Helen Elsie Austin

Helen Elsie Austin
Born	1908 Alabama
Died	2004
Nationality	American
Occupation	Attorney; Foreign Service Officer

Helen Elsie Austin (1908–2004) was an American attorney, US Foreign Service Officer, and member of the Bahá'í National Spiritual Assemblies in the United States and North West Africa. She was among the first African Americans admitted to the practice of law in the United States.

Austin was born in Alabama. Both her parents worked at the Tuskegee Institute; her father served as Commandant of Men. When the family moved to Ohio, her mother worked at Stowe School. Austin graduated from Walnut Hills High School, Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1924. She is known to have interrupted a class on an extended description of the contributions of Africans after correcting a textbook. She received a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1928 and a Bachelor of Laws degree in 1930 from the University of Cincinnati, becoming the first black woman to graduate from the UC Law School as well as the 8th president of the Delta Sigma Theta Sorority. Austin was on the staff of the Rocky Mountain Law Review and of the Cincinnati Law Review. In 1938 she received a Doctor of Laws degree from Wilberforce University. She lived in Silver Spring, Maryland before moving to San Antonio, Texas in June 2004. She died of congestive heart failure on 26 October 2004. Public memorial services were held at the Bahá'í House of Worship in the United States and in Uganda.

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