March 13, 1955

Journalist Cynthia Tucker, who won the Pulitzer Prize for commentary in 2007, was born in Monroeville. The daughter of local educators John and Mary Louise Marshall Tucker, she did not attend a fully integrated public school until she was 17. Her early experiences as an African-American confronting segregation influenced her views as a writer. Tucker graduated in 1976 from Auburn University, where she worked for the student newspaper. She became the first African-American to hold the title of editorial page editor at The Atlanta Constitution, retaining that title when the newspaper merged with The Atlanta Journal in 2001. She was awarded the Pulitzer for columns at The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on both national and local issues. She teaches at the University of Georgia, writes a syndicated column and appears as a commentator on television and radio news programs.

Read more at Encyclopedia of Alabama.

Journalist Cynthia Tucker poses at the Monroeville ice cream establishment that she was forbidden to visit as a child because of its segregationist practices. (From Encyclopedia of Alabama, courtesy of The Birmingham News)

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