Willie Stevenson Glanton
"Willie Stevenson
Glanton is, indeed, a pioneer in every meaning of the word in
respect to the potential of women and minorities; she has succeeded
with both competence and grace where the difficulties seemed
insuperable."
—Wesley C. Baker, 1986
Willie
Stevenson Glanton has been dedicated to the law, human services,
and civil rights. Educated in Tennessee and in Washington, D.C.,
she was admitted to the Iowa Bar in 1953. In the 1960s, the U.S.
State Department sent her to Africa and Southeast Asia to compare
laws and their application to women in these countries. In the
U.S., Glanton was the first woman Assistant Polk County Attorney.
She has served as an attorney and equal opportunity advocate
with the Small Business Administration since 1966. She is the
first African-American female to be elected to the Iowa State
Legislature. Glanton has held leadership positions on numerous
boards, commissions and councils, and in church, civic, and community
organizations. A member of Who's Who in America, she is
the first woman and first African American to be elected president
of the Iowa Chapter Federal Bar Association and represented that
association in a people-to-people tour of China, Finland, and
the Soviet Union in 1986. Glanton was inducted into the Iowa
Women's Hall of Fame in 1986.
UPDATE: Glanton
soon after went on a work-study mission to Russia and China with
a 22-member group of the National Federal
Bar Association. Glanton has served as president of the Iowa
Federal Bar Association and on the Committee on Women and Minorities--Iowa
Bar Association. She has served on the board of directors for
the Des Moines General Hospital, Elsie Mason Manor and Ligutti
Tower Housing, Golden Circle Incubator, National Conference of
Christians and Jews--Iowa, and Mid-City Vision Committee. She
is on the board of trustees for Des Moines University. Glanton
is also on the President's Commission on Student Diversity, Drake
University; Executive Council of the Boy Scouts of America--Mid-Iowa
Council; and Greater Des Moines Charter Commission. Glanton received
the Legacy Celebration Award for distinguished service as an
area and national officer to The Links, Inc., 1993; Young Women's
Resource Center Visionary Woman Award, 1991; the Judge Luther
T. Glanton Community Service Award for Meritorious Service to
the Community at Large, given by Blacks in Government, 1992;
and the Legacy Celebration Award from Links, Inc., 1993.
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