Olivia Hooker

Dr. Olivia J. Hooker (born February 1915) was the first African American woman to enter the U.S. Coast Guard, which she did in February 1945. She thus became a SPAR (Semper Paratus Always Ready), a member of the United States Coast Guard Women's Reserve, during World War II. She earned the Yeoman, Second Class rank during her service. She served in the Coast Guard until her unit disbanded in mid-1946.

Early Life
Hooker was born in Muskogee, Oklahoma on February 12, 1915. Ku Klux Klan members ransacked her home during the Tulsa race riot of 1921. Later Hooker was a founder of the Tulsa Race Riot Commission in hopes of demanding reparations for the riot's survivors. She applied to the Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service (WAVES) of the U.S. Navy, but was rejected due to her ethnicity.

Education
Hooker earned her Bachelor of Arts in 1937 from Ohio State University. She received her Masters ten years later in 1947 from the Teachers College of Columbia University. In 1961 she received her PhD in psychology from the University of Rochester.

Psychology career
In 1963, she joined Fordham University as a senior clinical lecturer; eventually she became an associate professor.

Later life
Hooker retired at age 87. She joined the Coast Guard Auxiliary at age 95.

Awards

 * American Psychological Association (APA) Presidential Citation (2011)
 * Good Conduct Medal [Coast Guard]
 * New York State Senate Veterans' Hall of Fame (2012)

Legacy
On Monday, February 9, 2015, Congresswoman Kirsten Gillibrand spoke in Congress about Hooker to "pay tribute" to her.

Also in 2015 the Dr. Olivia Hooker Dining Facility on the Staten Island coast guard facility was named in her honor. A training facility at the Coast Guard’s headquarters in Washington, D.C. was also named after her that same year.