[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 17] [Extensions of Remarks] [Page 24033] [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]IN MEMORIAM OF A TRAILBLAZING AFRICAN AMERICAN JOURNALIST _____ HON. CHARLES B. RANGEL of new york in the house of representatives Friday, October 3, 2008 Mr. RANGEL. Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor the lifelong accomplishments of the late Nancy Hicks Maynard, a pioneering advocate for greater diversity in the newsrooms of this country's newspapers. She was a native daughter of Harlem, where her mother nurtured her love for journalism, where she first noted the incredible power of the press and decided its black-and-white pages desperately needed more color. Both as a strategist working to draw minorities to newsrooms, and as a groundbreaking journalist in her own right, she paved the way for women and African Americans in an industry home to few of either group. She rose from New York Post copy girl to reporter by age 20 and soon thereafter became a member of the New York Times' metropolitan staff-- the youngest and first African American woman to do so. There, she covered New York and Washington science, health, education, and domestic policy issues until 1977. At Long Island University, she earned her bachelor's degree and studied journalism, and later, she earned a law degree from Stanford University. But her love affair with journalism did not end at the written word. In 1983, she and her husband, Robert C. Maynard, purchased the declining Oakland Tribune, which then became the only major daily with African American owners. She and he founded the Maynard Institute for Journalism Education, where they ran a summer program aimed at training minority reporters. Cultivating a broader cultural perspective for American media became the cause of her life. She served as a role model to aspiring journalists of all colors and genders, an exemplar of what dedication to a cause and a strong work ethic can accomplish. That tenacity and sense of purpose will be missed, but because of her work, her dream of a diversified newsroom has, and will continue, to concretize. ____________________