Ozell Sutton

Who is Ozell Sutton?

Ozell Sutton in Gould, Arkansas is among the first blacks to serve in the U.S. Marine Corps.

Sutton received his undergraduate degree in 1950 from Philander Smith College. In 1962, he Sutton received an honorary doctorate from Philander Smith in 1962 for recognition of his political activism in the civil rights movement.

In 1963, he marched with Martin Luther King Jr. in the a historic March on Washington D.C. and in 1965 for the Selma to Montgomery marches

Sutton worked for Governor Winthrop Rockefeller as the director of the Governor's Council on Human Resources.

He is a founding member of the executive board of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

In 2012, he was presented with the Congressional Medal of Honor from President Barack Obama for being among the first blacks to serve in the U.S. Marine Corps.

Sutton was the 26th General President of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity. As president, he was named one of the 100 most influential Black Americans by Ebony magazine.