Dovey Johnson Roundtree American military officer, lawyer, and minister Dovey Johnson Roundtree, 1995. (more) Dovey Johnson Roundtree American lawyer, activist, military officer, and minister Written by Joan Hibler Joan Hibler is a senior editor at Encyclopædia Britannica. Joan HiblerAll Fact-checked by Britannica Editors Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree.... Britannica Editors Last updated Mar. 5, 2026 •History Dovey Johnson Roundtree (born April 17, 1914, Charlotte, North Carolina, U.S.—died May 21, 2018, Charlotte, North Carolina) was an American lawyer, civil rights activist, military officer, minister, and an important figure in the U.S. civil rights movement of the 1950s and ’60s. A member of the first class of Black women officers in the Women’s Army Corps and later a pioneering defense attorney in Washington, D.C., she used the law to challenge racial discrimination, protect...

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