Ethel L. Payne

Ethel L. Payne is known as the “First Lady of the Black Press.” She combined activism with journalism during the 1950s and 1960s. Some of the iconic figures of history Payne interviewed include Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., President John F. Kennedy, and Nelson Mandela, among several other noteworthy figures. In 1972, CBS hired Payne as a radio and television commentator and she became the first Black woman to hold such a position. Payne is also the only African-American out of four female journalists honored by the U.S. Postal Service on a “Women in Journalism” stamp.