Born: January 2 1898, United States
Died: November 1 1989
Country most active: United States
Also known as: NA
Sadie Tanner Mossell Alexander was the first African-American to receive a doctorate in economics in the United States (1921), and the first woman to receive a law degree from the University of Pennsylvania Law School. She was the first African-American woman to practice law in Pennsylvania, the first national president of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority (1919-1923) and the first African-American woman appointed as Assistant City Solicitor for the City of Philadelphia.
Sadie and her husband were both civil rights activists and in 1946, she was appointed to the President’s Committee on Civil Rights established by Harry Truman. In 1952 she was appointed to Philadelphia’s Commission on Human Relations, serving until 1968. During that time, she was President of John F. Kennedy Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law (1963). In 1979, Jimmy Carter appointed her as chair of the White House Conference on Aging (WHCoA). She also served for 25 years on the board of the National Urban League, which advocates on behalf of economic and social justice for African-Americans and against racial discrimination in the United States.