About the Mary Frances Early Speaker Series
Each year, a speaker is invited to deliver a lecture that honors Ms. Early’s quiet determination and dignity as she strived to ensure that the state’s flagship university became an institution of higher learning for all the people of Georgia.
The 25th Annual Mary Frances Early Lecture will be announced soon. This year marks the 63rd anniversary of Mary Frances Early’s graduation in 1962 as the first African American to earn a graduate degree from UGA.
The event is free and open to the public and will take place in Mahler Hall at the Georgia Center for Continuing Education. The Mary Frances Early Lecture is sponsored by the Graduate School, Graduate and Professional Scholars (GAPS), the Mary Frances Early College of Education, and the Office Institutional Diversity (OID). It is part of The Signature Lecture Series coordinated by the Office of the Provost.
Lecture Vision and History
The annual lecture demonstrates the progress that has been made while also recognizing that work remains to fully realize Ms. Early’s vision. With pride, we salute Ms. Early for all that she has accomplished and for the excellence, integrity, fortitude, and grace that she represents.
In 1999, Graduate and Professional Scholars (GAPS) members Tracey Ford and Valerie White proposed that Ms. Early serves as the featured speaker for the GAPS Spring Lecture. Her selection was prompted in part by her appearance in Foot Soldiers for Equal Justice, the documentary chronicling the desegregation of the University of Georgia. Dr. Maurice Daniels, the former GAPS co-advisor, served as senior researcher and executive director of the Foot Soldiers project.
Following Ms. Early’s keynote address on April 18, 2000, GAPS renamed its annual spring lecture in her honor. In 2010, in consultation with Ms. Early, the Graduate School assumed responsibility for the event, working in partnership with GAPS to promote and maintain the event’s visibility and consistency.
More about Ms. Mary Frances Early’s Published Autobiography
Ms. Mary Frances Early’s autobiography, “The Quiet Trailblazer: My Journey as the First Black Graduate of the University of Georgia” recounts her experience coming to campus as one of the first Black students to enroll at UGA. In August 1962, Ms. Early once again made history as the first Black student to earn a Graduate degree from UGA. She earned a master’s degree in music education. She chronicles her career as a music educator, first teaching in segregated schools before blazing trails to lead the Atlanta City Schools music education department and then becoming the first African American elected president of the Georgia Music Educators Association.
Mary Frances Early discusses her autobiography with WUGA’s Alexia Ridley, Sept. 22, 2021 – listen here.
Previous Speakers
2024
Yvette K. Daniels – Director of University Relations in the Division of Workforce Management for the Georgia Department of Public Health (DPH)
2023
Monica Kaufman Pearson – First Female & African American News Anchor in Atlanta
2022
Robert J. Jones – Chancellor of the University of Illinois
2020
Marion Ross Fedrick – President, Albany State University
2019
Dr. Christopher Emdin – Associate Professor, New York Times bestselling author, Founder of #hiphoped social media movement
2018
Bakari Sellers – Attorney, Politician, and CNN Political Analyst
2017
Dr. Joycelyn Elders – 16th U.S. Surgeon General
2016
Dr. Johnetta B. Cole – Anthropologist, and Former President of Spelman and Benedict Colleges
2015
Michael Thurmond – Superintendent of the DeKalb County School District, distinguished attorney, and author
2014
Donna Brazile – Vice Chair of Voter Registration and Participation for the Democratic National Committee
2013
Hank Klibanoff – James M. Cox, Jr. Professor of Journalism at Emory University
2012
Cynthia Tucker – Charlayne Hunter-Gault Distinguished Writer-in-Residence at UGA
2011
Rep. John Lewis – U.S. Representative of Georgia’s 5th District
2010
Ambassador Andrew Young – GoodWorks International LLC
2009
Dr. Maurice Daniels – Dean of UGA School of Social Work
2008
Ms. Harriet A. Washington – Medical ethicist
2007
Ms. Elaine Brown, Esq. – Politician, activist
2006
Dr. Michael Eric Dyson – Religious scholar, commentator
2005
Ms. Charisse Jones & Dr. Kumea Shorter-Gooden – Authors
2004
Dr. Nai’m Akbar – Professor of Psychology
2003
Dr. Mitchell F. Rice – Political scientist
2002
Dr. Sharon Ames Dennard – 2002 Working Mother of the Year
2001
Dr. Reuben Warren – Bioethics researcher
2000
Ms. Mary Frances Early – Civil rights pioneer, music educator
