Helen Elsie Austin
Helen Elsie Austin (May 10, 1908– Oct 26, 2004), known as H. Elsie Austin as an adult, was an American attorney, civil rights leader, and diplomat from the Midwest. From 1960 to 1970, she served for 10 years with the United States Information Agency (USIA) on various cultural projects in Africa. The first African-American woman to graduate from the University of Cincinnati School of Law, Austin was appointed in 1937 as an assistant attorney general in Ohio. She was the first black and the first woman to hold this position.
Helen Elsie Austin | |
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| Born | 10 May 1908 Tuskegee, Alabama, U.S. |
| Died | October 26, 2004 (aged 96) San Antonio, Texas, U.S. |
| Other names | H. Elsie Austin |
| Occupation(s) | Attorney; state official, Foreign Service Officer |
| Known for | Pioneering black lawyer, civil rights and administrator/organizer |
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Austin held legal positions in Washington, DC for several federal agencies during the New Deal. She also worked to advance civil rights for African Americans, serving on numerous committees, and in executive positions. She consulted for National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), and the National Council of Negro Women. She also served as president for the Delta Sigma Theta sorority, "one of the largest African American women's organization in the world."
In 1934 Austin became a member of the Baháʼí Faith in Cincinnati. Ten years later she was elected on the National Spiritual Assembly in the United States, the institution in charge of the affairs in the country. She was a Bahá'i for the rest of her life. Decades later, while serving in Africa, she joined what was then the regional national assembly of North West Africa.