Spirit: Conceptualizationof the Gift.” Ms. Williams is director of humanresources at the Atlanta Technical College.1988Joi Bostic HollowayProfessional Achievement: Recently namedthe executive director of the Sudden InfantDeath Syndrome (SIDS) Alliance of Georgia.1989Leisha Stewart ChappellMarried: William Clyde Chappell, Jr. on Saturday,March 4, 2000 at Friendship BaptistChurch in College Park, Georgia.Andrea WilliamsProfessional Achievement: Director of admissionat the Stone Ridge School of the SacredHeart in Bethesda, Maryland.1990Jerol Smith KingMarried: Scott Clark King, a Morehouse Collegealumnus, on August 5, 2000 at CentralUnited Methodist Church in Atlanta, Georgia.Adrienne Lance LucasProfessional Achievement: Co-founding principalof Home Orbit, an online managementand fundraising service for affinity groups.The company has partnered with SpelmanCollege to power and launch the SpelmanAlumnae Online Community.Personal Achievement: Featured in the article“A Proud Tradition in Black Higher Education,”appearing in the August 2000 edition ofAtlanta Goodlife magazine. The articleexplores the important role that the AtlantaUniversity Center (AUC) institutions haveplayed and continue to play, in developingAfrican American students.Kandance Weems NorrisProfessional Achievement: Designated to coordinateminority recruiting efforts and to serveon the committee on diversity at the law firmof Sullivan & Cromwell in New York, NY. Shejoined the General Practice Group of Sullivan& Cromwell in 1996, following graduationfrom the J.D./M.B.A. program at Harvard University,and her practice focuses primarily oncommercial real estate matters.Regene Polk RossBirth: Son, Justin Ross, born on Friday, February25, 2000, weighing 6 lb. 5 oz.1991Jill AshtonProfessional Achievement: Business strategistfor HookMedia, an interactive media agency,in Boston, Massachusetts. She appears in aninteractive billboard advertisement for thecompany in Atlanta, Georgia.Angie Barrington-JeterProfessional Achievement: Owner of ParkAvenue Kids, a specialty boutique for infantsand children, offering unique European anddomestic lines for newborns to size 8, and giftsfor baby showers and other special occasions.The store is located in Brookwood SquarePlaza at 2140 Peachtree Road, Suite 215 inAtlanta, Georgia.Cherry CollierProfessional Achievement: Co-author of thearticle, “Activation and Use of Racial Stereotypesin Personnel Decisions: A Test of TwoTheories?,” published in the Journal ofApplied Social Psychology, 1999.Michelle DorantProfessional Achievement: Made her Broadwaydebut in the hottest show in New York, TheLion King. She is a former member of UrbanBush Women, the Vinnette Carroll RepertoryTheatre and Freddrick Bratcher and Company.Jillnell Williams HaynesEducation: Received a master’s degree in publichealth from the University of California,BerkeleyMarried: Clayton Haynes In October of 1999.Her husband is an accountant with PricewaterhouseCooperspublic accounting firm.Professional Achievement: Employed as a projectmanager/senior analyst with Kaiser Permanente,Regional in Pasadena, California.Sonja KnightonProfessional Achievement: Affiliated with thelaw firm of Brady & Coker in Fort Lauderdale,Florida, where she practices in the areas ofcivil and commercial litigation and landuse/municipal law.Felicia R. LasleyPersonal Achievement: Sworn in as the District7 representative to the Prince George’s CountySchool Board. A lifetime resident of thecounty, she is an attorney for the Departmentof Housing and Urban Development.Danyale PriceProfessional Achievement: Firm-wide diversityrecruiter at Goldman Sachs in New York, NewYork.1992Ericka Brown-AbramPersonal Achievement: Shared thoughts onher experiences on growing up as the daughterof a Black Panther Party leader in the article,“The Children of the Civil RightsMovement,” in the Dixie Living section of theAtlanta Journal-Constitution on Sunday,September 10, 2000.Adrianne C. SmithProfessional Achievement: Senior vice presidentof advertising at ADHere Network.1993Kimberly Rice BennekinProfessional Achievement: Instructor of mathematics,a tenure-track position, at GeorgiaPerimeter College, Dunwoody campus, beginningfall 2000.Adrienne Crenshaw-RolandMarried: Terry Rowland on August 28, 1999 inBirmingham, Alabama.Sarah James IrbyEducation: She received an M.B.A. in marketingand international business from the NewYork University Stern School of Business in1998 and a Certificate of International Managementfrom L’École de Haute Études Commercial(HEC) in Paris, France.24S P E L M A N M E S S E N G E R

72867_Mess_Text_SF2K 2/1/01 9:34 PM Page 25Nikita Collins PattersonBirth: Daughter, Kai Nzingha Patterson, bornto her and husband, Darvin, on May 25, 2000,weighing 6 lb. 7 oz. and 19? inches long.Mary F. RandleProfessional Achievement: Made her movieacting debut in Hollow Man alongside Hollywoodnotables Kevin Bacon and ElizabethShue. In the movie, Ms. Randle plays JaniceWalton, an ambitious expert data analyst. Amezzo soprano, she secured her rising singingand acting reputation starring on Broadway inThe Lion King where she played the adultNala. In addition to Hollow Man, Mary hasalso recently guest-starred in a episode of thetelevision series Law & Order.Dekia Moore ScottMarried: Michael Scott on Saturday, June 17,2000 in Mobile, Alabama at the Cathedral ofthe Immaculate Conception. After honeymooningin Nassau, Bahamas, the couplecurrently resides in Smyrna, Georgia whileawaiting the building completion of their firsthome.Kimberly WeemsEducation: Received a Ph.D. in applied mathematicsfrom the University of Maryland, CollegePark. She and two of her Marylandclassmates were the first African Americanwomen to earn a Ph.D. from the mathematicsdepartment at the University of Maryland.Professional Development: Accepted employmentwith the National Security Agency in Ft.Meade, Maryland.1994Cherell CarrBirth: Son, Jared Brandon Harris, born onAugust 13, 2000 in Cincinnati, Ohio, weighing5 lbs. 9 oz. and 18 ? inches long.Christine CrawfordEducation: Received a Doctor of Science (Sc.D.)degree in epidemiology from Harvard University’sSchool of Public Health in June 2000.Cheniqua Bullock GrantMarried: Kenneth Grant, a graduate of theUniversity of Arkansas-Pine Bluff, on Saturday,May 27, 2000. The groom is a seniorcredit analyst at Mercury Financial Network,and the couple resides in Decatur, Georgia.Professional Achievement: Funding supervisorfor Georgia and Mississippi accounts at MercuryFinancial Network.Sherri Lee KeeneEducation: Received a Juris Doctor degreefrom New York University’s School of Law inMay 1997.Married: Jason Okera Keene, also holding aJ.D. degree from N.Y.U.’s School of Law, onSunday, September 5, 1999 at Oxon HillManor in Oxon Hill, Maryland.Aqualyn LauryEducation: Pursuing an M.B.A. degree, fulltime,at Duke University’s Fuqua School ofBusiness. She anticipates graduating in 2002.Ayanna VanSluytmanProfessional Achievement: Hired as admissions& orientation services counselor forSpelman College in September 1998.Daphne M. WalkerPersonal Achievement: Serves as one of fourco-chairs for the Sisters Chapel Revival of theSpirit Campaign.1995Detria AustinPersonal Achievement: Recipient of the Torchbearerfor the New Millennium Award in February2000, recognizing outstanding youngadults from Jefferson County, Arkansas whohave brought honor and distinction to thecommunity through their high standards,dedication and relentless pursuit of excellence.Professional Achievement: Administrative Fellowfor hospital operations at the Medical Collegeof Georgia Health, Inc. This is a two-yearplacement to complement her Master ofHealth Services Administration degree.Nicole Duncan-SmithMarried: Gregory Smith, Jr. on August 1, 1998.Birth: Daughter, Eden Sanaa Duncan-Smith,born on October 28, 1999.Professional Achievement: Assistant to thesenior vice president of Strategic Marketing &Special Projects for 360HipHop.com, an Internetsite covering topics of interest, includingmusic, politics and fashion, established byRussell Simmons and launched in June 2000.Kelli MooreEducation: Received a full scholarship to pursuea Ph.D. in Political Science this fall at theUniversity of Florida in Gainesville.Professional Achievement: One of 30 internschosen from a competitive pool of applicantsthis spring to work with the Carter Center’s ConflictResolution Program in Atlanta, Georgia.1996Djenaba BradfordProfessional Achievement: Class of 2000 studentinductee into the Alpha Omega Alpha,Beta Chapter of the National Honor MedicalSociety at the University of PennsylvaniaSchool of Medicine.Yani BrinsonEducation: Pursuing an M.B.A. degree, fulltime,at Clark Atlanta University with anexpected graduation date of May 2002.Sherrie Proctor BrownMarried: Robert Amin Brown, a 1996 MorehouseCollege graduate, on September 6, 2000in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.Professional Achievement: Sherrie is a secondyearpsychologist with the Philadelphia PublicSchool District.Tracy Lawrence JimersonEducation: Graduated with honors from theCase Western Reserve University School ofMedicine with an M.D. degree.Married: Dr. Andrew Jimerson, II, a 1992Morehouse graduate, in a ceremony at thealtar of St. Ashworth Temple Church of God inChrist in Ohio. The bride is a pediatrician. Thegroom graduated from the Case WesternReserve University School of Medicine and theWeatherhead School of Business with bothM.D. and M.B.A degrees and is now a plasticsurgeon.Tara Centeio MorrowMarried: Gino L. Morrow in March of 1999Birth: Daughter, Ilyse April, on April 26, 2000Clarissa L. ParrishEducation: Received an M.D. degree from theUniversity of Virginia School of Medicine inCharlottesville, Virginia on May 21, 2000. Sheis currently a pediatrics resident at INOVAFairfax Hospital for Children in Falls Church,Virginia.1997Ayana DavisProfessional Achievement: Associate beautyeditor with 360HipHop.com, Russell Simmons’new Internet company.Cara GrayerEducation: Received a Juris Doctor degreefrom the Washington College of Law at AmericanUniversity, Washington, D.C. in May 2000.Presently she is a candidate for a Master of Artsdegree in International Affairs from the Schoolof International Service at American Universityin December of 2000.Delali KodahProfessional Achievement: Returned to theSpelman Campus on February 7, 2000 toshare her experiences with Teach for Americawith students.1998LaTiefa AlstonEducation: Graduated from the University ofMichigan at Ann Arbor with a Master’s degreein Public Policy in May 2000.Rachael JohnsonEducation: Graduated from the Smith CollegeSchool of Social Work with a Master of SocialWork degree in May 2000.Karan KendrickProfessional Achievement: Founder and artisticdirector of the Bliss and Feet Center for theArts, Inc. in Fort Valley, Georgia. Director andchoreographer of Walk With Me, a play depictingfamily life in Fort Valley that kicked off thegrand opening of the Center.Delali KodahProfessional Achievement: Returned to theSpelman Campus on February 7, 2000 toshare her experiences with Teach for Americawith students.Valerie MitchellEducation: Completed an M.A. in Education atthe University of California, Berkeley in May2000.Professional Achievement: Accepted the positionof seventh grade reading teacher at RoxburyPreparatory Charter School in Roxbury,Massachusetts.Allison Taite TarverMarried: James Edward Tarver, Jr., a 1997graduate of Morehouse College, on Saturday,July 1, 2000 at Evangelistic Baptist Church ofChrist in Oklahoma City, OK.Maisha WynnProfessional Achievement: Director of theChildren’s Division of the Bel Air Institute inNumazu, Japan.1999Shahidah AhmadPersonal Achievement: Featured in the article,“Young Muslim Women Sacrifice to Learnand Teach,” which appeared in the May 19,2000 addition of Muslim Journal. Ms. Ahmadis cited for her travel and study in Syria to furtherIslamic knowledge.Zarat Akande BoydMarried: Damian Lamar Boyd, a MorehouseCollege alumnus, on Saturday, June 10, 2000at Destiny Metropolitan Worship Church inMarietta, Georgia.Kimberly JohnsonProfessional Achievement: Hired as Admissions& Orientation Services counselor forSpelman College in August 1999.Carole Rowe JonesProfessional Achievement: Project Coordinatorof HICARE (Health Insurance Counselingand Referral for the Elderly) and the AtlantaMedicare Watch in the Aging Services Divisionof the Atlanta Regional Commission (ARC) inAtlanta, Georgia.2000Sophia HugerProfessional Achievement: Assistant to theChief of Staff, Office of the Mayor, City ofAtlanta, Georgia.Tiffany PryorProfessional Achievement: Hired as Admissions& Orientation Services counselor forSpelman College in August 2000.S U M M E R / F A L L 2 0 0 025

72867_Mess_Text_SF2K 2/1/01 9:34 PM Page 26True& SupremeReunion 2000History in the making is how Reunion 2000might best be described. When all was said anddone, Spelman women had built on the traditionof leadership and excellence, and poised our almamater for even greater expectation and achievements inthe 21st century. The weekend of events defined themeaning of the theme — Supreme &True.The “firsts” were many. It was the first time in the119-year history of the institution that the presidentwas also a reunioner — Audrey Forbes Manley,C’55, the eighth — and first alumna — president ofthe College. In response to the boast from the Class of1955 that a member of their class is president, the Classof 1960 answered that the two alumnae who haveserved as chair of the Spelman College Board ofTrustees are both members of their class, June GaryHopps, current chair, and Marian Wright Edelman,who served as chair from 1980–1987. As forfamily ties within the sisterhood, Kymberly Higgins-Barber,C’80, celebrated reunion along withher aunt, President Manley. Ms. Higgin-Barber wasaccompanied by her young daughter, Taylor, a representativeof generations of Spelman women to come.Dr. Justine Washington, C’30, was only daysfrom having celebrated her 92nd birthday when shearrived on campus for her 70-year reunion. FromReunion Convocation and the Banquet to Commencement,it was as motivational as it was inspirational tosee and talk with her throughout the weekend.The highlight of the weekend came during the culminatingalumnae event, the Reunion Banquet, wherethe Class of 1990, the 10-year reunioning class, ledby Adrienne Lance Lucas and a dedicated team ofclassmates, gave the largest reunion gift of all theclasses represented (see “The Spelman PhilanthropicSpirit”). But even more importantly, this gift, and theenergy and strategies that allowed the class to achievesuch a goal, raised the standards and honor for youngalumnae and class giving to new heights.Reunion 2000 has surely secured a place in Spelmanalumnae history!REUNION ELEVATION PLEDGEI will step boldly …Into this new millenniumUsing what I have oldTo make something newI WANT TO CHANGE THE WORLDI will climb fearlessly …Toward uncharted heights,Bringing with meThe tools I need.I CAN CHANGE THE WORLDI will reach energetically …Past physical boundariesWith spiritual speedAnd audited audacity.I WILL CHANGE THE WORLDAlways pausing to acknowledgeThat which created me.Only fearing the same.Never forgetting those behind me …Elevating themAs IStep boldly …Climb fearlessly …Reach energetically …TO CHANGE THE WORLDJanine Jeff, C’9026S P E L M A N M E S S E N G E R

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72867_Mess_Text_SF2K 2/1/01 9:34 PM Page 28True& SupremeReunion 2000Reunion Class Photos: By Invitation Only1930Justine Washington1935Marguerite Simon1940Row One: Gladys I. Forde, Gladys B. Wallace, Grace L. Hewell, Marjorie R. Adams Row Two: Julia M.Glass, Dorothy Neal Birchette, Ollie Mc Farland, Callie R. Hester1945Row One: Ernestine Latson Smith, Althea P. Montgomery, Annie Brown Kennedy, Marian Ellison Gary,Lois B. Dabney Row Two: Eleanor B. Jackson, Barbara S. Jackson, Agnes Oliver Murdock, RobertaWilliam, Ansonia Campbell Walls, Juanita H. Scott, Doris ShepardPhoto: Bud SmithPhoto: Bud Smith28S P E L M A N M E S S E N G E R

72867_Mess_Text_SF2K 2/1/01 9:34 PM Page 29GoldenGirlsClass of 19501950 Golden GirlsRow One: Hester Hall Johnson, Catherine H. Southerland, Clarice W. Church, J. Louise Jordan, Elise F. Gilham, Evelyn Starks RowTwo: Maurice Mitchell Williams, Doris Reed Winfrey, Johnnie Lumpkin Davis, Irene Bennett Reid, Clemmie Sanders Tolmaire,Dorothy Zellner Brown Row Three: Eldora Love Adkins, Mignon Lackey Lewis, Mary Ball, Dorothy Little Pierce, Vivian Baker Castan,Lillian C. Lawton, Janet Talley Bone Row Four: Violet Higginbotham Freeman, Alma Blanton Rountree, Muriel Davis, FlorineParker Carter, Pauline Riley Hadley, Verna Turner Venning, Grace Diggs HassonPhoto: Bud SmithPhoto: Bud Smith1955Row One: Erin Goseer Mitchell, Roberta Parnell Barnes, Audrey Forbes Manley, Essie Jewell Eason, Elsie M. Smith, Lillian McKinneyCooley Row Two: Aserelene Pickett, Claudia F. Chavis, Alice Z. Dunston, Joan Blackshear Walton, Yvonne Parks Catchings,Helen Taylor Thompson, Ellen Pierce Jones Row Three: Clestell Byrd Hunt. Margaret Beverly -Hancock. Thomasenor WalkerPearson, Cecelia Gartrell Evans, Billy Joyce Douglass-Cunningham, Evelyn Cooper Campbell, Amelia Strong IronsS U M M E R / F A L L 2 0 0 029Photo: Bud Smith

72867_Mess_Text_SF2K 2/1/01 9:34 PM Page 30True& SupremeReunion 20001960Row One: Barbara Eberhardt , Margerine Sanford-Taylor , Delores Betts Stephens, Henrietta Reid Lundy, Barbara J. Jones, RuthThomas Peters Row Two: Mildred McDaniel , Carolyn Dawson McLemore, Mary Bacon Toole, Mary D. Echols Kendrick, GwendolynPerry Walthour, Pearl Johnson Logan, Barbara Parks Hendricks, Joyce Wilson Gordon Row Three: Frances Odom Young ,Wilma Abbott Nichols, Barbara Neal Hicks, Elizabeth McDugle Davis, Juanita Akridge Hubbard, Eddie Mae Ward, June Gary HoppsRow Four: Barbara Lockhart Robinson, Bobbie Ann Irvins, Virginia Joan Clack. Dwynell Williams, Gloria Watts Davis, Lucille B.McIver, Marian Pitts Coles, Frances Cannon Days, Jacquelyn Shivers Daniel1965Row One: Eloise Stevens-Jones, Victoria Alexander Davis, Dorothy Harden Borum, Theresa Howard Moore, Mary Dupree Sherman,Aurelia E. Brazeal Row Two: Queen H. Jackson, Karen Kerry Lehman, Carolynn Jones, Roslily Howard Mitchell, Sandra MontgomeryTudos, Mary Ann Morris, Yvonne Kyles Hammonds, Dorothy Fuqua Grayson Row Three: Sylvia Suitt, Madeline McCulloughPetty, Christine Williams, Alice Goseer Jennett, Millicent Gamble Jackson, Sandra A. Marshall, Marian Rucker-Shamu RowFour: Gloria Bailey Person, Janice Webb Chappelle, Carol Vieth, Delores Turner, Doris Bebee, Jeannie Holloway Carter, CeceliaTucker, Marian Shivens30S P E L M A N M E S S E N G E R

72867_Mess_Text_SF2K 2/1/01 9:34 PM Page 31GoldenGirlsClass of 19501970Row One: Cheryl May-Holmes, Cynthia Arrington Wright, Joyce E. Thornton, Theresa North Rogers, Pearlie Perkins Watkins,Yvonne R. Jackson, Jonis Coombs Reid, Mary Brown Jessie Row Two: Judy J. Baiton, Rosalyn Clark Gray, Bettie McCall Rounsaville,Teresa Diane Wilbon, Joann Winfrey Bowden, Joyce Jelks, Jeannette Hughes Whittenburg, Carolyne Hall Simmons, Frances BurnetteCleveland Row Three: Maria Sims Lay, Julia R. Dye, Jacqueline Jones Royster, Laraine Alexander Vance, Cherry GordonGlover, Harriette Debro Watkins, Carolyn Wise Cuby, Betty Anne Clarke Jinsley, Diedra Mitchell Wright Row Four: Sandra SimsPatterson, Bentley Patterson, Anita G. Ingram, Ama R. Saran, Brenda Lewis-Primas, Alicia Arnold Spencer, Dallas Anderson Campbell,Melody Quinn Kenner Row Five: Lynda Cobb Boatwright, Ollie Irons Manley, Jacqueline P. Moore, Dorothy Wheat Sims,Angela Alexander Stamper, Marie Gaston-Palmer, Jeannette Rankin McCall, Shirley Langston Franks, Sandi Lee-Williams, MiriamStewart-Early Row Six: Llewelyn Triche Barton, Josetta Liptrot Arnold, Ave Lindsay Marshall, Angela Veale Joubert, Gloria SingletonGaston, Rosa King Kilpatrick, Shirley Campbell Kilgore, Brenda Collier Richardson, Patricia Hicks, Donice Thomas JeterPhoto: Bud SmithPhoto: Bud Smith1975Row One: Belva B. Davis, Lisa Sims-Stewart, Gaynell Hairston-Hill, Cynthia Walker-Deenico, Kathy Morison, Amelia Hamilton-Morris,Lenita D. Rosser-Iverson, Alice Jean Washington Row Two: Betty J. Harris, Brenda C. Siler, Terry Cornwell Rumsey, Yakini BelindaKemp, Sheila L. Jack, Carletha Wilkerson Youmans, Georgette Woodward Jones, Shirley Battle Robins, Theresa Brockenberry Lee,Sheree Stephens Simpson, Charisse Washington Jackson Row Three: Deborah Finley, Denise W. Warner, Shirley P. Searcy, Annette N.Hill, Phyllis M. Spruill, Deborah H. Najee-ullah, Cheryl T. Smith, Veronicia P. Lee, Rosanna G. Shaw, Deborah A. Ryan, Sherry ShawGearing, Valerie D. Pittman, Valerie Rice Ferguson Row Four: Loretta Johnson, Janet Brown, Daphine B. Stowe, Carla M. Curtis, EvaW. Tyler, Brunetta Bolton, Karen Coppock Fletcher, Margaret Darnell Wright, Pam Yancey Reed, Monique Jackson Washington, AdenaSmith Wright Row Five: Chalene Thompson Bridges, Alester E. Teagle, Pamela Wells, C.T.Woods-Powell, Scharla E. Ashe, ToniMcClellan, Diane Allen Johnson, Patricia Kornegay Smith, Yvonne Ellis Hicks, Marian “Kittye” Cobb, Donna TurkS U M M E R / F A L L 2 0 0 0Photo: Bud Smith31

72867_Mess_Text_SF2K 2/1/01 9:34 PM Page 32Reunion 2000True& Supreme1980Row One: Geri Jackson, Karen A. Moore, Sherree Garrett-Alford, Dary S. Engram, Susan Robertson-Alston, Nedra P. James, ChristyClayton-McCaskill, Kymberly Higgins-Barker, Christi Harris Row Two: Rosalyn Y. Nealy, Christie Adams, Avadawn T. Hayes-Hargett,Carolyn Meadows, Andrea Coope Gatewood, Janet Wills, Pamela Jackson, Alice Falconer Wilson, India Burton Breedlove, EllaJohnson-Allen, Daphne Smith, Donna McQueen, Donna Horne, Peggy A. Fuller Row Three: Muriel E. King, Valerie Jaundee-Green, Marcia King-Johnson, Janki Darity, Sylvia Collins Blassengale, Cheryl Bickers Jordan, Michelle L. Browne-Barnum, ReginaR. Goins, Jocelyn W. Bonner, Alisa Owens-Moore, Marsorie Whigham-Desir, Sharon La Grarde Carter, Rometta E. Powell RowFour: Emmalyn J. Gattis, Alison Walton Brisco, Karen P. Moore, Neysa Dillon Brown, Dana Franklin Chambliss, Sharon W. Ardrey,Anita Holmes Johnson, Valerie Y. Jones, Sheree Warren Kernizan, Valeria Collier-Vick, Taronda Spencer, Karen Sullivan Row Five:Sandra Reed, Deborah Williams Foy, Camille Scott, Adrienne Pack-Gray, Debbie Porter Greene, Sherry Brooke Bowins, Wilovid Mallory,Waltina Perry-Holston, Pamela Jeffrey Row Six: Yolanda Wareham, Wanda Reid Wilson, Carol Peoples-Procter, Cristell Holloway,Diana Lewis-Crosby, Karen Muldrow, Karen Willie Malveaux, Sandra Trimble, Robyn Willis-Jeoffroy Row Seven: WendieWillis, Chreyl Crayton, Cathy Henry, Valerie D. Swinton, Launice Paul Sills1985Row One: Montina Golphin Jackson, Pamela B. Williams, Aquilla C. McIntosh, Sabrina L. Polote, Suzanne Wilson Davis, TerriLynne Smith, Nicole E. Washington, Phyllis Wills Row Two: Florence T. Greer, Cora L. Bullock, Lisa M. Potts, Marilyn Whitley-Carter, Kimberely Jackson, Benita J. Weaver, A. Jáyn Garth, DeidraLee Stubbs, Laurie D. Elam-Evans, Carolyn T. McQueen, VanessaPowell Row Three: Stacee Utsey Horton, Marvealavette Jackson Francis, Cecilia “Liz” Gaines-Williams, Staci Jackson Smith, LeniceBiggins Jennings, Kimberlynn Richards Fisher, Terri Dunn Dawkins, Eugenia Copeland, Trisha D. Fomby, Janice M. Turner, Kim E.Bronson, Nina Echols Greenwood, Pamela Hall Ulmer Row Four: Sandra Dee Ferguson, Shirley M. Hawkins, Yolanda W. Wilson,Cynthia E. Trawick, Kim Christian, Kelly Laurent, Angelique DeVold Gloster, Patricia A. Fuller, Shree Sullivan, Adrienne Thomas Frazier,Lori Beard-Daily Row Five: Meryl Johnson Jackson, Trani Vernita Beansford, Kelley Bass Jackson, Rhoda A. Pickett, Kimberly M.Daniels, Lisa Radney Rosser, Harriet P. White, Joyce Johnston, Jasmine Pugh Taylor, Kimberly C. Riley, Jennifer D. Walton32S P E L M A N M E S S E N G E R