'America's Mom' Battles to Promote Welfare of Children

Class Day Speaker Marian Wright Edelman has spent the last few weeks as a real working mother.

Traveling across the nation and imparting her words of wisdom to college graduates, Edelman has proven herself as the much-in-demand career woman--too busy, even, to be interviewed for her own profile.

But Edelman, founder and president of the Washington D.C.-based Children's Defense Fund, has always made time for the children for whom she has spent a lifetime lobbying.

"America's mom," as Rolling Stone once heralded her, has spent the last 30 years fighting for the welfare and protection of all American children.

And today, Edelman will bequeath her legacy of service to just a few of her heirs as she addresses the Class of 1993.

Associates predict Edelman, in today's speech, will broach her preferred subjects: the plight of America's abused and poverty-stricken children and the necessity for Americans to dedicate themselves to service if there is to be any hope for societal reform.

"Those are the topics she cares about and I think those are the messages she will want to share with graduating college students," says Renee M. Landers '77, who was president of the Radcliffe College Alumnae Association when Edelman was awarded the Radcliffe Medal in 1989--one of her many nationwide awards received in the 1980s.

The medal is just one indication that Edelman's fame is not fleeting. Early in her activist career, Edelman was oft-regarded as a harbinger of woe, a voice of unnecessary despair amidst a sea of calm.

After graduating from Spelman College in 1960 and Yale Law School in 1963, Edelman was the first Black woman admitted to the Mississippi bar.

Her first job was with the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) in Jackson, Miss., where she directed the Legal Defense and Education Fund.

In 1968 she left the NAACP to found the Washington Research Project. Five years later, that project became the Children's Defense Fund.

"Her work with the [Children's Defense Fund], one of the premier agencies in the nation devoted to family issues, demonstrates that you can be successful in challenging the system from the outside," Landers says.

Landers and former Harvard President Derek C. Bok agree that Edelman's involvement lent the children's rights movement a degree of credibility it had lacked in previous years. "This is a significant accomplishment for her and it is a significant accomplishment for women," Landers says.

Her achievements are particularly inspiring in light of the resistance Edelman faced as she tried to share her concerns for the welfare of children and families.

"The '80s were a chilly time for people espousing her sort of message," Bok says. "But [Edelman] showed admirable qualities of perseverance, often working against the national grain to get people to take notice of this enormously important set of issues she has chosen to champion."

Landers says Edelman is particularly important to the national political scene because she has shown that a female minority can significantly influence society.

"Her presence as an African-American woman in some of the most powerful circles in Washington, and the impact that she has made, suggests the importance of keeping those circles open to everyone," Landers says.

Edelman, however, is not without her critics. Last February, an article in The New Republic accused her of being inconsistent in her treatment of the "culture of poverty"

The article states that Edelman, in her lectures at Harvard, acknowledged the existence of "a small subgroup of the poverty population alienated from or hostile to the larger society."

But, the article argues that Edelman's statements made through the Children's Defense Fund indicate that she is "railing against attempts to confront the culture of poverty whose existence she herself implicitly concedes."

The criticism was voiced concurrently with her perceived increase in power due to the debut of the Clinton administration. Hillary Rodham Clinton had served as the chairperson of the Children's Defense Fund before the election of President Clinton.

The New Republic article asserts that Edelman's use of children as her cause belies her true mission to increase welfare aid to poverty- stricken Blacks and ghetto-dwellers.

Meanwhile, Edelman's accomplishments led to speculation by Newsweek magazine earlier this year that President Clinton was considering Edelman for either a Cabinet position or a possible appointment to the Supreme Court.

Newsweek's profile of Edelman, which accompanied her designation as one of the publication's 1992 women of the year, suggested that Edelman might turn down a government post in order to maintain "her independence as an outside voice."

That unwavering commitment to her cause might have even brought her as much power as any political office. In 1987, Senator Edward M. Kennedy '54-'56 (D-Mass.) described Edelman in Time magazine as the "101st Senator on children's issues.. She has real power in Congress and uses it brilliantly."

Her efforts seem to have paid off, as President Clinton is pushing for some of the humanitarian reforms she has supported for years. Those ideas include tederally-funded day care and health care insurance.

"If there are national policies which are implemented in the near future regarding children and families, [Edelman] is one of the few people in the country who truly deserves the credit," Bok says.

At Harvard

The Harvard community apparently has agreed with that assertion in the past.

Edelman earned a standing ovation in 1989 for her Radcliffe Medal acceptance speech, in which she urged Americans to put aside personal ambitions and greed to head off devastating poverty among children. She pointed out that children "are growing poorer while our nation is growing richer."

"Mrs. Edelman is an excellent role model for members of any generation, and she will inspire anyone who chooses to heed her message," Landers says.

Landers says Radcliffe alumnae chose Edelman to receive their highest honor because they "wanted to award social action and show that success comes in a variety of colors and genders. You don't have to be a corporate male to make an impact."

Edelman's Radcliffe Medal is just one of the dozens of accolades which have been bestowed upon her throughout her distinguished career, first as a civil rights lawyer in the South in the 1960s, and then as a children's rights advocate and author of two books.

In addition to her Radcliffe honor, Edelman was granted an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from Harvard at its 1991 Commencement ceremony--allowing her to receive a Harvard degree simultaneously with one of her three sons, Joshua R. Edelman '91.

When she was awarded the honorary degree at the Tercentenary Theatre, the 28,000 members of the audience saluted her with a standing ovation, says University Marshal Richard M. Hunt, who introduced Edelman that year.

"This was long before she became well known through her friendship with the Clintons," Hunt says.

Hunt had so much respect for Edelman and her work that he says he even manipulated the seating in order to dine next to her at the honorary degree dinner.

"We talked about different ideas of children's rights," Hunt says.

"She is a lovely woman in every way, and I am quite pleased that the very special Class of '93 selected such a substantial speaker," he says.

Other recognitions afforded to Edelman range from the Anne Roe Award from Harvard's Graduate School of Education in 1984 to the Albert Schweitzer Humanitarian Prize from Johns Hopkins University in 1988.

1989 was an especially good year for Edelman, when she supplemented her award from Radcliffe with the prestigious Gandhi Peace Prize.

In past years, Hunt says, class committees have chosen speakers "more along the lines of celebrities or television stars, as opposed to this year, when they have committed to someone who has some thing very important to say."

As a Harvard parent and W.E.B. DuBois Institute lecturer in 1986, Edelman knows the College intimately. Hunt says. "That will enable her to speak directly to the lives of the students here potentially making this one of the finest Class Day speeches ever," he says.

Class Marshal Mukesh Prasad '93 says Edelman was chosen based on her ability to "balance a strong family with strong conviction."

In addition to working for the rights of millions of children across the country, Edelman has raised three sons of her own.

One is a Harvard-educated teacher, a second is presently studying at Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar, and her youngest matriculated to Yale College last year.

"Mrs. Edelman's children are all achievers, showing how she has succeeded in creating a strong family base," Prasad says. "She embodies the values of the Class of 1993 in her dedication to effect change and to serve in accordance with her conviction to her beliefs."

Prasad, Hunt and Landers say they expect a rousing speech from Edelman today, judging from past performances.

In a 1992 speech sponsored by the Graduate School of Education's Urban Superintendents Program and the Principal's Center, Edelman chastised the stagnant socio-economic structure of American society.

"America is in danger of becoming two nations, one part privileged, the other deprived," she said in a voice that has been described by Hunt as "resounding like a trumpet, awakening us to the miseries of the helpless."

"The poor are getting poorer," Edelman continued, "the rich are getting richer, pitting American against American, increasing our fears, our poverty rates, and our racial divisions."

In that speech she called upon political leaders to "make a commitment that no American child gets left behind," and she decried the continual scapegoating of the poor, imploring politicians to "get specific" on issues and to stop the "general bashing of the impoverished."

"Marian Wright Edelman has clearly made an emotional investment in what she is trying to do, and that comes across when she speaks," Landers says. "She is a warm and caring person and she channels that warmth and caring into larger endeavors than most people do."

Those larger undertakings include caring not only for her biological children, but for all those who need her love and assistance.

Edelman has demonstrated through a quarter century of consistent social activism that "children are our most precious resource," which is good reason to believe that today's address to the Class of 1993 will be received as warmly as a piece of loving advice from a doting mother

Meanwhile, Edelman's accomplishments led to speculation by Newsweek magazine earlier this year that President Clinton was considering Edelman for either a Cabinet position or a possible appointment to the Supreme Court.

Newsweek's profile of Edelman, which accompanied her designation as one of the publication's 1992 women of the year, suggested that Edelman might turn down a government post in order to maintain "her independence as an outside voice."

That unwavering commitment to her cause might have even brought her as much power as any political office. In 1987, Senator Edward M. Kennedy '54-'56 (D-Mass.) described Edelman in Time magazine as the "101st Senator on children's issues.. She has real power in Congress and uses it brilliantly."

Her efforts seem to have paid off, as President Clinton is pushing for some of the humanitarian reforms she has supported for years. Those ideas include tederally-funded day care and health care insurance.

"If there are national policies which are implemented in the near future regarding children and families, [Edelman] is one of the few people in the country who truly deserves the credit," Bok says.

At Harvard

The Harvard community apparently has agreed with that assertion in the past.

Edelman earned a standing ovation in 1989 for her Radcliffe Medal acceptance speech, in which she urged Americans to put aside personal ambitions and greed to head off devastating poverty among children. She pointed out that children "are growing poorer while our nation is growing richer."

"Mrs. Edelman is an excellent role model for members of any generation, and she will inspire anyone who chooses to heed her message," Landers says.

Landers says Radcliffe alumnae chose Edelman to receive their highest honor because they "wanted to award social action and show that success comes in a variety of colors and genders. You don't have to be a corporate male to make an impact."

Edelman's Radcliffe Medal is just one of the dozens of accolades which have been bestowed upon her throughout her distinguished career, first as a civil rights lawyer in the South in the 1960s, and then as a children's rights advocate and author of two books.

In addition to her Radcliffe honor, Edelman was granted an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from Harvard at its 1991 Commencement ceremony--allowing her to receive a Harvard degree simultaneously with one of her three sons, Joshua R. Edelman '91.

When she was awarded the honorary degree at the Tercentenary Theatre, the 28,000 members of the audience saluted her with a standing ovation, says University Marshal Richard M. Hunt, who introduced Edelman that year.

"This was long before she became well known through her friendship with the Clintons," Hunt says.

Hunt had so much respect for Edelman and her work that he says he even manipulated the seating in order to dine next to her at the honorary degree dinner.

"We talked about different ideas of children's rights," Hunt says.

"She is a lovely woman in every way, and I am quite pleased that the very special Class of '93 selected such a substantial speaker," he says.

Other recognitions afforded to Edelman range from the Anne Roe Award from Harvard's Graduate School of Education in 1984 to the Albert Schweitzer Humanitarian Prize from Johns Hopkins University in 1988.

1989 was an especially good year for Edelman, when she supplemented her award from Radcliffe with the prestigious Gandhi Peace Prize.

In past years, Hunt says, class committees have chosen speakers "more along the lines of celebrities or television stars, as opposed to this year, when they have committed to someone who has some thing very important to say."

As a Harvard parent and W.E.B. DuBois Institute lecturer in 1986, Edelman knows the College intimately. Hunt says. "That will enable her to speak directly to the lives of the students here potentially making this one of the finest Class Day speeches ever," he says.

Class Marshal Mukesh Prasad '93 says Edelman was chosen based on her ability to "balance a strong family with strong conviction."

In addition to working for the rights of millions of children across the country, Edelman has raised three sons of her own.

One is a Harvard-educated teacher, a second is presently studying at Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar, and her youngest matriculated to Yale College last year.

"Mrs. Edelman's children are all achievers, showing how she has succeeded in creating a strong family base," Prasad says. "She embodies the values of the Class of 1993 in her dedication to effect change and to serve in accordance with her conviction to her beliefs."

Prasad, Hunt and Landers say they expect a rousing speech from Edelman today, judging from past performances.

In a 1992 speech sponsored by the Graduate School of Education's Urban Superintendents Program and the Principal's Center, Edelman chastised the stagnant socio-economic structure of American society.

"America is in danger of becoming two nations, one part privileged, the other deprived," she said in a voice that has been described by Hunt as "resounding like a trumpet, awakening us to the miseries of the helpless."

"The poor are getting poorer," Edelman continued, "the rich are getting richer, pitting American against American, increasing our fears, our poverty rates, and our racial divisions."

In that speech she called upon political leaders to "make a commitment that no American child gets left behind," and she decried the continual scapegoating of the poor, imploring politicians to "get specific" on issues and to stop the "general bashing of the impoverished."

"Marian Wright Edelman has clearly made an emotional investment in what she is trying to do, and that comes across when she speaks," Landers says. "She is a warm and caring person and she channels that warmth and caring into larger endeavors than most people do."

Those larger undertakings include caring not only for her biological children, but for all those who need her love and assistance.

Edelman has demonstrated through a quarter century of consistent social activism that "children are our most precious resource," which is good reason to believe that today's address to the Class of 1993 will be received as warmly as a piece of loving advice from a doting mother