First Black Woman CPA dies at 99...
I might have missed it but I don't remember seeing this story and I live in Chicago and follow media here everyday. Thank goodness (sometimes) for the New York Times (and the AP)!
Mary T. Washington, First Black Woman to Earn C.P.A. Credential, Is Dead at 99
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/25/national/25washington.html?adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1122509630-c8mkX4pD2pZizO1p4cWKVg
By LILY KOPPEL
Associated Press
Published: July 25, 2005
Mary T. Washington, a bookkeeper who in the 1920's began methodically surmounting racial barriers in business to become the first African-American woman to be a certified public accountant and the head of one of the largest black-owned accounting firms in the nation, died on July 2 at a nursing home in Chicago. She was 99.
Her death was reported by her daughter, Barbara Shepherd.
Ms. Washington began her career after high school in the 1920's at Binga State Bank, one of the nation's largest black-owned banks.
She worked at the bank as an assistant to the cashier and vice president, Arthur Wilson.
When virtually no white C.P.A.'s would hire blacks, Mr. Wilson provided Ms. Washington with the requisite experience, according to an account written by Theresa A. Hammond, who is the chairman of the accounting department at the Carroll School of Management at Boston College.
In 2002, Dr. Hammond published a book on the history of black C.P.A.'s, "A White-Collar Profession: African-American Certified Public Accountants Since 1921," which included Ms. Washington's career and influence.
Inspired by Mr. Wilson, Ms. Washington earned her bachelor's degree in business from Northwestern University in 1941. While a student, she opened her own accounting firm in her basement, recruiting black businesses as clients.
Her husband, Donald Melvin Wylie, a mechanic for Yellow Cab, would cook late-night dinners for the group of ambitious young black men who worked for her during the tax season.
Her first business partner, Hiram Pittman, once described it as an "Underground Railroad" for aspiring black C.P.A.'s, who came from across the country to work there because they needed the experience to earn the accounting credential.
A study by the National Association of Black Accountants found that in 1943 Ms. Washington became the first black woman to become a C.P.A. and the 13th black C.P.A. in the country, Dr. Hammond said.
With Mr. Pittman and Lester McKeever, she founded Washington, Pittman & McKeever in 1968, still one of the largest black C.P.A. firms. She retired from the firm in 1985 at age 79.
Mary Thelma Morrison was born in Vicksburg, Miss., on April 21, 1906, to Daisy and William Morrison, a carpenter, who boasted to friends that his young daughter could read the entire newspaper.
When she was 6, her mother died, and she went to Chicago to live with her maternal grandparents. She attended Wendell Phillips High School, where she excelled in math.
Her first marriage, to Seymour Washington, ended in divorce.
Besides Ms. Shepherd, Ms. Washington is survived by two sons, Donald Wylie Jr. of Chicago and Donald Wylie II of Los Angeles; two other daughters, Melanie Blanks of Chicago and Ardelia Smith of Chicago; and nine grandchildren.
Mary T. Washington, First Black Woman to Earn C.P.A. Credential, Is Dead at 99
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/25/national/25washington.html?adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1122509630-c8mkX4pD2pZizO1p4cWKVg
By LILY KOPPEL
Associated Press
Published: July 25, 2005
Mary T. Washington, a bookkeeper who in the 1920's began methodically surmounting racial barriers in business to become the first African-American woman to be a certified public accountant and the head of one of the largest black-owned accounting firms in the nation, died on July 2 at a nursing home in Chicago. She was 99.
Her death was reported by her daughter, Barbara Shepherd.
Ms. Washington began her career after high school in the 1920's at Binga State Bank, one of the nation's largest black-owned banks.
She worked at the bank as an assistant to the cashier and vice president, Arthur Wilson.
When virtually no white C.P.A.'s would hire blacks, Mr. Wilson provided Ms. Washington with the requisite experience, according to an account written by Theresa A. Hammond, who is the chairman of the accounting department at the Carroll School of Management at Boston College.
In 2002, Dr. Hammond published a book on the history of black C.P.A.'s, "A White-Collar Profession: African-American Certified Public Accountants Since 1921," which included Ms. Washington's career and influence.
Inspired by Mr. Wilson, Ms. Washington earned her bachelor's degree in business from Northwestern University in 1941. While a student, she opened her own accounting firm in her basement, recruiting black businesses as clients.
Her husband, Donald Melvin Wylie, a mechanic for Yellow Cab, would cook late-night dinners for the group of ambitious young black men who worked for her during the tax season.
Her first business partner, Hiram Pittman, once described it as an "Underground Railroad" for aspiring black C.P.A.'s, who came from across the country to work there because they needed the experience to earn the accounting credential.
A study by the National Association of Black Accountants found that in 1943 Ms. Washington became the first black woman to become a C.P.A. and the 13th black C.P.A. in the country, Dr. Hammond said.
With Mr. Pittman and Lester McKeever, she founded Washington, Pittman & McKeever in 1968, still one of the largest black C.P.A. firms. She retired from the firm in 1985 at age 79.
Mary Thelma Morrison was born in Vicksburg, Miss., on April 21, 1906, to Daisy and William Morrison, a carpenter, who boasted to friends that his young daughter could read the entire newspaper.
When she was 6, her mother died, and she went to Chicago to live with her maternal grandparents. She attended Wendell Phillips High School, where she excelled in math.
Her first marriage, to Seymour Washington, ended in divorce.
Besides Ms. Shepherd, Ms. Washington is survived by two sons, Donald Wylie Jr. of Chicago and Donald Wylie II of Los Angeles; two other daughters, Melanie Blanks of Chicago and Ardelia Smith of Chicago; and nine grandchildren.