Celestine Cook

Celestine Cook (1924 – 1985 in New Orleans)

Career Cook was a teacher for Houston public schools until her first husband, Bethel J. Strode, died in 1947. Cook was 24 with two children, Bethel Strode, Jr., and Bethelynn Strode. She took over the properties and investments that her husband had in Illinois and Texas, serving as the president of his estate. From 1949 to 1953, she was a member of the board for the City of Galveston Recreation and Park. She was president of the New Orleans Links.

Cook encouraged other African American women to be involved in the community and introduced them to African American artists. She urged Leah Chase to consider joining the New Orleans Museum of Art’s (NOMA) board of trustees. Chase joined and was later invited to become a trustee for life.

Her civic activities also involved serving as a trustee for Loyola University, Amistad Research Center, and NOMA.

She was involved with organizations such as the Methodist Church, New Orleans Museum of Art (NOMA), Zeta Phi Beta sorority, Friends of the Free Southern Theater, the Arts Council of New Orleans, the Women’s Auxiliary of Flint-Goodridge Hospital, New Orleans chapter of the Links, and the Tuskegee Alumni Association.

Awards and honors In 1955, Cook was awarded the Tuskegee Institute Alumni Merit Award and Zeta Phi Beta’s Woman of the Year.