March 31, 1941

Andree Yvonne Layton Roaf, who became the first African-American woman (and only the second woman ever) to serve on the Arkansas Supreme Court, was born in Nashville, Tennessee. Roaf was distinguished in biology and community service as well as in the law. She changed her career from biological research to law and graduated from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock William H. Bowen School of Law. After serving on the state Supreme Court and the Arkansas Court of Appeals, she was appointed in 2007 to serve as director of the federal Office of Desegregation Monitoring to oversee desegregation in Pulaski County. She received several awards, including an honorary degree of Doctor of Laws from her undergraduate alma mater, Michigan State University. Roaf died on July 1, 2009, in Little Rock (Pulaski County).

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