Myra McDaniel (December 13, 1932 – February 25, 2010) was the first

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

to be the

Secretary of State of Texas The secretary of state of Texas is one of the six members of the executive department of the State of Texas in the United States. Under the Constitution of Texas, the appointment is made by the governor of Texas, with confirmation by the Texa ...

Life

McDaniel was born in

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

to Eva and Toronto Atwell. She attended the Philadelphia School for Girls. In 1954, she went on to receive her bachelor's degree in English from the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...

. In 1975, she received her Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree from the

University of Texas School of Law The University of Texas School of Law (Texas Law) is the Law school in the United States, law school of the University of Texas at Austin, a public university, public research university in Austin, Texas. According to Texas Law’s American Bar ...

Austin Austin refers to: Common meanings * Austin, Texas, United States, a city * Austin (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Austin (surname), a list of people and fictional characters * Austin Motor Company, a British car manufac ...

. She married Dr. Reuben R. McDaniel in 1955, who was a Professor Management Science and Information Systems at the

University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public university, public research university in Austin, Texas, United States. Founded in 1883, it is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. With 53,082 stud ...

. Myra McDaniel died of lung cancer on February 25, 2010.

Career

After graduating in 1954 from the University of Pennsylvania, she worked at

Baldwin Wallace College Baldwin Wallace University (BW) is a private university in Berea, Ohio, United States. Established in 1845 as Baldwin Institute by Methodist businessman John Baldwin, it merged with nearby German Wallace College in 1913 to become Baldwin-Wallac ...

and

Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a state university system, system of Public university, public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. The system has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration o ...

. She then went to the University of Texas School of Law, where she received her J.D. After receiving her J.D., she worked at the Texas Attorney General's office. She eventually became the Chief of the taxation division. Afterward, she entered private practice. However, she was appointed as General Counsel to the

Governor of Texas The governor of Texas is the head of state of the U.S. state of Texas. The governor is the head of the executive branch of the government of Texas and is the commander-in-chief of the Texas Military Forces. Established in the Constit ...

by then-governor Mark White. In 1984, she went on to become the

, and became the first African American to hold the position. With that appointment, she also became the then-highest-appointed African American to ever serve in the Texas government. She went on to enter private practice again in 1987, and at her firm, became the first African American woman to lead a major law firm as a managing partner.

Honors and awards

In 2017, McDaniel was awarded the Virgil C. Lott medal by the

References

External links

Interview with Ms. Myra McDaniel: The Secretary of State for Texas
1984-11-28,

In Black America Produced at KUT, ''In Black America'' is a long-running, nationally syndicated program dedicated to all facets of the African American experience. John L Hanson Jr. profiles a diverse selection of current and historically significant figures who ...

; KUT Radio,

American Archive of Public Broadcasting The American Archive of Public Broadcasting (AAPB) is a collaboration between the Library of Congress and WGBH Educational Foundation, founded through the efforts of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB). The AAPB is a national effort to di ...

( WGBH and the Library of Congress) {{DEFAULTSORT:McDaniel, Myra Secretaries of state of Texas 1932 births 2010 deaths 20th-century American lawyers 21st-century African-American politicians 20th-century African-American lawyers