"Vernie Merze Tate"[February 6,1905-June 27,1996]

She was the first African American graduate of Western Michigan Teachers College first African American woman to attend the University of Oxford,first African American woman torn a Ph.D in Government and international relations from Harvard University (then Radcliffe College),as well as one of the first two females members to join the Department of history at Howard University.In 1927 she graduated from Western State College Teachers' College (later Western Michigan University)with the school's highest academic record at that time.Despite Vernie stellar academic record,African American teachers were not hired to teach secondary education.With the assistance of the college's administration,she went would go on to teach at Crispus Attucks High School in Indianapolis,Indiana.The school,founded by the city's Klu Klux Klan,was an effort to segregate races.Vernie,along with others,was hired by the school's African American principal with the intent to teaching African American students to excel beyond the founder's intentions.As African Americans fought through Jim Crow laws stiffed the life of many,Vernie decided to explore the world and use her talents and gifts on a broader scale.She would travel the world,twice;serve as an international reporter for the Afro American newspaper in Baltimore,work as a photographer,filmmaker and researcher for the U.S. State Department all while being a college professor.Vernie educational background would include being a professor and a dean for barber Scotia College,Bennett College,Morgan State College,and Howard University where she worked 1942-1977.Her legacy lives on.She has left millions to institutions of higher learning who looked beyond her race and gender to provide her with a stellar education.Western Michigan University,Radcliffe College Harvard University,and Howard University received everything from million-dollar contributions,to archival documents upon her death.Vernie never married or had children.Her four siblings,did marry,none had children.Members of her family include distant cousins who are proud of the legacy she left behind.