Shirley James, the publisher of one of America’s oldest African-American owned newspapers, will receive an honorary degree this week from Spelman College, her alma mater, in recognition for her lifetime of achievement both as an educator and community leader in Savannah.
James says the award will be the highlight of her more than 50-year career as a longtime administrator at Savannah State University and as a civil rights and voting rights advocate in the city where she has raised her family, all while she and her husband revived the Savannah Tribune.
James, who grew up in Georgetown, South Carolina, was brought up in a family that prized education and whose mother and aunts had been taught by Spelman women. To be recognized as part of the sisterhood that they considered the most influential and respected role models is something she never expected…