1939-
Children's Activist; Founder and President of the Children's Defense Fund

Top Priority.

Devoting her life to improving the plight of children, Marian Wright Edelman failed to understand the blinders worn by citizens of one of the richest countries in the world when it came to investing in one of its most precious resources. Her ceaseless efforts to focus national attention on issues of child health care, teen pregnancy, children in poverty, child labor laws, and preparing children to learn, earned her well-deserved recognition as an effective lobbyist and consultant. She said, "How sad and unfair that the children who come into the world with the least-whose parents are the least able to provide them with health care, good nutrition, shelter, and stimulation-are also the children who are least likely to have access to quality developmental early childhood education." Edelman's concern for children of all...