20 Facts About Olivia Hooker

Olivia Juliette Hooker was an American psychologist and professor.

Olivia Hooker was a survivor of the Tulsa race massacre of 1921, and the first African-American woman to enter the US Coast Guard.

Olivia Hooker served in the Coast Guard until her unit was disbanded in mid-1946.

One of five children, Hooker was born in Muskogee, Oklahoma, to Samuel Hooker and Anita Hooker.

Olivia Hooker earned her bachelor of arts in 1937 from The Ohio State University.

Olivia Hooker worked as an elementary school teacher until joining the US Coast Guard during World War II.

Olivia Hooker applied to the Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service of the US Navy, but was rejected due to her ethnicity.

Olivia Hooker disputed the rejection due to a technicality and was accepted; however, she had already decided to join the Coast Guard.

Olivia Hooker entered the US Coast Guard in February 1945.

Olivia Hooker was one of only five African-American females to first enlist in the SPARS program.

In June 1946, the SPAR program was disbanded and Olivia Hooker earned the rank of petty officer 2nd class and a Good Conduct Award.

Olivia Hooker felt they were treated unfairly and re-evaluated them in hopes to help the women pursue better education and jobs after their time in the facility.

Olivia Hooker worked at Rochester State Hospital first as a graduate trainee then as a clinical psychologist.

Olivia Hooker's dissertation was completed under the supervision of Emory L Cowen.

Olivia Hooker was one of the founders of the American Psychological Association's Division 33, Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities and was later honored by the Association for her work with children.

In 2000, Olivia Hooker met Zeita Merchant, a black woman who in 2021 became the first person of an ethnic minority to hold the role of Commanding Officer of the US Coast Guard Sector New York.

Up until Olivia Hooker's death, she was a mentor to Merchant.

Olivia Hooker joined the Coast Guard Auxiliary at age 95 and served as an auxiliarist in Yonkers, New York.

Olivia Hooker received the American Psychological Association Presidential Citation in 2011.

Olivia Hooker died of natural causes in her home in White Plains, New York on November 21,2018, at the age of 103.