Alice in Chains

Attention journalists: Y’all need to bow down to the late Alice Allison Dunnigan.

Related Content

• What's the Dumbest Thing Joe Arpaio Said in Response to the Justice Department Lawsuit?
  May 11, 2012
• Joe Arpaio Really Thinks President Obama's Birth Certificate is Fake
  March 1, 2012
• Closed for Business: The White House in Scottsdale
  December 27, 2011
• Philadelphia Sandwich Company in Scottsdale Moving to Craftsman Court
  March 29, 2012
• Top Ten Spots for Mac 'n' Cheese in the Valley
  April 16, 2012

More About

• Alice Allison Dunnigan
• U.S. Congress
• The White House

Like this Story?

Sign up for the Events Newsletter: What's happening in town? From underground club nights to the biggest outdoor festivals, our top picks for the week's best events will always keep you in on the action.

Privacy Policy Cancel Continue

Dunnigan (1906-1983) was a black female journalist during some of the most racist times this country has ever had the supreme displeasure of experiencing. So with that setting in mind, imagine what happened when Dunnigan, while writing for the Associated Negro Press, attempted to score press credentials to cover the goings-on in the U.S. Congress and Senate.

Yep. Denied. (Sorry to say this, but our founding fathers didn’t build a Black House for a reason.)

However, Dunnigan’s plight has a pretty neat conclusion. After some additional pursuing and nudging, like a good little reporter, Dunnigan did score those elusive privileges; thus becoming the first African-American woman to gain accreditation to the White House.

The life of Dunnigan is immortalized in A Vote from Alice! when Grey Matters Productions presents the lunchtime theater play.