Edythe Scott Bagley

Who was Edythe Scott Bagley?

Edythe Scott Bagley was an American author, activist, and educator. The older sister of Coretta Scott King, she worked behind the scenes to promote the African-American Civil Rights Movement and was actively involved in many of the crucial events of that era.

In 1943, Mrs. Bagley graduated from Lincoln Normal School in Marion, Alabama. With the encouragement of teachers and mentors, she applied for a scholarship to Antioch College and was accepted as a student there that fall. Though Antioch had enjoyed a long history of racial tolerance, Mrs. Bagley was the first African American student admitted to the school in the modern era. Later, she transferred to Ohio State University from which she graduated. She also earned a master of English from Columbia University and a master of fine arts from Boston University.