WOMEN OF INFLUENCE
DR. ZELMA WATSON GEORGE (1903-1994)
Dr. Zelma Watson George was a trained singer and musician who moved to Cleveland when she obtained a Rockefeller Foundation grant to study African American music. She performed in many operas, musicals, was the first Black woman to take a role on Broadway but did not limit herself to the arts. Over the years she acquired advanced degrees in personnel administration and sociology, working as a social worker, a probation officer and the Director of Personnel Administration at Tennessee State University. Watson served as a good-will ambassador to the United States and was appointed as U.S. Alternate Delegate to the United Nations General Assembly. She traveled abroad, representing America in both cultural and political venues. She worked with the Ohio Job Corps, was a leader in PBS during the Nixon years, and worked with the League of Women Voters in Cleveland. Her passion for civil rights and dedication to the NAACP was often on full display as an educator, speaker and performer.