Dr. Edna McKenzie: Journalist, Historian, Elder

Dr. Edna Mc Kenzie

I received word late last night of the passing of Dr. Edna Chappelle Mc Kenzie, award winning former reporter for the Pittsburgh Courier whose stories on discrimination in that city helped overturn racially restrictive covenants and other discriminatory measures. She was 81 and had been ill for some time.

The former Edna Chappelle began her newspaper career in 1941, after graduating from high school. She was inspired to go into news work by the example of her older sister, a 1936 Wilberforce graduate who edited a paper in Uniontown, Pennsylvania. After a stint at the Los Angeles Tribune, she joined the staff of the Pittsburgh Courier, working on the society column. Within a few years, she elbowed her way on to the news desk and covered murders (including lynchings) and other hard news alongside the men.

Mc Kenzie was part of the team that carried out the "Double V" campaign during World War II, calling for victory against racism in the US as well as against the Axis powers. Braving threats of violence as well as government intimidation, Mc Kenzie and her colleagues documented discriminatory practices in housing, employment and public accommodations. One of her assignments was to go to restaurants and asked to be served. Sometimes she was just told that the establishment didn't serve blacks; at other times, she was told that the restaurant didn't serve whatever she asked for. McKenzie said that the treatment she was subjected to sometimes made her cry, but she would force herself to go out and endure it all over again. Her reporting buttressed several lawsuits against the restaurants. Ultimately, she told an interviewer, “We broke down discrimination in Pittsburgh many years before the civil rights movement started in the south,” McKenzie said.

Mc Kenzie talked about her journalism experiences in the documentary,"The Black Press: Soldiers Without Swords." The transcript is here.

In 1997, the staff of the Pittsburgh Courier, including Mc Kenzie and fellow pioneer Frank Bolden, was honored with a Polk Award, one of the most prestigious awards in the field.

In addition to her career in journalism, Mc Kenzie was a historian, educator and prominent advocate for human rights and educational opportunity. She was an emeritus professor of history at the Community College of Allegheny, as well as a long-time member of the executive committee of the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency. In addition, she was an executive council member of the Association for the Study of African American Life and History.

Some of Dr. Mc Kenzie's writings are collected on her personal website.

As a personal aside, I should add that it was a privilege just to sit and listen to her stories about her life and the personages she knew. She was energetic, inspiring and engaged to the end.

Funeral arrangements are as follows:

Visitation: Thursday, June 30, 6:00-8:00 p.m.
White Funeral Home Memorial Chapel,
7204 Thomas Blvd., Pittsburgh, PA 15206

Funeral service: Friday, July 1, 11:00 a.m.
St. James AME Church
444 Lincoln Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15206