In Memoriam

Matthew J. Perry (1921-2011)

Matthew J. Perry, civil rights leader and the first African-American federal judge in South Carolina, died late last month at his home in Columbia. He was 89 years old.

Perry worked on the day that he died in the federal courthouse that bears his name.

Perry was a graduate of South Carolina State University and the short-lived segregated law school which was established on that campus. During the civil right era, it is estimated that Perry successfully appealed 7,000 convictions of civil rights protesters in the federal courts. He was instrumental in the legal proceedings that ended racial segregation at the University of South Carolina and Clemson University.

Dawn Della DeVeaux (1962-2011)

Dawn Della DeVeaux, university omsbud officer for students at Fort Valley State University in Georgia, died late last month at the age of 49.

Dr. DeVeaux was a graduate of Howard University. She earned a master’s degree in mass communications from Austin Peay State University in Clarkesville, Tennessee, and a doctorate in community college education at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia.

Dr. DeVeaux joined the faculty at Fort Valley State in 2005 as an assistant professor of fine arts. She also served as interim director for enrollment management and interim director of financial aid.

Copyright © 2011. The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education. All rights reserved.