Dates

• Existence: 1909 - 1998

Biography

Marguerite Esters Cothorn was born on December 23, 1909 in Albia, Iowa, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. A. J. Esters. In 1926 she became the first African-American to graduate from Roosevelt High School in Des Moines. In 1930 she received a B.A. from Drake University in Des Moines, two years later a master's degree in sociology from the same university, and in 1954 a master's degree in social work from the State University of Iowa (now the University of Iowa). From 1930 until she retired in 1973, Cothorn held a variety of significant positions in the field of social work. From 1930 to 1933 she was a probation officer for the Polk County Juvenile Court in Des Moines. From 1933 to 1938 she served as a case worker in Baltimore, Maryland, one of only five African-American social workers in the city. In 1940 she became acting director of the Negro Community Center (now Willke House) in Des Moines, and from 1945 to 1952, the director of the Booker T. Washington Center in Rockford, Illinois. She was a psychiatric social worker at the Veterans Administration Hospital in Knoxville, Iowa from 1954 to 1956 and a lecturer at the University of Iowa School of Social Work from 1957 to 1959. In 1956 she was appointed Secretary of the Recreation Division of the Council of Social Agencies in Des Moines and in 1965 she became the executive director of the Council of Social Agencies (now Community Planning Division, United Way of Central Iowa). Cothorn was widely recognized for her contributions to Iowa, most notably as the recipient of the Drake University Distinguished Alumni Award in 1974 and by her induction into the Iowa Women's Hall of Fame in 1986. She appeared in Who's Who of American Women (1967), and Who's Who Among Black Americans (1975, 1976, 1978, 1985). Moreover, she served on innumerable civic, governmental, and political committees among them the Iowa Civil Rights Commission, serving as chair from 1983 to 1984. Cothorn retired in 1973, but remained actively involved in a wide variety of community and social service organizations. Throughout her career she was praised for her innovative ideas, her organizational skills, and her boundless energy.

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