Obituaries

[pbrower2a]

One of the last survivors of the infamous Tulsa Race Riot of 1921

Olivia J. Hooker (February 12, 1915 – November 21, 2018) was the first African-American woman to have entered the U.S. Coast Guard, which she did in February 1945, and a psychologist and professor.[3][4] She became a SPAR (Semper Paratus Always Ready), a member of the United States Coast Guard Women's Reserve, during World War II.[5] She earned the rank of Yeoman, Second Class, during her service.[6] She served in the Coast Guard until her unit disbanded in mid-1946.[7] Later, she went on to become a psychologist and a professor at Fordham University.[8]

 
Hooker was born Olivia J. Hooker in Muskogee, Oklahoma on February 12, 1915.[9] Ku Klux Klan members ransacked her home during the Tulsa Massacre of Black Wall Street of 1921 while she hid under a table with her three siblings.[3][10] Hooker later was a founder of the Tulsa Race Riot Commission in hopes of demanding reparations for the riot's survivors.[6] In 2003, she was among survivors of the riot to file an unsuccessful federal lawsuit seeking reparations.[11]

After the riots, Hooker's family moved to Columbus, Ohio where she earned her Bachelor of Arts in 1937 from Ohio State University. While at OSU, she joined the Delta Sigma Theta sorority where she advocated for African-American women to be admitted to the navy.[12] 10 years later in 1947, she received her Masters from the Teachers College of Columbia University. In 1961, she received her PhD in psychology from the University of Rochester.[13]

 Hooker applied to the Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service (WAVES) of the U.S. Navy, but was rejected due to her ethnicity.[13] She disputed the rejection due to a technicality and Hooker was accepted. However, she had already decided to join the Coast Guard.[14] She entered the U.S. Coast Guard in February 1945. On March 9, 1945, Hooker went to basic training for six weeks in Manhattan Beach, Brooklyn, New York where Coast Guard Women's Reserve (SPARS) had to attend class and pass exams. She was one of only five African-American females to first enlist in the SPAR program. After basic training, Hooker specialized in the yeoman rate and remained at boot camp for an additional nine weeks before heading to Boston.[14] Here, she performed administrative duties and earned the rank of Yeoman Second Class in the Coast Guard Women's Reserve.[11] In June 1946, the SPAR program was disbanded and Hooker earned the rank of petty officer 2nd class and a Good Conduct Award.[14]


Hooker retired at age 87.[6] She joined the Coast Guard Auxiliary at age 95[3] and served as a volunteer in Yonkers, New York until her death in 2018.[17]

On Monday, February 9, 2015, Kirsten Gillibrand spoke in Congress about Hooker to "pay tribute" to Hooker.[18]
In the same year, the Olivia Hooker Dining Facility on the Staten Island coast guard facility was named in her honor.[19][3] A training facility at the Coast Guard's headquarters in Washington, D.C. was also named after her that same year.[20] On May 20, 2015, President Barack Obama recognized the Coast Guard service and legacy of Olivia Hooker while in attendance at the 134th Commencement of the United States Coast Guard Academy.[21]

On November 11, 2018, Google honored her by telling her story as part of a Google Doodle for the Veterans Day holiday.

On November 21, 2018, Hooker died in White Plains, New York of natural causes at the age of 103.[22]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olivia_Hooker