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                   Atlanta Daily World
            "Serving This Region Over 58 Years"
   ATLANTA GEORGIA (30335-1201) SUNDAY MAY 10, 1987

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  The 1987 graduating class of Spelman College will hold Commencement exercises on Sunday, May 17 at 10:00 a.m. in the Atlanta Civic Center. The ceremony will be highlighted by keynote Speaker Lena Horne and the awarding of honorary doctoral degrees to Miss Horne, former Spelman President, Donald M. Stewart, opera star. Leontyne Price and visual artist, Jacob Lawrence. Dr. Johnnetta Cole. Spelman’s newly appointed President will be introduced to the college community at Commencement.

  Lena Horne, who is delivering the commencement address entitled, “What Am I Here For?”, is an enduring superstar of the entertainment world, with a stellar career that spans 45 years. A native of Brooklyn, New York, Ms. Horne is well-known for her many screen appearances which include “Cabin in the Sky”, “Stormy Weather”, and a showstopping number in the film version of “The Wiz”. During World War II, she was the pin-up for thousands of black G.I’s and firmly refused to perform on USO tours unless black soldiers were admitted to the audience. Her musical drama, “Lena Horne: The Lady and Her Music”, played to standing-room-only audiences for 14 months making it the longest running one-woman show in Broadway history, and received New York City’s highest cultural award, the Handel Medallion: the Dance Theatre of Harlem’s Emergence Award, a special Tony Award for “Distinguished

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Achievement in the Theatre," the Drama Desk Award, and a special award of the New York Drama Critics' Circle. In 1983 she received the highest honor of the NAACCP: the distinguished Springarn Award. She is the author of In Person - Lena Horne (1950), and co-author of Lena (1956). In 1986, Miss Horne's family was the subject of a book The Hornes which was written by her daughter, Gail Lumet.

DR. STEWART
  Donald M. Stewart, who served as Spelman's sixth President from 1976 to 1986, will be honored for his outstanding leadership of the College, which resulted in a more diverse curriculum, higher academic standards, a greater number of Ph.D.'s on the faculty, record enrollment, and an increase in the endowment from $9 million to $41 million. A native of Chicago, he received a B.A. from Grinnell College, an M.A. in political science from Yale University and a Master and Doctor of Public Administration from Harvard University. Dr. Stewart is currently the President of the College Entrance Examination Board in New York City.

JACOB LAWRENCE
  Jacob Lawrence has been widely regarded as America's foremost black visual artist for nearly five decades. His work is revered throughout the world for its vivid depiction of the black American experience, from the Civil War to the civil rights movement, from the Harlem Renaissance to the continent of Africa, and beyond. A prolific and versatile expressionist, he has produced drawings, prints, book illustrations, Olympic posters, large-scale murals and costume designs, in addition to hundred of stunning paintings. His works have appeared internationally in 30 solo and two large restrospective exhibitions, and now hangs in many of the world's most famous collections. A native of Atlantic City, New Jersey, he expressed his artistic interest early in childhood and became, at age 24, the first black artist ever represented in a major New York gallery. Elected to the American Academy of Arts and Letters--the nation's highest honor for cultural achievement. He is currently Professor Emeritus of Art at the University of Washington in Seattle.

LEONTYNE PRICE
  Leontyne Price, universally regarded as one of the great artists of our time, boasts a distinguished career as an operatic and concert singer of extraordinary talent. A native of Laurel, Mississippi, she played the piano at the age of five and later sang in the Junior Choir. After receiving a B. A. from Central State College in Wilberforce, Ohio she was awarded a scholarship to the Juilliard School of Music in New York City. She made her Metropolitan Opera debut in 1961 in Il Trovaltore to great enthusiasm, and she starred in Aida; Don Giovanni, Tosca, Madama Butterfly, Un Ballo in Maschera, Manom Lescaut and Adriadne auf Naxo. Miss Price created the role of Cleopatra in Samuel Barber's Antony and Cleopatra, written for the opening night of the new Metropolitan Opera House and Lincoln Center. President Reagan presented her with the First Medal of Art in 1985, and she is the first opera singer to have received America's highest civilian award, the Presidental Medal of Freedom, in 1965 from President Johnson. Her recordings have won many prizes, including eighteen Grammy Awards.
  Commencement activities at Spelman begin on May 10 with Baccalaureate services at 3:00 p.m. in Sisters Chapel on campus. Dr. Ella P. Mitchel, Dean of the Chapel at Spelman, will be the keynote speaker. Rev. Mitchell is an ordained Baptist minister. She is a member of numerous boards and has several publications, her latest entitled: Those Preachin' Women.