Trazana Beverley
Actress
Class of 1963
Ms. Beverley won a Tony Award in 1976 for her performance in "For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/When the Rainbow is Enuf."
Early this month, she portrayed a tough-minded settler in a 19th-century Kansas town in "Flyin' West," at Washington's Kennedy Center.
She has taught drama classes at New York University, Morgan State University and the Baltimore School for the Arts.
Beverly (Grodnitzky) Burns
Pilot, Continental Airlines
Class of 1967
Western taught students by example, Mrs. Burns says. "At school, all you'd see were women doing everything, from the principal and vice principal on. I think women should know that they can do anything they want to do. If there is something you really want and you are willing to put in the extra effort, you can do it."
After college, she became a flight attendant for American Airlines. She began taking flying lessons in 1974 and earned a pilot's license. She taught flying and flew charter planes for a few years before becoming a commercial pilot.
Harriette Cole
Fashion editor, Essence
Class of 1979
While at Western, Ms. Cole was a member of the yearbook staff, the concert choir and the drama club. She majored in English at Howard University and modeled in school fashion shows. In 1984 she moved to New York City and became an assistant editor in the Contemporary Living section of Essence magazine. In 1991, she was named the fashion editor. Last year, her book, "Jumping the Broom, the African American Wedding Planner," was published by Henry Holt and Co.
Mildred Dunnock
Actress
Class of 1918
Mildred Dunnock made her Broadway debut in 1932 as Miss Pinty in "Life Begins." Though the play closed after eight performances, it launched a career that would span three decades. She received lavish praise for her character portrayals and was nominated for an Academy Award for her performance in "Death of a Salesman." She died in 1991 at the age of 90.
Edie House
Advertising executive
Class of 1968
Western challenged an aspiring journalist to succeed. "At the school, you just thought of yourself as part of something bigger, that your name would be added to the list of high achievers. It was a lot to live up to." Ms. House earned a bachelor's degree in journalism from the University of Maryland College Park in 1972. She held positions as an anchorwoman and news show host for Dayton, Ohio, and Baltimore-area television stations before becoming vice president for public relations for the Trahan, Burden & Charles Inc. advertising agency.
Henrietta Szold
Educator
Class of 1877
After graduating from Western, Szold became a teacher and a pioneer of schools teaching English as a second language to immigrants. She was one of the founders and early presidents of Hadassah, the women's Zionist organization. She devoted her skills to making contributions to Jewish life. Szold died in Jerusalem in 1945.
Sarah Tilghman Hughes
Federal judge
Class of 1913
After graduating from Western and from Goucher College, Hughes went to work for the women's bureau of the Washington Police Department. She later earned a law degree and began a practice. From 1931 to 1935, she served in the Texas legislature. In 1952 she campaigned for the Democratic nomination for vice president of the United States. John F. Kennedy appointed her a judge of the U.S. District Court in Dallas in 1961. Hughes swore in Lyndon B. Johnson as president after Kennedy's assassination in 1963. She died in 1985.