Gwendolyn McMillan Lawe is also the author of From Wolf to Wolfwood, and she has written many articles on various topics. She was born in Emory, Texas. After graduating from Rains ...view moreGwendolyn McMillan Lawe is also the author of From Wolf to Wolfwood, and she has written many articles on various topics. She was born in Emory, Texas. After graduating from Rains High School, she attended and graduated from Henderson County Junior College (now Trinity Valley Community College). She continued her education at East Texas State University (now Texas A&M University-Commerce) where she received a bachelors degree in business education and a masters degree in guidance.
Following in her fathers footsteps, Gwendolyn became a teacher in the Dallas Independent School District, where she retired in 2011. Teaching was paramount in the writers professional career; however, she also cofounded and served as director of College Bound Tours. In addition, she is cofounder of the A. C. McMillan Scholarship Fund (in memory of her father), which annually awards scholarships at Rains High School, and cofounder of the A. C. McMillan African American Museum, where she serves as its director.
Her organizational affiliations include Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, the Dallas Theater Center Guild, the African American Museum, New Hope Baptist Church, American Baptist Women, South Dallas Business and Professional Womens Club, the Rains County Genealogical Association, the East Texas Historical Association, and the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Her volunteer work with these organizations and others is extensive.
Her awards and recognitions include winner of the NAACP Juanita Craft Award for Community Service, the Elks Award for Community Service, and Outstanding Ex-Student/Trinity Valley Community College. In 2000, she won the Women of Wonder, a national award for community service presented by the Quaker Oats Company. She received a Visiting Professional Fellowship from the prestigious Smithsonian Institution and studied at the Smithsonian in Washington, DC, during the summer of 2003. In 2004 and 2005, she was awarded scholarships to attend the National Trust for Historic Preservation conferences in Louisville, Kentucky, and Portland, Oregon, respectively. She was recognized in 2007 as a role model by the Epsilon Sigma Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority at Texas A&M University-Commerce, and in 2010 by the South Dallas Business and Professional Womens Club during Womens History Month (March). In 2016, she was recognized with the We Speak Your Name award at the South Central Districts 54th Annual Conference in Addison, Texas.
Gwendolyn McMillan Lawe is a retired business education teacher. She lives in Dallas, Texas, where she continues to be active in many civic organizations. She has a daughter, Sylvia Lawe Williams, and two grandsons, Preston Lawe and Blair Williams.view less