Honoring Women In History.
Her voice is affirming, deep and smooth as she warmly articulates words that can inspire and empower an entire nation. Literally. She is an educator first and foremost, an anthropologist, historian, humanitarian and scholar. She served as Director of the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of African Art from 2009-2017. And she was the first African-American woman president of Spelman College, a post she began in 1987 and relinquished in 1997. If you haven’t guessed by now…I’m referring to the honorable Dr. Johnnetta Betsch Cole!
When I met Dr. Cole in 1996 she was already ripe with accomplishments. She was serving as the president of Spelman College, but as I got to know her, she was so much more to me than even her presidential honor bestowed.
Her grace and elegance wowed me and I remember thinking “she commands attention instead of demanding it.”
I immediately researched this dignitary who lit up the room when she entered to discover that she had a loooooong list of achievements and a genuine passion for women’s studies. She is wise and strong - but humble and caring. She is intentional and decisive - yet empathetic and considerate. She is among those who personify the statement: Knowledge is power, receiving 61 honorary degrees from various institutions. Please enjoy the following discoveries you will learn about this exceptional woman as excerpted from The Alumnae Award of Northwestern University.
Dr. Cole has served on the Boards of Directors of Home Depot, Merck & Co., and NationsBank South and was the first woman ever elected to the Board of Coca-Cola Enterprises. After 10 years as president of Spelman, Dr. Cole returned to teaching in 1998 as Presidential Distinguished Professor of Anthropology, Women’s Studies and African American Studies at Emory University, subsequently retiring as professor emerita. In 2002, she accepted an appointment as president of Bennett College for Women in Greensboro, North Carolina. At Bennett College, Dr. Cole founded the Johnnetta B Cole Global Diversity & Inclusion Institute. During her tenure at Bennett, an art gallery was opened and programs were initiated in women’s studies and global studies.
From 2004 to 2006, Dr. Cole chaired the Board of Trustees of United Way of America, the first African American to serve in that position. She advised the Smithsonian Institute on the creation of a National Museum of African American History. In 2009, she was selected to serve as director of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African Art, which houses more than 10,000 objects representing nearly every area of the continent of Africa. She also served on the Scholarly Advisory Board for the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture, the construction of which was completed on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., in 2016.
Dr. Johnnetta Cole completed her undergraduate degree at Oberlin College and earned a master’s degree and Ph.D. in anthropology from Northwestern University. She was born in Jacksonville, Florida on October 19, 1936. She has proven to be an exceptional role model and truly a woman to emulate.
Image #3 in Gallery: Dr. Cole at 80, director of Smithsonian National Museum of African Art, is photographed near "Woman With Palm Leaf Skirt," by Nigerian artist Sokari Douglas Camp, at the museum. (Nikki Kahn/The Washington Post)