Alice Allison Dunnigan
Alice Allison Dunnigan | |
|---|---|
Dunnigan at her interview for the Black Women Oral History Project | |
| Born | Alice Allison April 27, 1906 |
| Died | May 6, 1983 (aged 77) |
| Education | Kentucky Normal and Industrial Institute (now Kentucky State University) |
| Occupation(s) | Journalist and civil-rights activist |
| Known for | First black journalist to cover the White House |
Alice Allison Dunnigan (April 27, 1906 – May 6, 1983) was an American journalist, civil rights activist and author. Dunnigan was the first African-American female correspondent to receive White House credentials, and the first black female member of the Senate and House of Representatives press galleries. She wrote an autobiography entitled Alice A. Dunnigan: A Black Woman's Experience. She is commemorated by an official Kentucky Historical Society marker.
Alice chronicled the decline of Jim Crow during the 1940s and 1950s, which influenced her to become a civil rights activist. She was inducted into the Kentucky Hall of Fame in 1982.
During her time as a reporter, she became the first black journalist to accompany a president while traveling, covering Harry S. Truman's 1948 campaign trip.
In 2022, the White House Correspondents' Association created the Dunnigan-Payne Lifetime Achievement Award in memory of Dunnigan and fellow White House reporter Ethel Payne.