Thelma Thurston Gorham
{{Short description|American journalist, organization leader, activist}}
{{Infobox person
|name = Thelma Thurston Gorham
|image = Photo of Thelma Thurston Gorham.jpg
|alt =
|caption =
|birth_name = Thelma Thurston
| birth_date = {{birth date|1913|2|12|mf=y}}
| birth_place = Kansas City, Missouri
| death_date = {{death date and age|1992|1|7|1913|2|12|mf=y}}
|death_place = Tallahassee, Florida
|nationality =
|other_names =
|occupation = Journalist, Educator
|years_active =
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|notable_works =
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}}
Thelma Thurston Gorham (1913–1992) was an American journalist and educator who founded the School of Journalism at Florida A&M University.{{cite web |title=Gorham, Thelma Thurston |url=https://akapioneers.aka1908.com/index.php/component/mtree/vocations/education-1/college-university-administrator/1688-gorham-thelma-t?Itemid= |website=AKA's Pioneering Sorors Open Doors |access-date=24 February 2025}}{{cite web |title=Thelma Thurston Gorham Distinguished Alumni Award |url=https://sjgc.famu.edu/sjgcalumnithelma.php |website=Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University. |access-date=24 February 2025}}
Early life
Gorham was born on February 12, 1913, in Kansas City, Missouri.{{cite book |last1=Smith |first1=Jessie Carney |title=Notable Black American women |date=1996 |publisher=New York : Gale Research |isbn=978-0-8103-9177-2 |pages=251–253 |url=https://archive.org/details/notableblackamer00jess/page/252/mode/2up?q=Thelma+Thurston+Gorham |access-date=16 February 2025}} She obtained her B.A (in 1935) and her M.A. (1951) from the University of Minnesota. She obtained her Ph.D. from Florida State University in 1974.
Career
Gorham wrote and edited for a variety of publications including the Kansas City Call, the Apache Sentinel, The Black Dispatch. Her entry in Notable Black American Women states that in the 1930s Gorham "was the first female Black reporter in the United States."
She taught throughout her life at various Historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) including Hampton Institute, Lincoln University, Southern University and Florida A&M University. Gorham had a long career at Florida A&M University, retiring in the early 1990s.
Gorham died on January 7, 1992{{cite web |title=Gorham, Thelma Thurston |url=https://oxfordaasc.com/display/10.1093/acref/9780195301731.001.0001/acref-9780195301731-e-80496 |website=Oxford African American Studies Center |date=2023 |access-date=16 February 2025 |language=en |doi=10.1093/acref/9780195301731.013.80496 |last1=Wade |first1=Carl A. |isbn=978-0-19-530173-1 }} in Tallahassee, Florida.{{cite web |title=Thelma Thurston Gorham Collection |url=https://blackarchives.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/AC110-Thelma-Thurston-Gorham-Collection.pdf |website=Black Archives of Mid-America |access-date=16 February 2025}}
Personal
Gorham was married to an army officer Richard Gorham from 1939 to 1961. They had a son, Darryl T. Gorham.https://www.newspapers.com/article/tallahassee-democrat-obituary-for-darryl/42852101/
References
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Category:People from Kansas City, Missouri
External links
- [https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/88014293/thelma-rea-gorham Findagrave entry]