Good morning,
Grace and peace be unto you!
Yesterday we talked about strength. Today we will look at a picture of courage.
Political activist and educator Anna Arnold Hedgeman was the first African American woman to serve on the cabinet of a New York mayor when she worked during the term of New York City Mayor Robert Wagner from 1957-1958. Her career spanned more than six decades as an advocate for civil rights. In 1963 she helped A. Philip Randolph and Bayard Rustin plan the March on Washington and was the only woman among the key event organizers.
After graduating from high school in 1918, Arnold was accepted into Hamline University, a Methodist college in St. Paul, Minnesota. She graduated four years later with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English, the first African American to earn a degree at that institution. While at Hamline, Arnold heard Dr. W.E.B. DuBois give an address and was inspired to become an educator. Immediately after graduation, Arnold accepted a teaching position at Rust College in Holly Springs, Mississippi, the oldest of the Historically Black Colleges and Universities. She taught English and history there for two years. While in Mississippi she experienced racial segregation and discrimination for the first time, leading to her later involvement in the civil rights movement.
By the 1970s Hedgeman was a frequent lecturer at African and U.S. universities. She also wrote two books about her life's work: The Trumpet Sounds (1964), and The Gift of Chaos (1977). Both Howard University and Hamline University have awarded Hedgeman honorary doctor degrees. Anna Arnold Hedgeman died in Harlem on January 17, 1990.
Go to www.blackpast.com for more information.
Until tomorrow
#liveBlessed
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