PRAIRIE VIEW, Texas (March 31, 2021) – When Prairie View A&M University (PVAMU) was first established in 1876 as the second public institution of higher learning in Texas, the first students to enroll at the then Alta Vista Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas for Colored Youth were all male. However, female students started attending PVAMU shortly after.
Since then, a countless number of female history makers have matriculated through “The Hill” and made a tremendous impact within their communities, the State of Texas, and the world.
As we wrap up Women’s History Month 2021, we are taking a look back at some of these outstanding PVAMU women who are pioneers and trailblazers.
After graduating from then Prairie View Normal College in 1915, Christia Daniels Adair became one of the first African-American women to vote in the state’s previously all-white primary. As an executive secretary for the Houston chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), she led campaigns to desegregate the city’s public schools, libraries, transportation, hospitals, and other public facilities during the 1940s and 50s.
Mary Evelyn Edwards Hunter ‘26 became the first African-American home demonstration agent when the Texas Agricultural Extension Service established an office at Prairie View. The PVAMU alumna traveled the state, teaching health, nutrition, and home economics courses to community groups and low-income families. Because of her efforts, the African-American arm of the extension service gained 23 agents and nearly 30,000 members.
In the 1930s, Dorothy I. Burdine became the first African-American teacher in the Denver Public School System. She later served as Principal of the Prairie View Training School for over a decade. Under her leadership, enrollment increased to more than 200 students, which led to the construction of a new school. She was later assigned to Prairie View’s then-Department of Education, where she taught courses in reading while supervising off-campus elementary majors in student teaching.
Hattie Mae White ’36 was the first African American to serve on the Houston YWCA Metropolitan Board of Directors. She made history again in 1958 when she became the first African American elected to the school board for the Houston Independent School District (HISD). White spent her time in that role fighting for desegregation and racial equality within the district.
Lucille B. Smith was the first African-American businesswoman in Texas who invented the first hot biscuit mix. PVAMU recruited Smith in 1937, where she then developed the country’s first college-level Commercial Foods and Technology Department, which paired educational studies with an apprenticeship program. In 1941, Smith wrote a cookbook called Lucille’s Treasure Chest of Fine Foods, and in 1974, she founded Lucille B. Smith’s Fine Foods, Inc.
Charlye Ola Farris ‘48 became Texas’ first African-American female lawyer after receiving a Bachelor of Science degree in Political Science from PVAMU and a law degree from Howard University. Farris was also the first African-American female to serve as the Special Wichita County Judge in 1954.
Anna Laura Evans, the first Dean of Women at Prairie View, was described in the 1952 Prairie View yearbook as a “polished woman with finished tastes and rare judgment.” A Texas native, she came to Prairie View around 1901 after attending Oberlin College and the University of Chicago. At Prairie View, Evans initially taught history and English before becoming Dean. Today, Evans Hall on campus is named in her honor.
In 1954, Jewel Prestage was the first African-American woman to receive a Ph.D. in Political Science. After completing her doctorate at the University of Iowa, she came to PVAMU, where she began her professional teaching career. Dr. Prestage was later appointed by President Jimmy Carter and confirmed by the U.S. Senate to serve on the National Advisory Council on Women’s Educational Programs in the U.S. Department of Education. Eventually, she was named the chair of the council, becoming the first minority woman to hold the position.
Nathelyne A. Kennedy ‘59 was the first African-American female engineer to graduate from Prairie View A&M and the first African-American female professional engineer registered by the State of Texas. She is also the founder and President of Nathelyne A. Kennedy and Associates, a professional civil consulting engineering firm in Houston. In 2006, the Nathelyne Archie Kennedy Building on campus was named in her honor.
Alumna Ann M. Williams ‘60 had a passion for dance at a very young age. After graduating from PVAMU and Texas Woman’s University (where she became the first African-American woman to earn a Master of Arts in Dance), she took her passion and founded the Dallas Black Dance Theatre. Over the years, the Dallas Black Dance Theatre has produced exquisite dancers and enabled hundreds to live their dream of becoming professional dancers.
Margaret Penn Sherrod ’73, ’80, who is also a former Miss Prairie View A&M University, was the first African-American contestant to compete in the Miss Texas/Miss America Scholarship Pageant. This made front-page news across the country and put PVAMU on the map for many who were unfamiliar. Sherrod was also the founder of the PVAMU Black Foxes, which celebrates its 50th Golden Anniversary this year.
Flossie M. Byrd served as the first Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs at Prairie View A&M. Dr. Byrd taught in Florida public schools and Florida A&M University before coming to PVAMU, where she served as the Dean of the College of Home Economics for 23 years. She was appointed Vice President for Academic Affairs in 1991. A title change led to Dr. Byrd’s official appointment as Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs in 1993 by President Lt. Gen. (Ret.) Julius Wesley Becton, Jr.
Ruth J. Simmons is the eighth president of Prairie View A&M University and the first female president in the University’s nearly 145-year history. Before coming to PVAMU, President Simmons was the first African American to become president of Smith College and, in 2001, the first African American to become president of an Ivy League institution, Brown University.
(Women in leadership at PVAMU today extend beyond President Simmons and into the President’s Cabinet: Cynthia Carter-Horn serves as Senior Vice President for Business Affairs and Chief Financial Officer; Beverly Copeland is the Assistant to the President for Strategic Initiatives and Texas A&M University System Liaison; Sarina R. Willis is Vice President for Enrollment Management; Betty Adams is Dean of the College of Nursing; Camille Gibson is Interim Dean of the College of Juvenile Justice and Psychology; Pamela Holland Obiomon ’93 serves as Dean of the Roy G. Perry College of Engineering; Dorie J. Gilbert is Dean of the Marvin D. and June Samuel Brailsford College of Arts and Sciences and Graduate Studies; and Ikhlas Sabouni is Dean of the School of Architecture.)
-PVAMU-