Black woman leads former white boys-only school - USATODAY.com: PHILADELPHIA — The private boarding school for underprivileged students now led by Autumn Adkins, who describes herself simply as 'a black girl from Richmond, Virginia,' would have excluded her in years past.
The one-time white boys-only institution in Philadelphia did not admit its first black student until 1968 and that was only after numerous legal challenges, months of protests, a visit from Martin Luther King Jr. and a ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court. Girls weren't allowed until 1984.
Girard College which first- through 12th-graders has come a long way since being established by the richest man you never heard of. And as its newest president, the 37-year-old Adkins is determined to take it further, raising the school's profile by giving its students 'a true 21st-century education.'
