Vernon Lane Odom, Sr. (9 June 192122 May 1996) was an American civil rights leader. He was born in Biscoe, Arkansas to Dr. Elijah and Ada Odom. His father was born into

slavery Slavery is the ownership of a person as property, especially in regards to their labour. Slavery typically involves compulsory work, with the slave's location of work and residence dictated by the party that holds them in bondage. Enslavemen ...

in 1859 and later became a

physician A physician, medical practitioner (British English), medical doctor, or simply doctor is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through the Medical education, study, Med ...

, his mother was a teacher and raised the children on her own after Elijah Odom's death in 1924. In 1949, Odom graduated from

Morehouse College Morehouse College is a Private college, private, Historically black colleges and universities, historically black, Men's colleges in the United States, men's Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Atlanta, Georgia, ...

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

. Thereafter he earned a master's degree in social work from

Clark Atlanta University Clark Atlanta University (CAU or Clark Atlanta) is a private, Methodist, historically black research university in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. It was founded on September19, 1865, as Atlanta University, it was the first HBCU in the South ...

. Odom was recognized for his 43 years of work for civil rights causes in

Akron, Ohio Akron () is a city in Summit County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Ohio, fifth-most populous city in Ohio, with a population of 190,469 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The Akron metr ...

, as well as his positions as the executive director of the Akron Community Service Center and the Akron chapter of the

Urban League The National Urban League (NUL), formerly known as the National League on Urban Conditions Among Negroes, is a nonpartisan historic civil rights organization based in New York City that advocates on behalf of economic and social justice for Afri ...

. Today, he is remembered by the Vern Odom Allotment, a suburban-style housing development located off Vernon Odom Boulevard. Vernon Odom Boulevard, formerly Wooster Avenue (a main thoroughfare through one of Akron's predominantly

African-American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa. ...

neighborhoods), was renamed in his honor in 2002. After this was passed, many local signs were renamed to read "V Odom Boulevard," reaping much public conversation and amusement. From Bob Dyer's column "Dyer Streets" in the

Akron Beacon Journal The ''Akron Beacon Journal'' is a morning newspaper in Akron, Ohio, United States. Owned by Gannett, it is the sole daily newspaper in Akron and is distributed throughout Northeast Ohio. The paper's coverage focuses on local news. The Beacon Jo ...

: Odom was married to Sadie Harvey Odom. They had two children,

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

journalist Vernon Odom and Maida C. Odom, who is a professor for

journalism Journalism is the production and distribution of reports on the interaction of events, facts, ideas, and people that are the "news of the day" and that informs society to at least some degree of accuracy. The word, a noun, applies to the journ ...

Temple University Temple University (Temple or TU) is a public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related research university in Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. It was founded in 1884 by the Baptist ministe ...

, Philadelphia.

External links

Akron Beacon Journal Summary
1921 births 1996 deaths Activists for African-American civil rights People from Prairie County, Arkansas Morehouse College alumni Clark Atlanta University alumni People from Akron, Ohio Activists from Ohio African-American activists {{US-activist-stub