In Memoriam

Goldie L. Ivory (1926-2010)

Goldie L. Ivory, an educator who is said to have been the first black lay woman to earn a degree from the University of Notre Dame, died last month at a hospital in South Bend, Indiana. She was 84 years old.

Ivory was a native of Chicago. In 1949 she graduated from Indiana University and took a job with the St. Joseph County Juvenile Department. Married with twins, at age 30 she earned a master’s degree in sociology at the University of Notre Dame in 1956. She later earned a second master’s degree in social work from Indiana University.

Ivory spent a major portion of her professional career as director of human resources for the Elkhart Community School System. She also taught at St. Mary’s College and Goshen College.

Dorothy Marie Penman Harrison (1907-2010)

Dorothy Penman Harrison, the former president of Delta Sigma Theta sorority, died last month in Flossmoor, Illinois. She was 103 years old.

Harrison was a native of Portsmouth, Ohio. She attended Fisk University, but when her parents died she returned home to Ohio and later earned a degree at Ohio State University. In 1940 she married G. Lamar Harrison, who would become president of what is now Langston University, the historically black educational institution in Oklahoma. Harrison earned a master’s degree in education at Oklahoma State University. She was elected national president of Delta Sigma Theta in 1956.

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