Calvin W. Rolark (October 23, 1994) was an American newspaper publisher and activist. Based in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

, Rolark founded ''

The Washington Informer ''The Washington Informer'' is a weekly newspaper published in Washington, D.C. ''The Informer'' is female-owned and is targeted at the African-American population of the D.C. metropolitan area. The publisher is Denise Rolark Barnes, whose fathe ...

'' and the United Black Fund.

Early life and education

Calvin W. Rolark, Jr., was born in

Texarkana, Texas Texarkana is a city in Bowie County, Texas, United States, in the Ark-La-Tex region. Located approximately from Dallas, Texarkana is a twin city with neighboring Texarkana, Arkansas. The Texas city's population was 36,193 at the 2020 census. ...

, circa 1927. He received a bachelor's of business administration from Prairie View College (now called Prairie View A&M University) and also attended

Tennessee State University Tennessee State University (Tennessee State, Tenn State, or TSU) is a public historically black land-grant university in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1912, it is the only state-funded historically black university in Tenness ...

, Michigan State University, and

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to tea ...

. He lived in

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the seat of Shelby County in the southwest part of the state; it is situated along the Mississippi River. With a population of 633,104 at the 2020 U.S. census, Memphis is the second-mos ...

, in the 1940s, where he worked as an editor of the '' Memphis World''.

Career

Rolark moved from Texas to Washington in either 1952 or 1959. He founded ''

'', a newspaper, in 1962. In 1969, he founded the United Black Fund, a foundation structured similarly to

United Way United Way is an international network of over 1,800 local nonprofit fundraising affiliates. United Way was the largest nonprofit organization in the United States by donations from the public, prior to 2016. United Way organizations raise funds ...

that supported charitable activities for Black and Latino residents in the Washington, D.C., area. Rolark was also affiliated with the United Planning Organization, a charity.

Personal life

Rolark married

Wilhelmina Rolark Wilhelmina Jackson Rolark (September 12, 1916February 14, 2006) was a Democratic politician and activist in Washington, D.C. She was elected to represent Ward 8 on the Council of the District of Columbia in 1976 and served four terms. Rolark wa ...

, a Washington politician, in 1963. According to ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'', Wilhelmina and Calvin were "one of the District's preeminent power couples".

References

Sources

External links

* 1920s births 1994 deaths People from Texarkana, Texas Prairie View A&M University alumni {{US-publish-bio-stub