Independent Historian

Cecilia Gutierrez Venable received her Ph.D. from the University of Texas at El Paso and her M.A. and B. A. in history from Texas A & M University Corpus Christi. Gutierrez Venable has worked in university, city, county and private archives and has taught history classes. She is currently working with the Sisters of the Holy Spirit as their historian and archivist. Gutierrez Venable has published several articles and books and is co-editing an anthology, Centuries of Voices on Black women in Texas. She is also working on a book about the foundress of the Sisters who built the first Black Catholic Church and School in San Antonio.

Gloria Dean Randle Scott (1938- )

Civic and educational leader Gloria Dean Randle Scott, the first African-American president of the Girl Scouts of America and the twelfth president of Bennett College, was born on April 14, 1938 in Houston, Texas to Juanita Bell and Freeman Randle.  Scott grew up in Houston, … Read MoreGloria Dean Randle Scott (1938- )

Solomon Melvin Coles (1844-1924)

Solomon Melvin Coles was a minister, educator, and community leader.  Born a Virginia slave in 1844, Coles pursued an education before the Civil War, and in its aftermath moved to Connecticut where available educational opportunities existed for African Americans.  In 1869 Coles became the first African … Read MoreSolomon Melvin Coles (1844-1924)