African-American Trailblazer Dies at 103
Olivia J. Hooker of Greenburgh, the first African-American woman to have entered the U.S. Coast Guard, which she did in Feb. 1945, has died. She was 103. Hooker was also the last survivor of the infamous Tulsa, Oklahoma race massacre.
She later became a psychologist and a professor at Fordham University.
A post on a Facebook fan page announced the death.
“MY AUNT ‘TEEK’, DR. OLIVIA J. HOOKER, LAST SURVIVOR OF THE TULSA MASSACRE AND FIRST AFRICAN AMERICAN WOMAN OF THE COAST GUARD HAS PASSED ON TO BE WITH THE ANCESTORS THIS MORNING…..SHE WAS 103 YEARS OLD…..R.I.P,” a Facebook user named Rick Rhino Cmz Ward posted on the Fans of the Phenomenal Dr. Olivia J. Hooker page on Wednesday morning.
The Town of Greenburgh honored Hooker in 2015.
“Greenburgh is fortunate to have such an outstanding resident living in our community,” Supervisor Paul Feiner wrote at the time in an email. “She’s also a very nice person – a role model for citizens.”
“Olivia was a role model, trailblazer, someone who cut through barriers,” Feiner stated today. “She was an extremely nice woman, very modest, always ready to tell her story to children and others in the community – a great asset to the town. She will be missed.”
Andrew Vitelli, a former editor and reporter with Examiner Media, interviewed Hooker for an article in 2011.
“Olivia was an inspirational individual whose life is a testament to human perseverance,” Vitelli wrote today in an email. “She was also an unrelenting optimist who brightened the lives of everyone she met. I am thankful that I had the chance to meet her and to hear her incredible life story directly. It is impossible to imagine a fuller or more meaningful life.”
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