Edith Renfrow Smith graduated from Grinnell College in 1937, the first Black woman to do so. At 110, she remains a valuable source of oral history and recently became the namesake of Grinnell's Renfrow Hall.
On this Talk of Iowa, producer Dani Gehr speaks with Edith Renfrow Smith at her home in Chicago. Then, host Charity Nebbe is joined by the author of a children's book about Renfrow Smith, No one is Better Than You, and the Grinnell professor leading Team Renfrow, Tamara Beauboeuf-Lafontant.
Then, Brandon Dean, University of Iowa religious studies professor, joins the program to share what we can learn about history by reading gravestones.
Guests:
- Edith Renfrow Smith, retired teacher, supercentarian
- Monique Shore, recently retirement from the Drake Community Library at Grinnell, Author of “No One is Better than You”
- Tamara Beauboeuf-Lafontant, faculty Lead of Team Renfrow, professor and Louise R. Noun Chair in Gender, Women's and Sexuality Studies
- Brandon Dean, religious studies professor, University of Iowa
