Miriam DeCosta-Willis was an American educator, writer, and civil rights activist.
11 Facts About Miriam DeCosta-Willis
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Miriam DeCosta-Willis published more than a dozen books throughout her career, largely dealing with Afro-Latino literature and Black Memphis history.
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Miriam DeCosta-Willis was born Miriam Dolores DeCosta in Florence, Alabama, in 1934.
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Miriam DeCosta-Willis then attended Wellesley College, where she excelled academically, beginning in 1952.
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Miriam DeCosta-Willis graduated from Johns Hopkins with a master's degree in 1960 and PhD in Romance languages in 1967.
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Miriam DeCosta-Willis was one of the first Black women to earn a doctorate at Johns Hopkins.
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Miriam DeCosta-Willis was arrested multiple times for participating in civil rights protests, she and her children were maced, and she received threatening anonymous calls to her home.
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Miriam DeCosta-Willis would remain a lifelong member of the NAACP.
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In 1988, a year after her husband's death, Miriam DeCosta-Willis left Memphis for an appointment as commonwealth professor of Spanish at George Mason University in the Washington, DC, area.
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Miriam DeCosta-Willis worked at UMBC until her retirement in 1999.
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Miriam DeCosta-Willis died the following month, at her home in Memphis, aged 86.