[344] Entrepreneur’s descendant to deliver Women’s History Month keynote March 15

MURFREESBORO — The great-great-granddaughter of a trailblazing business magnate will deliver the keynote address for MTSU’s National Women’s History Month.

Author and journalist A’Lelia Bundles will speak at the official opening ceremony, which is slated to begin at 11:30 a.m. Wednesday, March 15, in the Keathley University Center Theater.

A printable campus parking map is available at http://tinyurl.com/MTSUParkingMap.

Off-campus visitors attending daytime events should obtain a special one-day permit from MTSU’s Office of Parking and Transportation at http://www.mtsu.edu/parking/visit.php.

Bundles, a former producer for NBC News and a former producer and executive for ABC News, is a descendant and biographer of Madam C.J. Walker, the hair products magnate who was hailed as the first self-made African-American millionaire in the country in the early 20^th century.

She maintains the Madam Walker Family Archives and serves as a consultant and historical adviser for Madam C.J. Walker Beauty Culture, a line of hair care products developed by Sunline Brands.

“Honoring Trailblazing Women in Labor and Business” is the theme of this year’s observance. In conjunction with the theme, buttons are being distributed across campus bearing Walker’s likeness.

Six women will receive awards from the MTSU National Women’s History Month Committee for their trailblazing work. They are:

• Gloria Bonner, former assistant to the president in MTSU’s Office of University Community Relations and former dean of what was then the College of Education and Behavioral Science;
• Heather Brown, director of MTSU’s Concrete Industry Management program;
• Nancy James, director of MTSU’s Child Care Lab;
• Karen Petersen, interim dean of the MTSU College of Liberal Arts;
• Mary Esther Reed, mayor of Smyrna and MTSU alumna.

In addition, MTSU alumna Agnes Porter will be honored as a Future Trailblazer. Porter is a government affairs specialist with Chambliss, Bahner and Stophel P.C. in Chattanooga, Tennessee. She graduated from MTSU in 2016 with bachelor’s degrees in political science and mass communication.

For more information, contact Barbara Scales, director of the June Anderson Center for Women and Nontraditional Students, at 615-898-5812 or barbara.scales@mtsu.edu.