Matthews, Gwendolyn J.
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Matthews, Gwendolyn J.
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Gwendolyn J. Matthews was the first African American to graduate from Meredith College in 1971.
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Gwendolyn Matthews was one of the first two African American students along with Rosetta Berry Inmon to be admitted to and attend Meredith College. Matthews described her time at Meredith as fun and with minimal negative experiences. She was known to be a very kind and happy individual. Matthews went on to be the first African American to graduate from Meredith College in 1971 as well as being celebrated as one of the outstanding seniors that year. She graduated with an English degree and teaching licensure. She completed her student teaching at Broughton High School and started teaching 11th-grade English at Broughton after graduation. After three years at Broughton, Matthews proceeded to further her education by getting a master's at the Teachers College at Columbia University so she could teach at the college level. She then worked at North Carolina State University, followed by Hampton University in Virginia, before moving back to North Carolina due to her mother's death, and began to work at Wake Technical Community College. Matthews taught in and later became the head of the English Department at Wake Tech.
(In Meredith College campus publications, Matthews' name often appears as Gwendolyn Matthews Hilliard.)
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1947
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Rosetta Berry Inmon; Classmate
Position: 2794 (28 views)