"E" is for Edelman, Marion Wright [b. 1939]. Lawyer, civil rights and children's rights advocate. A native of Bennettsville, Edelman was educated at Spelman College and Yale. As a student at Spelman, she became involved in the civil rights movement that led to her serving as the Mississippi state director of the NAACP's Legal Defense Fund. During her time in Mississippi she expanded her focus beyond civil right to children's rights. This led her to found the Washington Research Project [now the Children's Defense Fund]. The CFD has become one of the nation's most influential advocates for children—especially the children of the poor. Marion Wright Edelman has received a MacArthur Foundation Fellowship and the Presidential Medal of Freedom has written five books including Lanterns: A Memoir of Mentors that reveals the formative influence of her South Carolina youth.
"E" is for Edelman, Marion Wright [b. 1939]
