Ida H. Early

Ida H. Early is a Retired Administrator, previous Secretary to the Board of Trustees, and prior director of commencement at Washington University in St. Louis and a local volunteer. Strongly committed to voluntarism, she is or has been a trustee or director of Care & Counseling, Dance St. Louis, Eden Seminary, Epworth Children’s Home, Fair St. Louis, the Magic House, the Miriam Foundation, Provident Behavioral Health, the St. Louis County Library Foundation, and Women of Achievement among other organizations. She was the first African American to be elected President of the Junior League of St. Louis, serving in that role 1996–98. In 1996, as the sole local member of the 4-person Peirce Report interview team, she spoke with hundreds of citizens to evaluate the St. Louis Region’s problems and needs. She served on the follow-up Peirce Report Work Group and participated in St. Louis 2004’s infrastructure action team, voluntarism task force, and Gateway Parks and Trails task force. Governor Mel Carnahan appointed her to a three-year term on the Missouri Community Service Commission in 1998.

In recent years she co-chaired two important community fundraisers: the Forest Park Forever Leffingwell “Hat” Luncheon, and the St. Louis Public Library’s “Text in the City” event. She chaired the 2021 Women of Achievement Recognition Event which was broadcast on Nine-PBS. Awards include the 2001 Bar Association of Metropolitan St. Louis “Difference Makers Award” and the 1998 National Council of Negro Women, Bertha Black Rhoda Section, “Distinguished Service Award.”

Ida is a graduate of Cornell University and a Lifetime member of the Women’s Society of Washington University.