I was wondering if you would be interested in the following article about Elsie Austin?
Dr. Helen Elsie Austin
May 10, 1908 – October 26, 2004 Assistant Attorney General in Ohio Member of the Baha’i Faith
U.S. Foreign Service Officer
8th President, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority
It was 1982. Dr. Elsie Austin, accompanied by two young African-American men, were driving away from the airport. They were headed into Lagos, Nigeria to attend an International Baha’i Conference. Their car was stopped along the road by two men with rifles who demanded money from the occupants. Dr Austin, who was 74 years old, looked at the two men holding rifles and calmly, but sternly said, “I’m not paying you anything. And you will let us pass.” The men moved aside and Dr Austin and her fellow passengers proceeded to Lagos. What the two men with rifles and even her fellow
passengers didn’t know was that Dr Austin had never backed down to injustice and intimidation. She had learned this lesson from her great grandmother who refused to be intimidated by acts of terror of the Ku Klux Klan.
Elsie Austin was born in 1908 in Tuskegee Alabama. Her mother taught at Tuskegee Institute and her father was the Commandant of Men at the institution. When she was a child, her family moved to Cincinnati, Ohio. Elsie was only one of two Black students in her classroom, when she bravely told her classmates and teacher that the portrayal of Africa in their text book was just plain wrong. She informed them of the contributions of Africans to the history and culture of the world. Many years later Dr. Ausitn recalled that after she spoke up, “there was an electric silence,” in the classroom. However, her teacher agreed with her and acknowledged to the class the many contributions of Africans and their descendants to the world.
Dr. Austin earned her undergraduate degree in 1928 and her law degree in 1930 from the University of Cincinnati. She was the first Black woman to graduate from UC Law school, After receiving her law degree, she was appointed as an Assistant Attorney General for Ohio. Dr. Austin was the first Black woman, in any state, to serve in this capacity. In 1938, she received her Doctor of Laws degree from Wilberforce University. She later worked in the legal divisions of several federal agencies, including legal advisor to the District of Columbia government
In 1934, Dr. Austin became a member of the Baha’i Faith. The teachings of the Baha’i Faith informed every aspect of her life. Therefore, it was her belief that “there are times when it is necessary to protest, not violently but with the courage to reject the false and the unjust. If we go about it with faith, with intelligent protest…After all, the battle we face is essentially a spiritual battle to transform the souls and spirits of human beings.”
She would go on to serve for more than a decade as a Foreign Service Officer with the U. S. Information Agency. Dr Austin created the first women’s activities programs in Africa. She also helped to organize and operate several cultural and educational programs in various communities throughout Africa.
Her accomplishments and contributions were numerous. She was elected to serve on the National Spiritual Assemblies of the Baha’is of the United States, North and West Africa and local Spiritual Assemblies in five countries. Dr Austin was an active member of the NAACP and the National Council of Negro Women, worked for the fair and equitable treatment of women, wrote for legal journals and was the 8th President of the Delta Sigma Theta Sorority.
Dr. Austin was noted for her independence, determination, honor, justice, grace and wonderful sense of humor. Once in a resume she described her hobbies as “reading, writing, theater, anything that stimulates the mind and does not involve drastic exercise.”
When she died in October 2004 in San Antonio, Texas, her passing was deeply mourned by many in this country and throughout Africa. Special memorial services were held at the Baha’i House of Worship in Wilmette, Illinois and the Baha’i House of Worship in Uganda.
Dear Mari,
I was wondering if you would be interested in the following article about Elsie Austin?
Dr. Helen Elsie Austin
May 10, 1908 – October 26, 2004 Assistant Attorney General in Ohio Member of the Baha’i Faith
U.S. Foreign Service Officer
8th President, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority
It was 1982. Dr. Elsie Austin, accompanied by two young African-American men, were driving away from the airport. They were headed into Lagos, Nigeria to attend an International Baha’i Conference. Their car was stopped along the road by two men with rifles who demanded money from the occupants. Dr Austin, who was 74 years old, looked at the two men holding rifles and calmly, but sternly said, “I’m not paying you anything. And you will let us pass.” The men moved aside and Dr Austin and her fellow passengers proceeded to Lagos. What the two men with rifles and even her fellow
passengers didn’t know was that Dr Austin had never backed down to injustice and intimidation. She had learned this lesson from her great grandmother who refused to be intimidated by acts of terror of the Ku Klux Klan.
Elsie Austin was born in 1908 in Tuskegee Alabama. Her mother taught at Tuskegee Institute and her father was the Commandant of Men at the institution. When she was a child, her family moved to Cincinnati, Ohio. Elsie was only one of two Black students in her classroom, when she bravely told her classmates and teacher that the portrayal of Africa in their text book was just plain wrong. She informed them of the contributions of Africans to the history and culture of the world. Many years later Dr. Ausitn recalled that after she spoke up, “there was an electric silence,” in the classroom. However, her teacher agreed with her and acknowledged to the class the many contributions of Africans and their descendants to the world.
Dr. Austin earned her undergraduate degree in 1928 and her law degree in 1930 from the University of Cincinnati. She was the first Black woman to graduate from UC Law school, After receiving her law degree, she was appointed as an Assistant Attorney General for Ohio. Dr. Austin was the first Black woman, in any state, to serve in this capacity. In 1938, she received her Doctor of Laws degree from Wilberforce University. She later worked in the legal divisions of several federal agencies, including legal advisor to the District of Columbia government
In 1934, Dr. Austin became a member of the Baha’i Faith. The teachings of the Baha’i Faith informed every aspect of her life. Therefore, it was her belief that “there are times when it is necessary to protest, not violently but with the courage to reject the false and the unjust. If we go about it with faith, with intelligent protest…After all, the battle we face is essentially a spiritual battle to transform the souls and spirits of human beings.”
She would go on to serve for more than a decade as a Foreign Service Officer with the U. S. Information Agency. Dr Austin created the first women’s activities programs in Africa. She also helped to organize and operate several cultural and educational programs in various communities throughout Africa.
Her accomplishments and contributions were numerous. She was elected to serve on the National Spiritual Assemblies of the Baha’is of the United States, North and West Africa and local Spiritual Assemblies in five countries. Dr Austin was an active member of the NAACP and the National Council of Negro Women, worked for the fair and equitable treatment of women, wrote for legal journals and was the 8th President of the Delta Sigma Theta Sorority.
Dr. Austin was noted for her independence, determination, honor, justice, grace and wonderful sense of humor. Once in a resume she described her hobbies as “reading, writing, theater, anything that stimulates the mind and does not involve drastic exercise.”
When she died in October 2004 in San Antonio, Texas, her passing was deeply mourned by many in this country and throughout Africa. Special memorial services were held at the Baha’i House of Worship in Wilmette, Illinois and the Baha’i House of Worship in Uganda.