Dr. Roslyn Elizabeth Pope was born on October 29,1938 in Atlanta, Georgia. She was the first of three children, born to Rogers W. and Ruth Pauline Singleton Pope. In response to God's sovereign call, she surrendered her earthly body to receive her wings on Wednesday morning, January 18, 2023.
Roslyn received her early education at E.R. Carter elementary school, and then attended Booker T. Washington High School where she graduated in 1955. She began attending Friendship Baptist Church at an early age where she met her music teacher, Theodora James, who said after hearing Roslyn perform a simple piece, "I have to teach that child piano". She began lessons at the age of five and continued her music studies in college under the tutelage of Willis Lawrence James who was the head of the music department at Spelman College.
Roslyn excelled in her high school years where she served as the first female president of the student body. During those years, she was selected to represent the state of Georgia as an outstanding scout at a Girl Scout encampment in South Dakota where only one representative was present for each state. She later reflected on how that was her first experience being in an integrated environment after growing up in a strictly segregated society. She continued her study of music and by this time, she had excelled to a level of being privileged to perform with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra while still in high school.
After completing high school, Roslyn's dream was to attend Oberlin College in Oberlin, Ohio in order to continue her music studies, but her father wanted her to stay closer to home, and encouraged her to attend Spelman College which she later agreed was the best thing for her. During her years at Spelman, she continued to excel musically and academically. She served as the class president of her Freshman, Sophomore, Junior and Senior class. After her junior year, in 1958, she along with another student, were awarded the Merrill scholarship in its second year of existence. It was a scholarship that was founded by Charles Merrill Jr., the son of Charles Merrill Sr., who was co-founder of Merrill Lynch. The scholarship allowed students to go anywhere of their choosing, to participate in the study of their choice. Roslyn chose Paris, stating that "There was no comparable place" and remarked that Paris had welcomed a lot of black musicians. While there, she studied under Nadia Boulanger, the renowned French music teacher and conductor who taught many of the leading musicians and composers of the 20th century. Roslyn later reflected that Paris had given her a "taste of freedom" which made her return the segregated South that much more difficult.
When she returned from Paris to complete her Senior year at Spelman, she returned with a new found determination to fight the evils of discrimination that had plagued her throughout her life. She had experienced while in Paris, the feeling of being an equal human being for the first time in her life. She was able to eat, travel, shop and attend entertainment functions without having to enter through a back door, sit in a certain section, or be denied the privilege of being able to try on clothes prior to purchasing them. With that mindset, she was approached by two students, Lonnie King and Julian Bond, while she was sitting at the lunch counter at a local drugstore, and they spoke of their intention to start what later became known as the Atlanta Student Movement. They asked if she had any interest in joining their efforts, and Roslyn viewed the invitation as an "answered prayer" to the calling God had put on her heart to bring about change and equality in the segregated South. As word of the students intentions spread, they were called to meet with the six college presidents who comprised the Atlanta University Center and were asked to cease their efforts, but were told that if they could not be dissuaded, they would at least need to write something that clearly stated their intentions. This led to the writing of the famous document, An Appeal for Human Rights, written by Roslyn and published by major newspapers around the country outlining the right to equality in education, jobs, housing, hospitals, entertainment and law enforcement, citing these as not only civil rights, but human rights.
Roslyn graduated from Spelman the following year with a major in music and minors in English and French. In the spring of 1961, she married John W. Walker from Fort Lauderdale, Florida and from that union they were blessed with two daughters, Rhonda Lynn and Donna Ruth Walker. She continued her education at Georgia State University where she earned her masters in English. She was later awarded a grant to attend Syracuse University, to further her education in their Interdisciplinary Program in Humanities, so she and her daughters relocated to Syracuse so that she could pursue her doctorate which she later obtained in Humanities. In the following years, she accepted a position at Penn State where she taught in the Department of Religious Studies and was head of the music department.
In 1976, she and her daughters relocated to Dallas,Texas where she was chairperson of the Humanities Department at Bishop College. Roslyn continued to teach on the high school and college level until she retired from teaching in the early 1980's after accepting a position in advertising with Southwestern Bell where she excelled in sales and remained for twenty years until retirement. Following her retirement, she spent some time in Sedona, Arizona, studying alternative methods of healing and ultimately earned a doctorate in metaphysics. In later life, Roslyn spent her retirement years between Arlington and Atlanta, where she continued to be very active in the Civil Rights Movement until her health began to fail. She returned to Texas for good in the Spring of 2021 where she resided until her death. She once said that of all of the many things she was credited with, her children were her biggest accomplishment. Anyone who knew her well would know that that statement must have been prior to her becoming a grandmother. Her grandchildren, Jordan Rogers Parks and Lilyan Elizabeth Hill, as well as her great granddaughter, Adeline Estelle Squiers were the absolute lights of her life.
Roslyn will be remembered for so many things. Some of those are things that made her noteworthy to society, but more than that, she will be remembered by her family and closest friends as a leader, a light and a lover of people. She had such a warm and welcoming spirit that made her approachable to all. She had an unassuming wit and an air of class that made her almost regal. She wouldn't hesitate to correct your grammar or spelling no matter who you were or how old. She wanted everyone to be their best which might manifest itself in her telling a stranger to pull up their pants and put out their cigarette, or her telling young ladies that they were showing too much cleavage. In a recent interview, she stated that she wants young people to finish the work that was started by their elders and to piggyback off the sacrifices that have been made in order for them to have a better future.
Roslyn was preceded in death by her parents Rogers W. and Ruth P. Pope, and her sister Paula Ruth Pope Grier, as well as many aunts, uncles, and cousins. As her health began to fail, she was lovingly cared for by her daughters, Rhonda and Donna Walker, friend Vernon Gowans, and her very special caregiver, Laquita Risper who she loved dearly. She will be mourned by her children, grandchildren and great grandchild, as well as many family members and friends who loved her dearly to include her brother Webster R. Pope and his wife Ann Denard Pope, nephew Donald Grier and his wife Treva, nieces Cheryl Pope, Jennifer Grier, Traci Jordan and Shana Pope.
Rest well, and Bon Nuit until we meet again.
A memorial service for Roslyn will be held Friday, February 10, 2023 at 2:00 PM at Moore Bowen Funeral Home, 4216 S Bowen Rd, Arlington, Texas 76014.
Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.moorebowenroad.com for the Pope family.
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