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Joanna Houston Ransom

Joanna Raynor Houston (July 9, 1897[Note 1] – September 1980), later Joanna Houston Ransom, was an American English instructor, college administrator, assistant dean of women at Howard University, third Grand Basileus of Zeta Phi Beta, and a member of the National Pan-Hellenic Council of Presidents.

Joanna Houston Ransom
A young African-American woman wearing a dark dress with white lace collar and cuffs.
Joanna Houston, from the 1924 Howard University yearbook.
Born
Joanna Raynor Ransom

July 9, 1897
Windsor, North Carolina
DiedSeptember 1980
New York
Occupation(s)English instructor, college administrator, clubwoman
RelativesReverdy C. Ransom (grandfather-in-law)

Early life

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Houston was born in Windsor, North Carolina, the daughter of Henry W. Houston and Emily Ward Houston. Her parents were both born in North Carolina; her father was a farmer and her mother was a seamstress. Her older brother Leopold died a soldier in France during World War I.

As a student at Howard University, Houston served on the student council,[1] was a member of the debating team, and was editor of The Bison, the school's yearbook, in 1924. She was one of the first members of the Zeta Phi Beta (Zeta), serving as the sorority's third Grand Basileus (president) from 1922 to 1923.[2][3] She went to graduate school at Columbia University, with further studies in English literature at Oxford[4][5] and the University of Chicago.[6]

Career

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Houston worked as secretary to Howard music educator Lulu Vere Childers. She was an English instructor at Delaware's State College for Colored Students,[7] and assistant dean of women at Howard University,[8][9] working with dean Lucy Diggs Slowe.[10][11] Later she also taught English at Wilberforce University,[12][13] and edited the Journal of Negro Education.[14]

Ransom helped to found Zeta chapter at Wiley College in Texas, and was an active member of the alumnae chapter in Brooklyn, New York.[15][16] She served on the National Pan-Hellenic Council of Presidents from 1940 to 1941, and as a national president voiced concerns that Black Americans must have equal and integrated roles in the military and defense industries during World War II.[17]

Personal life

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Joanna Houston married clergyman Reverdy C. Ransom III in 1936; the ceremony was performed by the groom's grandfather, bishop Reverdy C. Ransom, in the garden of Lucy Diggs Slowe's home, and Houston was escorted down the aisle by Benjamin Mays, dean of Howard's school of religion.[6] The Ransoms had two daughters born in Ohio,[18][19] before they divorced in 1941.[20] She died in 1980, aged 83 years, in New York.

Notes

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  1. ^ Joanna Raynor Houston's birth year varies in primary and secondary sources. She is described as a two-year-old child in the 1900 United States Census, lending more weight to the 1897 date; via Ancestry

References

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  1. ^ "Elected to Head League at Howard". Evening Star. 1923-11-04. p. 24. Retrieved 2021-05-29 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. ^ Khalayi, Tilu (2012-12-12). Finer Women: The Birth of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority 1920-1935. Harambee Institute Press. ISBN 978-0-9818028-2-4.
  3. ^ "Past Presidents". Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc. Retrieved 2021-05-29.
  4. ^ "Joanna R. Houston to Study at Oxford University". The Hilltop. June 9, 1932. p. 1. Retrieved May 29, 2021.
  5. ^ "Return from Europe". Evening Star. 1932-09-25. p. 19. Retrieved 2021-05-29 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ^ a b "Houston-Ransom Nuptials at Nation's Capital". The Pittsburgh Courier. 1936-07-18. p. 8. Retrieved 2020-02-07 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ^ "State College to Open September 12". The News Journal. 1927-08-31. p. 2. Retrieved 2021-05-29 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ "Howard's Women's Dinner". California Eagle. 1935-11-15. p. 10. Retrieved 2021-05-29 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ^ "College Women Meet at Howard University". The New York Age. 1929-04-06. p. 3. Retrieved 2021-05-29 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ^ "Zeta Phi Beta Units to Stage Celebration". The New York Age. 1953-01-17. p. 16. Retrieved 2020-02-07 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ^ Miller, Carroll L. L.; Pruitt-Logan, Anne S. (2012-06-28). Faithful to the Task at Hand: The Life of Lucy Diggs Slowe. SUNY Press. pp. 381, note 19. ISBN 978-1-4384-4260-0.
  12. ^ "Mother Will Speak". Portsmouth Daily Times. 1941-05-11. p. 13. Retrieved 2021-05-29 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ^ "Bethel Plans All-Women's Event Nov. 1". The Journal Herald. 1942-10-25. p. 46. Retrieved 2021-05-29 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. ^ Logan, B. H. (1960-07-02). "S. S. Publishing Board Holds Writers Conference". The Pittsburgh Courier. p. 39. Retrieved 2021-05-29 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. ^ "Honored". The New York Age. 1959-02-07. p. 16. Retrieved 2021-05-29 – via Newspapers.com.
  16. ^ "10th Anniversary". The New York Age. 1960-01-23. p. 11. Retrieved 2021-05-29 – via Newspapers.com.
  17. ^ "Pan-Hellenic Head Asks for 'Opportunity'". The Pittsburgh Courier. 1941-04-19. p. 9. Retrieved 2021-05-29 – via Newspapers.com.
  18. ^ "Birth Records". Dayton Daily News. 1938-04-22. p. 5. Retrieved 2021-05-29 – via Newspapers.com.
  19. ^ "Birth Records". Dayton Daily News. 1940-03-22. p. 12. Retrieved 2021-05-29 – via Newspapers.com.
  20. ^ "Three Husbands Sue for Divorce, Charging Neglect". Xenia Evening Gazette. January 10, 1941. p. 10. Retrieved May 29, 2021 – via NewspaperArchive.com.
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