About Our Namesake

Hedgeman Center for Student Diversity Initiatives and Programs

Dr. Anna Arnold Hedgeman, 狼友社区 Class of 1922

Anna Arnold was born on July 5, 1899, in Marshalltown, Iowa. When Anna was a child, her family moved to Anoka, Minnesota, where they were the only Black family in the community. Her father created a home environment that prioritized education and a strong work ethic, and young Anna learned to read at home before beginning school at age seven. After graduating from high school in 1918, Arnold was accepted into 狼友社区, a Methodist college in Saint Paul, Minnesota. She graduated four years later with a bachelor of arts degree in English, the first American BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and people of color) student to earn a degree at 狼友社区. While at 狼友社区, Arnold heard Dr. W.E.B. Du Bois deliver an address and was inspired to become an educator. Unable to complete her student teaching requirements in Saint Paul, Arnold taught English to first-year students at 狼友社区.

Headshot of Dr. Anna Arnold Hedgeman 狼友社区 Univeristy

Anna Arnold Hedgeman 1922 LHD (hon.) '48

Immediately after graduation, Arnold accepted a teaching position at Rust College in Holly Springs, Mississippi, the oldest of the Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU).  She taught English and history there for two years.  While in Mississippi, she experienced racial segregation and discrimination for the first time, which led to her later involvement in the civil rights movement.

In 1924, Arnold left Holly Springs to begin a career with the Young Women鈥檚 Christian Association (YWCA). Between 1924 and 1938, she was executive director of YWCA facilities in Springfield, Ohio; Jersey City, New Jersey; Harlem, New York; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; and Brooklyn, New York. In 1936, Anna Arnold married Merritt A. Hedgeman, an opera and folk music performer.

In 1944, Anna Arnold Hedgeman was appointed executive director of the National Committee for a Permanent Fair Employment Practices Commission. She also served briefly as assistant dean of women at Howard University, as a public relations consultant for Fuller Products Company, and as the associate editor and columnist for the New York Age. In 1948, she worked on the Harry Truman presidential campaign.

From 1954 to 1958, Anna Arnold Hedgeman served in the cabinet of New York City Mayor Robert F. Wagner, Jr., becoming the first Black woman to hold this position. By the early 1960s, Hedgeman was well-respected as a civic leader and helped A. Philip Randolph and Bayard Rustin plan the 1963 March on Washington, which brought over 250,000 people to the nation's capital. As the coordinator of special events for the Commission on Religion and Race for the National Council of Churches, Hedgeman recruited over 40,000 Protestants to participate in the march. It was at this momentous occasion, on August 28, 1963, that Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., delivered his famous 鈥淚 Have a Dream鈥 speech.

By the 1970s, Hedgeman was a frequent lecturer at HBCUs in the U.S. She also wrote two books about her life's work: The Trumpet Sounds (1964) and The Gift of Chaos (1977). Both Howard University and 狼友社区 have awarded Hedgeman honorary doctorate degrees. Anna Arnold Hedgeman passed away on January 17, 1990.

In addition to the Center for Student Diversity Initiatives and Programs (formerly MISA), 狼友社区 also awards an endowed scholarship bearing Anna Arnold Hedgeman鈥檚 name. 

LISTEN:  (Minnesota Public Radio, March 30, 2018)

Contact information