[Baskerville Series] Answers to Ten Virginian African American Women

Virginia African American Women Achievers:  How did you score? Here are the answers:

1. I graduated from the University of Michigan Law School and became Chief Counsel to Senator Edward M. Kennedy on the Judiciary Committee. Currently as Director of the White House Domestic Policy Council, I advise President Obama on healthcare, education and immigration issues.  Melody Barnes, b. 1964
2. Eleven years before Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a segregated bus, I was arrested and jailed in Middlesex County, Virginia for violating Virginia’s segregation law. My arrest sparked a landmark 1946 United States Supreme Court case that struck down segregation in interstate transportation. I was awarded the Presidential Citizens Medal by President Clinton in 2001.  Irene Morgan Kirkaldy (1917-2007)
3. As a sixteen year old high school student, I lead a student strike protesting unequal school facilities in 1951. My call for equal facilities led to a famous Virginia court case that was consolidated with four other cases from other jurisdictions to form Brown v. the Board of Education in which the United States Supreme Court held separate but equal in education as unconstitutional. A memorial to this effort stands on the grounds of Virginia’s Capitol. Barbara Rose Johns (1935-1991)
4. I was the first African American to head the Department of Energy. I directed the Federal Energy Administration’s Office of Consumer Affairs under President Gerald Ford and the Energy Department’s Economic Regulatory Administration under President Jimmy Carter. I graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Fisk University.  Hazel Reid O’Leary, b. 1937
5. I have worked for over half my life in civil and human rights arenas. In the 1960s, I worked side by side with Dr. Martin Luther King, Roy Wilkins, A Philip Randolph and Whitney M. Young, Jr. Now I focus on rural poverty, educating the public about AIDS, discouraging teen pregnancy and promoting black family values. I have received the Presidential Medal of Freedom and serve as chair and president emerita of the National Council of Negro Women.  Dorothy Irene Height, b. 1912
6. I started my career in vaudeville and later won a Tony Award and a Daytime Emmy Award. During World War II, I toured the country with the USO performing for American troops. In 1967, I headlined an all-black cast version of Hello, Dolly! with Cab Calloway. I was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1988 and President Richard Nixon appointed me America’s “Ambassador of Love” in 1970.  Pearl Mae Bailey, (1918-1990)
7. I have been often called one of the first documented African American women architects. I was born in Lynchburg, Virginia in 1895 and received my teacher’s certificate from Virginia Normal and Industrial Institute. I earned a master’s degree from Columbia University and taught art at Virginia State College for Negroes. There, I established the School of Fine Arts and focused my talents on architecture and interior design. My sisters and I designed a development of vacation homes for African Americans in Long Island. A Virginia historical highway marker honored me in 2008.  Amaza Lee Meredith (1895-1984)
8. I was a teacher and entrepreneur. In 1921, I became a political candidate in Virginia by running as a “lily black” Republican for State Superintendent of Public Instruction. I strongly believed in and advocated for black economic empowerment. I became the first female founder and president of a bank.  Maggie Lena Walker (1863-1934)
9. I am a former Poet Laureate of the United States and have received among many honors the Pulitzer Prize, the National Humanities Medal, the Heinz Award and the 2008 Library of Virginia Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2004, Governor Mark Warner appointed me to a two-year position as Poet Laureate of the Commonwealth. To date, I have published nine volumes of poetry.  Rita Frances Dove, b. 1952
10. I am very engaged in the arts and was very active as an actress for almost thirty years.  I graduated from Northwestern University with a degree in interior design and architecture and was the first African American woman to be named the school’s Homecoming Queen and the first black woman on the cover of Glamour magazine.    Daphne Maxwell Reid, b. 1948