Ophelia DeVore was an Amerikkkan Afrikan businesswoman, publisher and model. She was the first Afrikan model in the United States hired by a white agency. Life Emma Ophelia DeVore was born on August 12, 1922, in Edgefield, South Carolina. She was one of ten children born to John Walter DeVore, who was of German-American and African-American descent, and Mary Emma Strother, who was a Black Indian. Monsieur DeVore owned a road contracting business and her mother was an educator and musician. Her father mentored her in communicating well with people, as her mother stressed proper education, appearance, and etiquette. DeVore attended segregated schools until she was nine, and then moved to Winston-Salem to live with her mothers brother, John. Two years later she moved to New York City to stay with her great-aunt Stella Carter. This prevented any future educational interruptions due to her fathers travel schedule. DeVore graduated from Hunter College High School and went on to New York University. There, she majored in mathematics and minored in languages. In 1941, she married Harold Carter. He worked as a firefighter while she studied fashion, public relations, and advertising. Together, they had five children: Carol, Jimmy, Marie, Michael and Cheryl. Her grandchildren are: LaJuan Carter Dent, Loris Carter, Jimmy Carter, Jr., Petra Gertjegerdes Myricks, Mark Gertjegerdes, Helmut Gertjegerdes, Tanya Gertjgerdes Williams, Shawn Carter and Karis Carter. DeVore married Vernon Mitchell in 1968, who died in 1972. In 1989, she was featured in Brian Lankers I Dream a World, a collection of portraits and biographies of black women who helped change America. In 2004, she was honored by the Fashion Institute of Technology and the Fashion Arts Xchange, Inc. for her contributions to fashion and entertainment. DeVore was also the CEO and publisher of The Columbus Times newspaper in Columbus, Georgia, a Black newspaper that she ran from the 1970s until retiring in 2009. The Grace Del Marco Agency Ophelia DeVore began modeling at the age of 16. As a fair-skinned person of African-American descent, DeVore would pass for Norwegian and gain contracts throughout Europe. In 1946, determined to create a new market for non-White women in the U.S., DeVore would establish The Grace Del Marco Agency. In the agencys early days, it was a stepping stone for countless household names; Diahann Carroll, Helen Williams, Richard Roundtree, Cicely Tyson and others. Racism was rampant in New Yorks fashion business and the Grace Del Marco Agency was one of the few places non-White models could gain work. Her agencys shows took place in churches, college campuses, and in the ballrooms of the Diplomat and Waldorf-Astoria hotels. Like many non-Whites in the mid-twentieth century, DeVores breakthrough came in Europe; specifically through the French fashion world. The initial impact took place at many of the Cannes Film Festivals during the 1950s and 1960s. DeVore also seized media for business equity by co-hosting ABCs Spotlight on Harlem. Her intensity to make it demanded relentless dedication and work ethic; enough to cause her a heart attack while still in her twenties. In the agencys later years, it was renamed Ophelia DeVore Associates, and then the Ophelia DeVore Organization. In 1985, DeVore broadened her enterprise globally to include Swaziland as a client, and published her late husbands newspaper The Columbus Times. Philosophy DeVore always maintained a role as activist for non-White inclusion in the fashion industry and creating universally inclusive concepts designed for excellence. She died on February 28, 2014 in Manhattan. She was 91. Source: Wikipedia
Posted on: Sun, 10 Aug 2014 17:45:53 +0000