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Mary Brookins Ross, C’2812Sue Bailey Thurman, HS’20*Given the title of “Spelman’s foremost ambassador,” SueBailey Thurman left Spelman to earn two degrees fromOberlin College, one from the Conservatory of Music andthe other from the College of Arts and Sciences. After servingon the national staff of the YWCA, she became the founderand first editor of the Aframerican Women’s Journal, theofficial publication of the NCNW, the first of her many editorialcontributions to that organization, founded by Dr. MaryMcLeod Bethune. Mrs. Thurman began many initiatives tosponsor international events to promote internationalfriendship and understanding among thousands of studentsat home and abroad during her years at Howard University.Her husband was famed theologian and philosopher Dr.Howard Thurman , who was professor of theology and Deanof the Chapel at Howard University at that time. Mrs. Thurman’sinitiatives continued in San Francisco, where thecouple worked to establish The Church for the Fellowship ofAll Peoples, and in Boston, where she founded the Museumof Afro-American History and the Sue Bailey ThurmanMuseum Exchange during her stay at Boston University.Mary Brookins Ross, C’28Mary Brookins Ross, who served as president of the fourmillionmember Woman’s Convention Auxiliary to theNational Baptist Convention, USA, from 1961 to 1995, hasbeen cited around the world for her invaluable contributionsto the Baptist denomination. President Jimmy Carter,at a state dinner in 1980, called Mrs. Ross “one of the finestwomen leaders in the world.” Her leadership has extendedto outspoken advocacy on subjects affecting Christianethics, higher education and public service. A dynamic orator,Mrs. Ross, who did graduate work at Wayne State Universityand the University of Michigan, has spoken toaudiences in London, Paris, Manila, Copenhagen, Tokyo,West Africa and India.Myra Smith Taylor, C’61*Another outstanding leader in the Woman’s Convention, theMyra Smith Taylor became editor of publications in 1973.In this capacity she was responsible for editing the NationalBaptist Woman and The Mission, the officialstudy quarterly of the Woman’s Convention.After receiving a Master of Arts degree fromthe Interdenominational TheologicalCenter in 1963, she did extensive postgraduatestudy, including a stint at theHarvard School of Divinity. At theFourth Assembly of the World Councilof Churches held in 1968 in Sweden,she attended as press representative,and in 1970 she traveled to Japan as adelegate to the Baptist World Alliance.Clara Stanton Jones, C’34As the only black and only woman to head the DetroitLibrary, the fifth largest system in the nation, Clara StantonJones worked to make the library a viable and relevant partof the community. She sent bookmobiles into inner cityneighborhoods, established Afro-American Studies Workshops,delivered book reviews on television and set up adultbook fairs. She also established Detroit’s TIP program, thecity’s major information and referral agency, and a seniorcitizen program, which is the most extensive in the nation.Among other Spelman women who have had leadershiproles in nonprofit organizations are:Marian Wright Edelman, C’60Marian Wright Edelman, founder and president of the Children’sDefense Fund (CDF), has been an advocate for disadvantagedAmericans for her entire careers. Under herleadership, the Washington-based CDF has become a strongnational voice for children and families. The Yale LawSchool graduate and former Spelman board chair beganher career in the mid-sixties when, as the first black womanadmitted to the Mississippi Bar, she directed the NAACPLegal Defense and Educational Fund office in Jackson, Miss.“We must take responsibility for putting into place theresources and bipartisan political support to get our prioritiesstraight, whether we’re talking about education, healthcare, child care, or violence prevention,” Mrs. Edelmanwrote in a recent CDF Report. “There are millions of childrenwho are depending on us — for protection, for guid-Marian Wright Edelman, C’60S P E L M A N M E S S E N G E R
ance, for the basic necessities. Before one more child is lost,we must muster the necessary will to make sure all of ourchildren receive the healthy and fair and safe start in lifethey require and deserve.”Bernette Joshua Johnson, C’64Justice Bernette Joshua Johnson is completing a 10-yeartermon the Louisiana Supreme Court and will run for asecond term in 2000. One of the first women to attend theLaw School at Louisiana State University, she received herJuris Doctor degree in 1969. During the sixties, Judge Johnsonworked as a community organizer with the NAACPLegal Defense and Educational Fund in New York City.During the seventies, she helped organize householdworkers to receive Social Security benefits and a minimumwage. She currently serves as chairperson of the JudicialCouncil of the National Bar Association, an organization ofmore than 1,600 African American lawyers and judges.“Our mission is to provide educational programs andcreate interaction among judges so we can share experiencessurrounding trial work,” said Justice Johnson. “This is mysixth year in leadership on the Judicial Council, and I canhonestly say that the experiences I had at Spelman helpeddevelop my confidence in speaking up and expressing myideas. My colleagues never have to wonder what I think.”Justice Johnson was the first woman elected to Civil DistrictCourt in 1984, and she was re-elected without oppositionin 1990. Her election as the first African American to siton the Louisiana State Supreme Court is recounted in whatis known as the “Chisom Seat Challenge,” an accountwhich tells of the battle to overturn a state law creating aspecial seat to create equal representation on the bench forthe predominantly black city of New Orleans.Humanities (NEH) to teach archival management to HBCUarchivists. This program, which ran for four years, providedarchival and preservation training for HBCU archival staffthroughout the U.S. and the Virgin Islands. The programalso provided funds for the colleges to develop or enhancetheir archives.In 1997, she worked with another NEH-funded HBCUinitiative designed to take the colleges she had worked withearlier to the next level, providing training in identifyingand describing archival collections. HBCU participants willultimately have standard descriptions of their major collectionsavailable on the Internet, providing increased accessto some of the richest research material in the country. Thisproject was ultimately moved to Spelman and staffed by theCollege’s archivist, Taronda Spencer, C’80. (See SpelmanMessenger, Vol. 113 No. 2)“I continue to work with HBCUs because I think that it isa way that I can make a big difference in the preservation ofAfrican American history,” she said.In addition to her work throughout the Southeast inhelping other HBCUs establish their own archives, Ms.Banks also was selected to lead the management auditreview of the National Archives and Record Administrationby the Clinton Transition Team and has recently beennamed to the Board of Trustees of the Atlanta-FultonCounty Library.Bernette Joshua Johnson, C’64Brenda Banks, C’71Brenda Banks served as past president of the Society ofAmerican Archivists and was named a Fellow of the Society,its highest honor. She has been a major contributor to theestablishment of Spelman’s archives, one of the best amongAtlanta’s colleges and universities, particularly. “Whatexcites me about being an archivist is that the work I do willensure that historical and cultural information about whowe were and how we lived will be maintained over time forgenerations to come,” said Ms.Banks.Throughout her career, she has been in a distinctminority in a field that provides authentication for writtenhistory.Last year, she was chairperson of the Society of AmericanArchivists’ Task Force on Diversity to help the professionattract minorities to archival work.In 1995, wanting to have a broader impact on historicallyblack colleges and universities’ (HBCU) archives, shetook a position funded by the National Endowment for theW I N T E R / S P R I N G 2 0 0 0* Deceased13
Page 1 and 2: MessengerS P E L M A NSpelman Women
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Page 6 and 7: “True education helps us on the o
Page 8 and 9: “ You need not nowbow to hate, yo
Page 10 and 11: A NGELA B ROWN T ERRELLLanterns: A
Page 12 and 13: MessengerF E A T U R ESPELMAN WOMEN
Page 16 and 17: Greer Geiger, C’76skipping his He
Page 18 and 19: Alexine Clement Jackson, C’56,Nat
Page 20 and 21: THE NATIONAL ALUMNAE ASSOCIATIONOF
Page 22 and 23: Josephine Harreld Love, C’33,Atla
Page 24 and 25: “Wherever thereare four or fiveal
Page 26 and 27: A Snapshot of the NAASC TodayAs the
Page 28 and 29: Scholarships, Prizes andAwards Day
Page 30 and 31: Alumnae Notes1936Berdie Wallace Rob
Page 32 and 33: 1978Pamela Sanders EllisBirth: Daug
Page 34 and 35: Loree D. JonesProfessional Achievem
Page 36: Non-Profit Org.U.S. PostagePAIDAtla

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