Thelma Thurston Gorham

Biography

Thelma Thurston Gorham (1913–1992) was an American journalist, newspaper editor, professor, and a Bahá’í, whose career spanned Black newspapers, including a military publication, teaching at universities, and civil‑rights–era public discourse. Born in segregated Kansas City, Missouri, she rose from an overcrowded school system and worked as a domestic laborer to become the first Black student of journalism at the University of Minnesota. After graduating in 1935, she quickly emerged as a rising figure in African‑American journalism, serving as reporter, editor, and feature writer for her first jobs at The Kansas City Call before moving into national visibility, often switching between higher education professorships and practicing editorialships.

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