The Leah Brock McCartney Project

Leah Brock McCartney was born in 1911 in Ellisville, Mississippi.

In 1938, she graduated from Lincoln University in Jefferson City, Missouri, with a B.S. in education, and spent years working as a teacher.

She enrolled in Washington, D.C.’s National University School of Law in 1951, graduating with an L.L.B. (Bachelor of Laws) in 1954 with the highest grade point average in her third-year class. At the time, the L.L.B. was the primary law degree in the United States.

National University merged with the George Washington University in summer 1954, becoming the National Law Center at The George Washington University. This merger is considered the precipitating event in the desegregation of GW, as National University had already been open to students of color, like McCartney.

Therefore, when she graduated in November 1954 as part of the first post-merger graduating class, Leah Brock McCartney was the first Black alumna of the George Washington University.

Chanel Compton was born in Bridgeport, Connecticut, and has had a love for art since she was a child. Today, she lives by the firm belief that public art is a powerful tool for community building and wellness. Compton completed a Bachelor of Fine Arts at Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University and a Master of Arts Management at American University.

As a public artist, she is inspired by African-American and Diasporic history and community life. Compton has led youth and community-based public art projects in Washington, D.C., Maryland, and throughout Brazil.

Compton lives and has a home art studio in Baltimore, Maryland, and serves as the Executive Director for the Maryland Commission on African American History and Culture and the Banneker-Douglass Museum.