Yvonne Seon facts for kids

Yvonne Seon (born December 20, 1937) is an amazing American woman. She has been a professor, a university leader, and even a minister. She is an expert in African studies, African American studies, and how governments work.

Yvonne Seon worked for the government of Patrice Lumumba in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. She also worked for the U.S. government. Later, she became a university leader. She started a special center for Black Studies at Wright State University. She also helped create one of the first PhD programs in Black Studies in the United States. In 1981, Yvonne Seon became the first African American woman to be ordained as a Unitarian Universalist minister.

Early Life and Education

Yvonne Seon was born Yvonne Reed. She went to Allegheny College and earned her first degree in 1959. After that, she received a special scholarship called a Woodrow Wilson Fellowship. This allowed her to study at American University. There, she learned about American government, political science, and French. She earned her master's degree from American University.

Working for Governments

Yvonne Seon met an assistant to Patrice Lumumba in Washington, D.C. This was soon after Lumumba became prime minister of the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 1960. Because Yvonne spoke French very well and had studied politics, she was invited to meet Lumumba. He offered her a job in his government.

Yvonne Seon accepted the job and moved to the Democratic Republic of the Congo. She lived there for two years, from 1961 to 1963. During this time, she worked as an administrative officer. She helped with the Grand Inga Dam project. This was the highest government job someone who wasn't from the Congo could have.

When she returned to the United States in 1963, Yvonne Seon started working for the U.S. government. She worked in the United States Department of State. In this role, she became the secretary for the U.S. team at a big meeting for UNESCO. She was the youngest person, the first African American, and only the second woman to be a secretary for a major U.S. team at this important event.

Career in Education and Religion

In the late 1960s, Yvonne Seon married William David Chappelle III. They moved to Yellow Springs, Ohio. In 1968, she started working at Wilberforce University. She helped coordinate student affairs there.

In 1971, she became the first director of the Bolinga Black Cultural Resources Center. This center was at Wright State University. In 1970, Yvonne Seon began studying for her PhD. She studied African and African American humanities at Union Institute & University. She finished her doctoral degree in 1974. This was one of the first PhD programs in Black Studies in the U.S. While she was a student, she also helped create and design the program.

In 1974, Yvonne Seon and William David Chappelle III separated. She then moved to Washington, D.C. There, she worked with Congressman Charles Diggs.

From 1979 to 1981, Yvonne Seon studied religion at Howard University. She became a minister in the Unitarian Universalist Church in 1981. This was a very important moment. It made her the first African American woman to become a Unitarian Universalist minister. In the 1990s, she started her own Unitarian Universalist church and was its minister.

After getting her PhD, Yvonne Seon became a professor. She taught history at Prince George's Community College. She retired from there in 2006. After retiring, she returned to the Bolinga Black Cultural Resources Center at Wright State University. She was a special visiting director first, then a full-time director for two years.

Personal Life

Yvonne Seon has three children. One of her children is the famous comedian Dave Chappelle.

Selected Works

• Totem Games: Poems in Search of African Identity (2007)

Selected Awards

• African Scientific Institute award
• Gold Citation, Allegheny College (2009)