The African American Quest for Universal Freedom and U.S. Foreign Policy

In the 1940s, Edith Sampson, Chicago attorney, was appointed by President Truman as a delegate to the United Nations General Assembly. Over the years she has been followed by Pearl Bailey, Zelma George, Marian Anderson, Coretta Scott King, and a host of others. Sampson became the first African American, male or female, to represent the United States at the United Nations.1