Lois J. Carson
Lois J. Carson was born in 1931 in Memphis, Tennessee. She attended St. Augustine Catholic High School and afterwards attended Wilberforce University in Ohio (which was the first private black college in America) before getting a job at Wright Patterson Air Force Base in 1950 where she was part of the first group of people to work on early computers. In 1951, Lois Carson was transferred to the Norton Air Force Base in San Bernardino, California. In 1967 she became one of the first four African American students to graduate from CSUSB and graduated with a Bachelors in English. Afterwards, she continued her education at UC Riverside and graduated with two master's degrees in English and Education.
Carson continued to make many contributions within the San Bernardino area, including, starting a section of NCNW in San Bernardino; founding the San Bernardino County Status on Women Commission and the Inland Empire section of the National Council of Negro Women; becoming the first minority elected to serve on the school board of trustees for the San Bernardino Community College District for 24 years; serving as deputy director of Community Action Partnership of San Bernardino County and serving as executive director of Community Action Partnership of Riverside County; and founding and directing UC Riverside’s Upward Bound.