Ann Elizabeth Bennett

March 16, 1963 – November 15, 2024. Ann Elizabeth Bennett was an Emmy-nominated documentary filmmaker, multimedia producer, and devoted community advocate. Ann’s distinguished career in film and media was marked by her deep commitment to exploring the intersections of history, culture, disability, and technology within diverse communities. As a producer, she made significant contributions to projects such as the NAACP Image Award-winning PBS feature documentary, Through A Lens Darkly: Black Photographers and the Emergence of a People, and the innovative multi-platform initiative Digital Diaspora Family Reunion (DDFR).

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Dr. Clifton R. Wharton Jr.

September 13, 1926 – November 16, 2024. The Honorable Dr. Clifton R. Wharton Jr. was a Black pioneer in four different fields: Foreign economic development, higher education, philanthropy and business. The first Black person to become CEO of a Fortune 500 company, Dr. Wharton was Chairman and CEO of TIAA-CREF, the nation’s largest pension fund with assets over $390 billion. When elected president of Michigan State University from 1970-78, he became the first Black person to lead a major predominantly white university in the United States.

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Ella Jenkins

August 6, 1924 – November 9, 2024. Ella Louise Jenkins, “the first lady of children’s folk song,” was born on August 6, 1924, in St. Louis, Missouri. Growing up on Chicago’s South Side, Jenkins loved all kinds of games, but adored those involving rhythm, movement and music. Despite never having any formal musical training. Jenkins became a first-rate composer and musician who plays the ukulele, the pipe organ, the harmonica and a wide variety of percussion instruments, in addition to singing.

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