Rosa Slade Gragg

Dr. Rosa Slade Gragg (30 April 1904 – 19 February 1989) was an American activist and politician. She founded the first black vocational school in Detroit, Michigan; and was the advisor to three United States presidents. She was inducted in 1987 into the Michigan Women's Hall of Fame. She received her grade school education in Georgia, going on to Morris Brown College in Atlanta, Georgia, where she graduated summa cum laude. Gragg started to become involved in clubs after joining the Current Topic Study Club in 1926. Gragg was the only black person to serve on the board at the time. In 1949, Detroit mayor Eugene Van Antwerp appointed Gragg as the president of the Commission of the Detroit Department of Public Welfare. In 1960, she commissioned historian Charles H. Wesley to write the history of the National Association of Colored Women. The book was published in 1984, and entitled The History of the National Association of Colored Women's Clubs: A Legacy of Service. The Morris Brown College alumni association named her Outstanding Graduate. The city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, awarded her the Richard Allen Award. She also received the March of Dimes Service Award.

Gragg received honorary doctoral degrees from Paul Quinn College in 1950, and in 1955. Gragg received honorary memberships to: the Detroit Urban League Guild, the sorority Lambda Kappa Nu, and the sorority Tau Gamma Delta.

Further media

An image of Gragg with Jacqueline Kennedy