Prior to the processing of her archival collection at Morgan State University, Victorine Adams remained obscured behind the imposing notoriety of her husband, William “Little Willie” Adams. Yet she led a remarkable life and was the first African American woman elected to the Baltimore City Council in 1967. Adams also created two organizations, participated in philanthropic endeavors, mentored young women and maintained an impeccable reputation and social life. She was a self-assured woman aware of the distortion that surrounded her race, gender and class in Baltimore. Join Morgan State’s University Archivist Dr. Ida E. Jones to see how Victorine Adams’ “compassionate conviction” compelled her to organize, raise her voice and run for public office in service to the masses of underserved people in her hometown of Baltimore.

Ida E. Jones is an American historian and author who is the University Archivist at Morgan State University, the first archivist in the university’s history. Her work has focused on DC and Baltimore-area African American history, letting the voices and lived experiences of people tell their stories. She has published four books: The Heart of the Race Problem: The Life of Kelly Miller (2011), Mary McLeod Bethune in Washington, D.C. (2013), William Henry Jernagin in Washington, D.C. (2016) and Baltimore Civil Rights Leader: Victorine Quille Adams (2019).

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