Grinnell College honors first Black woman graduate with building [Video]

Edith Renfrow-Smith graduated from Grinnell College in 1937 and was the only Black student during her time at the school.

GRINNELL, Iowa — Grinnell College dedicated a brand-new residence hall on Saturday to a trailblazer for both the university and town of Grinnell. Edith Renfrow-Smith is the school’s oldest living and first Black woman to graduate.

A total of 110 Grinnell College students will both live and learn at Renfrow hall once it officially opens.

The building will also have dorm rooms plus a meeting room where students will participate in a concept called civic innovation.

“Civic innovation can mean where the college and the community meet,” Grinnell College President Amanda Neal said. “There will be meetings that bring people together, whether they’re organizations or events or gatherings. It can also be the work of civic innovation, of cities reinventing themselves, thinking themselves over.”

110-year-old Renfrow was born and raised in Grinnell. …

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