Ramona Hoage Edelin (September 4, 1945 – February 19, 2024) was an American academic, activist and consultant. Edelin is credited with introducing the term "African American" into the general vernacular.[1] She has been named one of the most influential Black Americans by Ebony.[2] She later served as executive director of the DC Association of Charter Schools.[3]
Ramona Edelin | |
|---|---|
 Edelin testifying at the United States House Committee on Oversight and Reform in 2011 | |
| Born | Ramona Hoage Edelin September 4, 1945 Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Died | February 19, 2024 (aged 78) Washington, D.C., U.S. |
| Alma mater | Fisk University University of East Anglia Boston University |
| Mother | Annette Lewis Phinazee |
Early life and education
editRamona Hoage was born on September 4, 1945, in Los Angeles, California, to George Hoage and Annette Lewis Hoage Phinazee. She is an only child.[1] Hoage's family moved to Atlanta, Georgia and she attended elementary school in Georgia. Her family moved again, this time to Carbondale, Illinois, and she briefly attended high school there, before her family moved to Massachusetts where Edelin attended Stockbridge High School. She graduated in 1963.[2] In 1967, she married Kenneth Edelin. The couple had two children together and eventually divorced.[4] She earned her bachelor's degree from Fisk University in 1969. While at Fisk, she became a member of Phi Beta Kappa.[3] She earned her master's degree at the University of East Anglia in 1969.[2] In 1981, she completed her PhD in philosophy at Boston University.[2][3]
Career
editEdelin taught at various institutions after completing college in 1969, including the University of Maryland, Emerson College, and Brandeis University.[3] She founded the first African American Studies program at Northeastern University in 1972, a period in time when she is also credited with introducing the term "African American" to the academic community.[1] She left Northeastern and started working for the National Urban Coalition in 1977.[2]
In 1988, she met with Jessie Jackson and other Black leaders. During the meeting, Edelin shared the meaning and importance of the term "African American." Shortly thereafter, Jackson began regularly using the term, popularizing it in the American vernacular.[1]
By 1989, she was serving as president and chief executive officer of the National Urban Coalition.[2][5] She created the M. Carl Holman Leadership Development Institute and the Executive Leadership Program and created landmark education programs for African American children.[2]
Edelin joined the board of the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation in 1991. In February 1998, after leaving the National Urban Coalition, she became the Foundation's executive director.[3] That same year, she was appointed by then president Bill Clinton to the Presidential Board on Historically Black Colleges and Universities. She also visited South Africa with Clinton that year.[2]
She left the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation in 2002. She served for one year, starting in 2003, as Vice President, Policy and Outreach of the Corporation for Enterprise Development.[3] She later served as executive director of the DC Association of Charter Schools.[3]
Personal life
editEdelin resided in Washington, D.C.[2] She died there on February 19, 2024 at the age of 78, from cancer.[6]
Further reading
edit- Works by Ramona Hoage Edelin
- We the Village: Achieving our Collective Greatness Now. Chicago: Third World Press (2014). ISBN 0883783290
References
edit- ^ a b c d "Edelin, Ramona Hoage 1945– | Encyclopedia.com". Encyclopedia.com. Retrieved 9 January 2020.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i "Ramona Edelin's Biography". The HistoryMakers. Retrieved 9 January 2020.
- ^ a b c d e f g "Executive Director". DC Association of Chartered Public Schools. Retrieved 9 January 2020.
- ^ McFadden, Robert D. (30 December 2013). "Kenneth C. Edelin, Doctor at Center of Landmark Abortion Case, Dies at 74". The New York Times. Retrieved 9 January 2020.
- ^ Johnson Publishing Company (July 1989). Ebony. Johnson Publishing Company. p. 76.
- ^ Smith, Harrison (March 26, 2024). "Ramona Edelin, who helped popularize the term 'African American,' dies at 78". Washington Post. Retrieved April 1, 2024.