List of Spelman College people

The list of Spelman College people includes notable alumnae and faculty of Spelman College.

This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by expanding it with reliably sourced entries.


Selena Sloan Butler
Marian Wright Edelman Founder, Children's Defense Fund, MacArthur Fellow
Mattiwilda Dobbs
U.S. Air Force photo of Marcelite J. Harris
Author Alice Walker
Audrey F. Manley, former Surgeon General of the USA
Bernice Johnson Reagon
Dovey Johnson Roundtree
Rolonda Watts
Stacey Abrams
Tia Fuller
Name Class year Notability Reference(s)
Stacey Abrams 1995 Politician, House Minority Leader for the Georgia General Assembly and State Representative for the 89th House District. First African-American woman in the U.S. to win a major party's nomination for governor.
Tina McElroy Ansa 1971 Author, Baby of the Family, Ugly Ways, The Hand I Fan With, and You Know Better [1]
Blanche Armwood 1906 Educator, activist; the first African-American woman in the state of Florida to graduate from an accredited law school; Armwood High School in Tampa, FL is named in her honor
Mary Barksdale 1942 Past President, Jack and Jill (organization)
Loretta Copeland Biggs 1976 Judge of the United States District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina
Janet Bragg 1931 Aviation pioneer; first African-American female to obtain a commercial pilot license
Rosalind G. Brewer 1984 Chief Operating Officer, Starbucks; Executive Vice President, Walmart Stores, Inc. and President Walmart Stores South, USA; Board of Directors, Lockheed Martin
Ada E. Brown 1996 First African-American woman federal judge in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas
Linda Goode Bryant 1981 Documentary filmmaker, Flag Wars; Peabody Award winner and 2004 Guggenheim Fellow
Selena Sloan Butler 1888 Founder first black Parent-Teacher organization, the National Congress for Colored Parents & Teachers; co-founder the National Parent-Teacher Association
Sheila L. Chamberlain 1981 Pilot, lawyer
Pearl Cleage 1971 Novelist, playwright, poet, essayist, and journalist [1]
Cassi Davis 1988 actress House of Payne
Ethel McGhee Davis 1919 Student Adviser and Dean of Women at Spelman College
Ruth A. Davis 1966 24th Director General of the United States Foreign Service; Director, Foreign Service Institute and two-time recipient of the President's Award for Distinguished Federal Civilian Service
Phire Dawson 2008 "Barker's Beauty" on The Price Is Right
Mattiwilda Dobbs 1937 Opera singer; served on the Board of Directors for the Metropolitan Opera and the National Endowment for the Arts [1]
Marian Wright Edelman 1960 Founder of the Children's Defense Fund; MacArthur Fellow; Heinz Award; Presidential Medal of Freedom [1]
Christine King Farris 1948 Public speaker and educator who teaches at Spelman College, she is the eldest and only living sibling of the late Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Tia Fuller 1998 Saxophonist, composer, and educator
Nora A. Gordon 1888 Began the tradition of Spelman missionary work to Africa[2]
Beverly Guy-Sheftall Author, feminist scholar, founder of Women's Research and Resource Center at Spelman College
Evelynn M. Hammonds 1976 Dean of Harvard College, Professor of the History of Science and of African and African American Studies at Harvard University
Marcelite J. Harris 1964 First African-American female to obtain the rank of General in the United States Air Force
Paula Hicks-Hudson 1973 First African-American female mayor of Toledo, Ohio
Varnette Honeywood 1972 Creator of the Little Bill character [1]
Clara Ann Howard 1887 Baptist missionary in Africa, longtime Spelman staff
Alexine Clement Jackson 1956 Chair, Susan G. Komen for the Cure and former National President of the YWCA
Adrienne-Joi Johnson 1988 Actress "House Party", "Baby Boy"
Bernette Joshua Johnson 1964 First African-American and second female Chief Justice of the Louisiana Supreme Court [3]
Clara Stanton Jones 1934 First African-American President of the American Library Association
Tayari Jones 1991 Author of Leaving Atlanta and The Untelling and English professor at Emory University
Bettina Judd 2005 Artist and poet [4]
Alberta Williams King (high school) Mother of Martin Luther King, Jr.
Bernice King 1986 President, SCLC, daughter of Martin Luther King, Jr.
Audrey F. Manley 1955 President Emerita of Spelman College, former Assistant Surgeon General of the United States, former Acting Surgeon General of the United States
Harriet Mitchell Murphy 1949 First African-American female judge in Texas [5]
Tanya Walton Pratt 1981 Judge, United States District Court for the Southern District of Indiana
Deborah Prothrow-Stith 1975 First female Commissioner of Public Health for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts; Associate Dean for Faculty Development and Professor at Harvard School of Public Health [1]
Keshia Knight Pulliam 2001 Actress The Cosby Show, House of Payne
Tanika Ray 1994 Actress and television personality
Bernice Johnson Reagon 1970 Founder of Sweet Honey in the Rock; MacArthur Fellow; Professor Emeritus American University Curator Emeritus, Smithsonian Institution National Museum American History; National Humanities Medal; Heinz Award [1]
LaTanya Richardson 1971 Actress (The Fighting Temptations, Losing Isaiah, Malcolm X) and wife of actor Samuel L. Jackson [1]
Rubye Robinson 1963 Civil Rights activist, Executive Secretary of SNCC
Shaun Robinson 1984 Co-anchor, Access Hollywood; former host, TV One Access
Esther Rolle attended Actress, Good Times
Dovey Johnson Roundtree 1938 Trial attorney, military veteran, AMEC minister, and civil rights pioneer; landmark case: Sarah Keys v. Carolina Coach Company
Eva Rutland 1937 Author, When We Were Colored: A Mother's Story; Winner of the 2000 Golden Pen Lifetime Achievement Award, and author of more than 20 Romance novels
Brenda V. Smith 1980 Law professor, American University; appointed by Nancy Pelosi to the National Prison Rape Elimination Commission
Maxine Smith 1949 Academic, civil rights activist, and school board official [6]
Sharmell Sullivan 1990 Miss Black America 1991, "TNA Knockout", and wife of professional wrestler Booker T
Sue Bailey Thurman 1920 Founder and first chairperson, National Council of Negro Women's National Library
Alice Walker attended Pulitzer Prize–winning novelist, The Color Purple [1]
Marian Mereba 2011 Singer, songwriter, and producer
Talitha Washington 1996 African-American mathematician and STEM activist
Rolonda Watts 1980 Journalist, actor, writer, former talk show host
Denise Nicole White known as "AverySunshine" 1998 Singer and pianist
Kiron Skinner 1981 College professor and former Director of Policy Planning at the United States Department of State
Ella Gaines Yates 1949 First African-American director of the Atlanta-Fulton Public Library System

Notable faculty
gollark: Well, Nim doesn't actually accept tabs at all, but this is arguably just a bug?
gollark: It's not a fallacy any more than this is.
gollark: "It is the status quo therefore it's perfect and without flaw" would be wrong, but it's valid to say "it would be hard to change everything".
gollark: Elastic tabstop gang?!
gollark: Imagine not using hair spaces.

References
  1. "Spelman College". The New Georgia Encyclopedia. Georgia Humanities Council and the University of Georgia Press. Retrieved January 30, 2008.
  2. Weisenfeld, Judith; Newman, Richard (23 April 2014). This Far By Faith: Readings in African-American Women's Religious Biography. New York, New York: Routledge. p. 224. ISBN 978-1-136-66351-2.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  3. "Bernette Joshua Johnson". intelius.com. Retrieved July 19, 2015.
  4. "Bettina Judd — Department of Women's Studies at Univ. of Maryland". wmst.umd.edu. Retrieved 2016-03-05.
  5. "Harriet Murphy". diversity.utexas.edu. Retrieved 11 July 2018.
  6. "Maxine A. Smith NAACP Collection". Digital Library of Georgia. Retrieved June 3, 2016.
  7. "Groundbreaking Filmmaker Julie Dash Joins Spelman as Distinguished Professor". Spelman College. September 2017. Retrieved 2019-12-19.
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