Charlayne Hunter-Gault facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Charlayne Hunter-Gault
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| Born |
Alberta Charlayne Hunter
February 27, 1942 Due West, South Carolina, U.S.
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| Education | Wayne State University University of Georgia (BA) Washington University |
| Occupation | Journalist |
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Notable credit(s)
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The New York Times The New Yorker |
| Spouse(s) | Walter Stovall (1963–1971) Ronald Gault (1971–present) |
| Children | 2 |
Charlayne Hunter-Gault, born on February 27, 1942, is an important American journalist and civil rights activist. She worked as a reporter for major news organizations like National Public Radio, CNN, and PBS. Charlayne Hunter-Gault and Hamilton Holmes made history as the first African-American students to attend the University of Georgia.
Contents
Charlayne Hunter-Gault's Early Life
Charlayne Hunter was born in Due West, South Carolina. Her father was a chaplain in the U.S. Army. She became interested in journalism when she was 12 years old. This happened after she read a comic strip called Brenda Starr, Reporter.
In 1955, Charlayne was in eighth grade. She was the only Black student at an Army school in Alaska, where her father was stationed. After that year, her parents divorced. Charlayne moved to Atlanta with her mother, two brothers, and grandmother.
High School Years
In Atlanta, Charlayne attended Henry McNeal Turner High School. She was very active there. She became the editor-in-chief of the school newspaper, The Green Light. She was also the assistant editor for the yearbook.
In 1958, a group called the Atlanta Committee for Cooperative Action (ACCA) looked for talented African-American high school students. They wanted to help these students attend white universities in Georgia. They chose the best students so that universities would have no reason to reject them except for their race. Charlayne Hunter and Hamilton Holmes were chosen by this committee. They were meant to attend Georgia State College in Atlanta. However, Charlayne and Hamilton wanted to attend the University of Georgia instead.
Breaking Barriers at the University of Georgia
The University of Georgia initially rejected Charlayne and Hamilton. They said there was no room in the dorms for new students who had to live there. That fall, Charlayne enrolled at Wayne University (now Wayne State University). She received financial help from Georgia because no Black universities in the state offered a journalism program.
Even though she met all the requirements to transfer, the University of Georgia kept rejecting her and Hamilton. They always claimed there was no room in the dorms. However, other transfer students in similar situations were admitted. This led to a court case called Holmes v. Danner. Walter Danner was the university's registrar and the person being sued.
After winning the case, Hamilton Holmes and Charlayne Hunter became the first two African-American students to enroll at the University of Georgia. This historic event happened on January 9, 1961. Charlayne graduated in 1963 with a bachelor's degree in journalism.
Charlayne Hunter-Gault's Journalism Career
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In 1967, Charlayne Hunter joined the news team at WRC-TV in Washington, D.C.. She helped investigate stories and anchored the local evening news. In 1968, she started working for The New York Times. There, she reported on urban Black communities.
In 1978, she joined The MacNeil/Lehrer Report as a correspondent. By 1983, she became the national correspondent for The NewsHour. She left The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer in June 1997.
After that, she worked in Johannesburg, South Africa. She was National Public Radio's main correspondent in Africa from 1997 to 1999. Then, in 1999, Hunter-Gault joined CNN as its bureau chief and correspondent in Johannesburg. She left this role in 2005. However, she still appeared on CNN and other networks as an expert on Africa.
Awards and Recognition
During her time with The NewsHour, Charlayne Hunter-Gault won many awards. She received two Emmys and a Peabody Award. These were for her excellent broadcast journalism, especially for her series on South Africa called Apartheid's People.
She also received the Journalist of the Year Award in 1986 from the National Association of Black Journalists. In 1988, she won a Candace Award for Journalism. Other awards include the 1990 Sidney Hillman Award and the Good Housekeeping Broadcast Personality of the Year Award. She also received awards from Women in Radio and Television and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
In 2001, the Academic Building at the University of Georgia was named the Holmes/Hunter Academic Building. This honored both her and Hamilton Holmes. Since 2009, she has been a member of the Peabody Awards Board of Jurors. She also serves on the Board of Trustees at the Carter Center.
Charlayne Hunter-Gault wrote a book called In My Place (1992). It is a memoir about her experiences at the University of Georgia.
Charlayne Hunter-Gault's Personal Life
When she was 16 and in high school, Charlayne, along with two friends, became a Catholic. She had been raised in the African Methodist Episcopal Church.
Just before she graduated from the University of Georgia, Charlayne married a classmate named Walter L. Stovall. They first married in March 1963. Then, they remarried in Detroit, Michigan, on June 8, 1963. They believed the first ceremony might not be valid because he was white, due to laws about interracial marriages at the time.
When their marriage became known, the governor of Georgia called it "a shame and a disgrace." Georgia's attorney general even talked about prosecuting the couple. News reports said that both families were against the marriage because of race. Years later, after their divorce in 1972, Hunter-Gault spoke at the university. She praised Stovall, saying he "unhesitatingly jumped into my boat with me." She explained how he gave up going to movies or restaurants because she couldn't go due to segregation. They married because they loved each other. They had one daughter, Suesan Stovall, who was born in December 1963 and became a singer.
After divorcing Walter Stovall, Charlayne married Ronald T. Gault. He was a Black businessman who worked for the Ford Foundation. Later, he became an investment banker. They have one son, Chuma Gault, who was born in 1972 and became an actor. The couple lived in Johannesburg, South Africa, and even produced wine there. After moving back to the United States, they live in Massachusetts and support the arts.
Filmography
- Dare to Struggle... Dare to Win (1999)
- Globalization & Human Rights (1998)
- Rights & Wrongs: Human Rights Television (1993)
- Summer of Soul (2021)
