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 |
Alberta Charlayne Hunter-Gault (born February 27, 1942) is an American journalist and civil rights activist. She is well-known for being one of the first two African-American students to attend the University of Georgia. She also had a long career as a reporter for major news organizations like National Public Radio, CNN, and the Public Broadcasting Service.
Contents
Early Life and Education
Charlayne Hunter was born in Due West, South Carolina. She became interested in journalism when she was 12 years old. She loved reading the comic strip Brenda Starr, Reporter.
In 1955, Charlayne was in eighth grade. This was one year after the important Brown v. Board of Education ruling. This ruling said that separate schools for black and white students were against the law.
Breaking Barriers at the University of Georgia
After moving to Atlanta, Charlayne attended Henry McNeal Turner High School. She was very involved in her school. She became the editor-in-chief of the school newspaper, The Green Light.
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 Charlayne Hunter and Hamilton Holmes. They hoped these two excellent students would be accepted into a white university.
Charlayne and Hamilton wanted to attend the University of Georgia. However, the university initially rejected them. They were told there was no room in the dorms. Other transfer students were admitted, but Charlayne and Hamilton were not.
This led to a court case called Holmes v. Danner. The court ruled in their favor. On January 9, 1961, Holmes and Hunter became the first two African-American students to enroll at the University of Georgia. Charlayne graduated in 1963 with a degree in journalism.
Journalism Career
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In 1967, Charlayne Hunter-Gault began working as an investigative reporter at WRC-TV in Washington, D.C. She also anchored the local evening news. In 1968, she joined The New York Times. There, she reported on the lives of black communities in cities.
In 1978, she joined The MacNeil/Lehrer Report. She became a national correspondent for The NewsHour in 1983. She left The NewsHour in 1997.
Charlayne then moved to Johannesburg, South Africa. She worked as the chief correspondent for National Public Radio in Africa from 1997 to 1999. In 1999, she joined CNN as their bureau chief and correspondent in Johannesburg. She left this role in 2005 but continued to appear on TV as an expert on Africa.
Awards and Recognition
During her time with The NewsHour, Charlayne Hunter-Gault won many awards. She received two Emmy Awards and a Peabody Award. These were for her excellent work on Apartheid's People, a series about South Africa.
She also received the Journalist of the Year Award in 1986 from the National Association of Black Journalists. In 2001, the Academic Building at the University of Georgia was named the Holmes/Hunter Academic Building. This honored both her and Hamilton Holmes.
Charlayne Hunter-Gault also wrote a book. It is called In My Place (1992). It is a memoir about her experiences at the University of Georgia.
Personal Life
When she was 16, Charlayne converted to Catholicism. She had been raised in the African Methodist Episcopal Church.
Shortly before graduating from the University of Georgia, Charlayne married her classmate, Walter L. Stovall. Their marriage was challenging because he was white and she was black. At that time, laws in some states made interracial marriages difficult or even illegal. Despite this, they married because they loved each other. Walter supported her and faced challenges alongside her. They had one daughter, Suesan Stovall.
After divorcing Walter Stovall, Charlayne married Ronald T. Gault. He was a businessman. They have one son, Chuma Gault. The couple lived in Johannesburg, South Africa, for some time. They now 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)
