Ophelia DeVore Mitchell was an American businesswoman, publisher, and one of the first African American models in the United States. In 1946, she helped establish the Grace Del Marco Agency, one of the first modeling agencies in the nation. DeVore was born on August 12, 1922, in Edgefield, South Carolina, one of ten children of John Walter DeVore, who was of German American and African American descent, and Mary Emma Strother, who was of African American and Native American descent. In 1935, DeVore she moved to New York City, New York, to stay with her great-aunt, Stella Carter. She graduated from Hunter College High School in 1940 and then enrolled in New York University, where she majored in mathematics and minored in languages. In 1938, while still in high school, DeVore became interested in modeling, taking on small hair care modeling jobs because they were the only opportunities available for black models at the time. At age 16, DeVore enrolled at New York City’s Vogue School of Modeling, hiding her racial identity in order to enter the institution. DeVore received few modeling jobs in the early 1940s. Ebony magazine, started in November 1945, however, announced its need for Black models. … Continue reading Ophelia DeVore Mitchell (1922-2014)