Marian Wright Edelman (1939 - )

Tue Jun 06, 1939

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Marian Wright Edelman, born on this day in 1939, is an American children’s rights activist who became the first black woman admitted to the Mississippi Bar and founded the Children’s Defense Fund in 1973.

The Children’s Defense Fund, a group which lobbies to overhaul foster care, support adoption, improve child care and protect children who are disabled, homeless, abused or neglected.

Edelman was active in the civil rights movement, contributing to the organization of the Poor People’s Campaign in 1968 and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. She also participated in sit-ins, getting arrested along with fourteen other students at one of the largest sit-ins at the Atlanta City Hall in 1960.

“Service is the rent we pay for being. It is the very purpose of life, and not something you do in your spare time.”

- Marian Wright Edelman