Amelia Boynton Robinson

Amelia Boynton Robinson
Robinson in 2015
Born	Amelia Platts (1911-08-18)August 18, 1911 Savannah, Georgia, U.S.
Died	August 26, 2015(2015-08-26) (aged 104) Montgomery, Alabama
Cause of death	Stroke
Known for	Selma to Montgomery marches
Movement	Civil Rights Movement
Spouse(s)	Samuel W. Boynton (1936–1963; his death) Bob Billups (1969–1973; his death) James Robinson (19??-1988; his death)
Children	4
Awards	Martin Luther King, Jr., Freedom Medal (1990)

Amelia Platts Boynton Robinson (August 18, 1911 – August 26, 2015) was an American activist who was a leader of the American Civil Rights Movement in Selma, Alabama and a key figure in the 1965 Selma to Montgomery marches. In 1984, she became founding Vice-President of the Schiller Institute affiliated with Lyndon LaRouche. She was awarded the Martin Luther King, Jr., Freedom Medal in 1990. In 2014, actress Lorraine Toussaint played Robinson in the Ava DuVernay film Selma.

Amelia Platts was born in Savannah, Georgia on August 18, 1911 to George and Anna Platts, both of whom were African-American. She also had Cherokee and German ancestry. Church was central to Amelia and her nine siblings' upbringing. As a young girl, she became involved in campaigning for women's suffrage. Her family encouraged the children to read. Amelia attended two years at Georgia State College (now Savannah State University, an historically black college). She transferred to Tuskegee Institute (now Tuskegee University), earning a degree in home economics. (Platts later also studied at Tennessee State, Virginia State, and Temple University.)

Platts taught in Georgia before starting with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) in Selma as the home demonstration agent for Dallas County. She educated the county's largely rural population about food production and processing, nutrition, healthcare, and other subjects related to agriculture and homemaking.