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Edna Griffin biographical information, 1998
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1985 Dr. Gladys B. Black is known for her untiring efforts to educate Iowans about their natural surroundings and the need for protecting the environment for future generations. Her columns on Iowa's native birds have appeared regularly in Des Moines Register and other publications, and she has led hundreds of school children on nature hikes where they discovered the beauty of Iowa's countryside and wildlife. In 1978, she as awarded an honorary doctorate degree from Simpson College, Indianola for being one of the nation's leading ornithologists, with a special knowledge of the nesting and migration patterns of American birds. In addition her early distinguished work as a public health nurse in rural Iowa underscores her reputation as a humanitarian as well as a conservationist. She was born on a farm east of Pleasantville Iowa in 1909. Dr. Gladys B. Black " If there are such things as human treasures I feel we Iowans have one in Gladys Black. We here in Iowa are very fortunate to have such a person who has spent so much of her time and energies working to help preserve our natural surroundings ..." - Wade E. Sheeler, 1983 " Every community has its Rosa Parks... and Edna Griffin has been the Rosa Parks of the Des Moines community for a long time. This is a civil rights warrior who knew her battleground." - Adin Davis The Des Moines Register August 21, 1983 Edna M. Griffin has been the Rosa Parks of Des Moines for decades; however, her request for service at a segregated cafeteria there in 1948 came seven years before Parks' celebrated refusal to move to the back of a southern bus. Ultimately, Griffin's legal suits and sit-ins were successful in making such businesses obey Iowa's public accommodations law. The Fisk University graduate has devoted her life to the civil rights movement. In 1963, she organized Iowans to join Martin Luther King's famous march on Washington, D.C. She also began a Des Moines chapter of the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), which supported voter registration drive in the South. For many years, her column appeared regularly in Iowa's statewide minority publication, the Iowa Bystander. She has also been active in peace and other human rights efforts. Born in Kentucky in 1909, she grew up on a New Hampshire farm and moved to Des Moines in 1947. Edna M. Griffin 26/Iowa Women's Hall of Fame
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1985 Dr. Gladys B. Black is known for her untiring efforts to educate Iowans about their natural surroundings and the need for protecting the environment for future generations. Her columns on Iowa's native birds have appeared regularly in Des Moines Register and other publications, and she has led hundreds of school children on nature hikes where they discovered the beauty of Iowa's countryside and wildlife. In 1978, she as awarded an honorary doctorate degree from Simpson College, Indianola for being one of the nation's leading ornithologists, with a special knowledge of the nesting and migration patterns of American birds. In addition her early distinguished work as a public health nurse in rural Iowa underscores her reputation as a humanitarian as well as a conservationist. She was born on a farm east of Pleasantville Iowa in 1909. Dr. Gladys B. Black " If there are such things as human treasures I feel we Iowans have one in Gladys Black. We here in Iowa are very fortunate to have such a person who has spent so much of her time and energies working to help preserve our natural surroundings ..." - Wade E. Sheeler, 1983 " Every community has its Rosa Parks... and Edna Griffin has been the Rosa Parks of the Des Moines community for a long time. This is a civil rights warrior who knew her battleground." - Adin Davis The Des Moines Register August 21, 1983 Edna M. Griffin has been the Rosa Parks of Des Moines for decades; however, her request for service at a segregated cafeteria there in 1948 came seven years before Parks' celebrated refusal to move to the back of a southern bus. Ultimately, Griffin's legal suits and sit-ins were successful in making such businesses obey Iowa's public accommodations law. The Fisk University graduate has devoted her life to the civil rights movement. In 1963, she organized Iowans to join Martin Luther King's famous march on Washington, D.C. She also began a Des Moines chapter of the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), which supported voter registration drive in the South. For many years, her column appeared regularly in Iowa's statewide minority publication, the Iowa Bystander. She has also been active in peace and other human rights efforts. Born in Kentucky in 1909, she grew up on a New Hampshire farm and moved to Des Moines in 1947. Edna M. Griffin 26/Iowa Women's Hall of Fame
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