#BlackHistoryMonth2020: ACA Highlights the Associations? First African-American President, Dr. Thelma Thomas Daley

“I didn’t run because I was a woman. I didn’t run because I was an African American. I did [however] realize then that I was knocking down walls so others could walk through no matter what shape or size they were”

-Dr. Thelma Thomas Daley

As we are near the end of Black History Month, the American Counseling Association would like to honor former ACA President Dr. Thelma Thomas Daley. Dr. Daley was ACA’s third female and first African American president. She is a well-known and noble leader throughout the Washington D.C. metropolitan area. She has served in many leadership positions in ACA, and been president of four prominent organizations including being the first African American to serve as president of the American School Counselor Association (ASCA) in 1971. Currently, she is very active in her sorority, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., as well as the NAACP and the National Council of Negro Women.

Her presence and devotion to the profession have paved the way for many who otherwise may not have been considered for leadership: African-Americans, women, the underserved, etc. In fact, when she was the president-elect of ASCA, her actions in an American Personnel and Guidance Association (APGA; now ACA) delegate meeting, made way for Dr. Willie Williams to make the initial steps toward forming the Association for Non-White Concerns, which is now known as the Association for Multicultural Counseling and Development. When recounting the event in an interview, she said “This became an important moment in history for the voice of the voiceless... you see?”

Dr. Daley, The American Counseling Association thanks you for your commitment to the counseling profession!

Other ACA resources highlighting Dr. Thelma T. Daley:

“Two people to honor” by Rich Yep