BLACK SOCIAL HISTORY
M Marian Wright Edelman
Founder, Children's Defense Fund
Marian Wright Edelman, 2003
Marian Wright Edelman, 2003. Linda Spillers / Getty Images
History and Culture
History & Culture
Women's History
Important Figures
History of Feminism
Key Events & Milestones
Women's Suffrage
Women & War
Laws & Women's Rights
Feminism & Pop Culture
Feminist Texts
American History
African American History
African History
Ancient History & Culture
Asian History
European History
Genealogy
Occupation: lawyer, educator, activist, reformer, children's advocate, administrator
Known for: founder and President of the Children's Defense Fund, first African American woman admitted to the Mississippi state bar
Also Known as: Marian Wright, Marian Edelman
ABOUT MARIAN WRIGHT EDELMAN:
Marian Wright Edelman was born in and grew up in Bennettsville, South Carolina, one of five children.
Her father, Arthur Wright, was a Baptist preacher who taught his children that Christianity required service in this world and who was influenced by A. Phillip Randolph. Her father died when Marian was only fourteen, urging in his last words to her, "Don't let anything get in the way of your education."
Marian Wright Edelman went on to study at Spelman College, abroad on a Merrill scholarship, and she traveled to the Soviet Union with a Lisle fellowship. When she returned to Spelman in 1959, she became involved in the civil rights movement, inspiring her to drop her plans to enter the foreign service, and instead to study law. She studied law at Yale and worked as a student on a project to register African American voters in Mississippi.
In 1963, after graduating from Yale Law School, Marian Wright Edelman worked first in New York for the NAACP Legal and Defense Fund, and then in Mississippi for the same organization.
There, she became the first African American woman to practice law. During her time in Mississippi, she worked on racial justice issues connected with the civil rights movement, and she also helped get a Head Start program established in her community.
During a tour by Robert Kennedy and Joseph Clark of Mississippi's poverty-ridden Delta slums, Marian met Peter Edelman, an assistant to Kennedy, and the next year she moved to Washington, D.C., to marry him and to work for social justice in the center of America's political scene.
They had three sons.
In Washington, Marian Wright Edelman continued her work, helping to get the Poor People's Campaign organized. She also began to focus more on issues relating to child development and children in poverty.
CHILDREN'S DEFENSE FUND
Marian Wright Edelman established the Children's Defense Fund (CDF) in 1973 as a voice for poor, minority and handicapped children. She served as a public speaker on behalf of these children, and also as a lobbyist in Congress, as well as president and administrative head of the organization. The agency served not only as an advocacy organization, but as a research center, documenting the problems and possible solutions to children in need. To keep the agency independent, she saw that it was financed entirely with private funds.
Marian Wright Edelman also published her ideas in several books. The Measure of Our Success: A Letter to My Children and Yours was a surprising success.
In the 1990s, when Bill Clinton was elected President, Hillary Clinton's involvement with the Children's Defense Fund meant that there was significantly more attention given to the organization. But Edelman did not pull her punches in criticizing the Clinton administration's legislative agenda -- such as its "welfare reform" initiatives -- when she believed these would be disadvantageous to the nation's neediest children.
As part of the efforts of Marian Wright Edelman and the Children's Defense Fund on behalf of children, she has also advocated pregnancy prevention, child care funding, health care funding, prenatal care, parental responsibility for education in values, reducing the violent images presented to children, and selective gun control in the wake of school shootings.
Among the many awards to Marian Wright Edelman:
1991 - ABC's Person of the Week - "The Children's Champion"
MacArthur "genius" award
More than 65 honorary degrees
BOOKS BY AND ABOUT MARIAN WRIGHT EDELMAN
• Marian Wright Edelman. The State of America's Children, Yearbook 2002.
• Marian Wright Edelman. I'm Your Child, God: Prayers for Our Children. 2002.
• Marian Wright Edelman. Guide My Feet: Prayers and Meditations for Our Children. 2000.
• Marian Wright Edelman.
The State of American's Children: Yearbook 2000 - A Report from the Children's Defense Fund. 2000.
• Marian Wright Edelman. The State of America's Children: A Report from the Children's Defense Fund: Yearbook 1998.
• Marian Wright Edelman. Lanterns: A Memoir of Mentors. 1999.
• Marian Wright Edelman. The Measure of Our Success: A Letter to My Children & Yours. 1992.
• Marian Wright Edelman. I Dream a World. 1989.
• Marian Wright Edelman. Families in Peril: An Agenda For Social Change. 1987.
• Marian Wright Edelman. Stand for Children. 1998. Ages 4-8.
• Joann Johansen Burch. Marian Wright Edelman: Children's Champion. 1999. Ages 4-8.
• Wendie C. Old. Marian Wright Edelman: Fighter
Founder, Children's Defense Fund
Marian Wright Edelman, 2003
Marian Wright Edelman, 2003. Linda Spillers / Getty Images
History and Culture
History & Culture
Women's History
Important Figures
History of Feminism
Key Events & Milestones
Women's Suffrage
Women & War
Laws & Women's Rights
Feminism & Pop Culture
Feminist Texts
American History
African American History
African History
Ancient History & Culture
Asian History
European History
Genealogy
Occupation: lawyer, educator, activist, reformer, children's advocate, administrator
Known for: founder and President of the Children's Defense Fund, first African American woman admitted to the Mississippi state bar
Also Known as: Marian Wright, Marian Edelman
ABOUT MARIAN WRIGHT EDELMAN:
Marian Wright Edelman was born in and grew up in Bennettsville, South Carolina, one of five children.
Her father, Arthur Wright, was a Baptist preacher who taught his children that Christianity required service in this world and who was influenced by A. Phillip Randolph. Her father died when Marian was only fourteen, urging in his last words to her, "Don't let anything get in the way of your education."
Marian Wright Edelman went on to study at Spelman College, abroad on a Merrill scholarship, and she traveled to the Soviet Union with a Lisle fellowship. When she returned to Spelman in 1959, she became involved in the civil rights movement, inspiring her to drop her plans to enter the foreign service, and instead to study law. She studied law at Yale and worked as a student on a project to register African American voters in Mississippi.
In 1963, after graduating from Yale Law School, Marian Wright Edelman worked first in New York for the NAACP Legal and Defense Fund, and then in Mississippi for the same organization.
There, she became the first African American woman to practice law. During her time in Mississippi, she worked on racial justice issues connected with the civil rights movement, and she also helped get a Head Start program established in her community.
During a tour by Robert Kennedy and Joseph Clark of Mississippi's poverty-ridden Delta slums, Marian met Peter Edelman, an assistant to Kennedy, and the next year she moved to Washington, D.C., to marry him and to work for social justice in the center of America's political scene.
They had three sons.
In Washington, Marian Wright Edelman continued her work, helping to get the Poor People's Campaign organized. She also began to focus more on issues relating to child development and children in poverty.
CHILDREN'S DEFENSE FUND
Marian Wright Edelman established the Children's Defense Fund (CDF) in 1973 as a voice for poor, minority and handicapped children. She served as a public speaker on behalf of these children, and also as a lobbyist in Congress, as well as president and administrative head of the organization. The agency served not only as an advocacy organization, but as a research center, documenting the problems and possible solutions to children in need. To keep the agency independent, she saw that it was financed entirely with private funds.
Marian Wright Edelman also published her ideas in several books. The Measure of Our Success: A Letter to My Children and Yours was a surprising success.
In the 1990s, when Bill Clinton was elected President, Hillary Clinton's involvement with the Children's Defense Fund meant that there was significantly more attention given to the organization. But Edelman did not pull her punches in criticizing the Clinton administration's legislative agenda -- such as its "welfare reform" initiatives -- when she believed these would be disadvantageous to the nation's neediest children.
As part of the efforts of Marian Wright Edelman and the Children's Defense Fund on behalf of children, she has also advocated pregnancy prevention, child care funding, health care funding, prenatal care, parental responsibility for education in values, reducing the violent images presented to children, and selective gun control in the wake of school shootings.
Among the many awards to Marian Wright Edelman:
1991 - ABC's Person of the Week - "The Children's Champion"
MacArthur "genius" award
More than 65 honorary degrees
BOOKS BY AND ABOUT MARIAN WRIGHT EDELMAN
• Marian Wright Edelman. The State of America's Children, Yearbook 2002.
• Marian Wright Edelman. I'm Your Child, God: Prayers for Our Children. 2002.
• Marian Wright Edelman. Guide My Feet: Prayers and Meditations for Our Children. 2000.
• Marian Wright Edelman.
The State of American's Children: Yearbook 2000 - A Report from the Children's Defense Fund. 2000.
• Marian Wright Edelman. The State of America's Children: A Report from the Children's Defense Fund: Yearbook 1998.
• Marian Wright Edelman. Lanterns: A Memoir of Mentors. 1999.
• Marian Wright Edelman. The Measure of Our Success: A Letter to My Children & Yours. 1992.
• Marian Wright Edelman. I Dream a World. 1989.
• Marian Wright Edelman. Families in Peril: An Agenda For Social Change. 1987.
• Marian Wright Edelman. Stand for Children. 1998. Ages 4-8.
• Joann Johansen Burch. Marian Wright Edelman: Children's Champion. 1999. Ages 4-8.
• Wendie C. Old. Marian Wright Edelman: Fighter
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