Theodora Fonteneau Rutherford

Theodora Velma Fonteneau Rutherford (January 28, 1904 - August 15, 1993)[1] was an African-American accountant, clubwoman, and college instructor. In 1960 she became the first black CPA qualified in West Virginia.

Theodora Fonteneau Rutherford
Theodora Fonteneau Rutherford, from a 1924 publication.
Born
Theodora Velma Fonteneau

(1904-01-28)January 28, 1904
Jeanerette, Louisiana
DiedAugust 15, 1993(1993-08-15) (aged 89)
NationalityAmerican
Occupationaccountant

Early life

Theodora Velma Fonteneau was born in Jeanerette, Louisiana and raised in Houston, Texas. Her mother was a teacher, and her father owned a restaurant. In 1919 she was "Goddess of Liberty" in an Emancipation Day celebration parade in Houston.[2]

Education

She attended Howard University, graduating summa cum laude in 1923, at the top of her class i the School of Commerce and Finance. The following year,[3] she was the first black student to earn a master's degree in accounting at Columbia University.[4] Her thesis title was "An accounting system for a small school or college".[5]

Fonteneau was unable to qualify as a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) after school, because she could not meet New York's experience requirement; no firm would hire a black woman accountant, even with Fonteneau's academic credentials. When there was a rule change in 1959, she became the first black CPA in West Virginia.[4][6] and the first black woman member of the West Virginia Society of Public Accountants.[7][8]

Career

Fonteneau worked addressing envelopes in New York City while she was a graduate student.[4] She moved to West Virginia in 1925, and built the business program at West Virginia Collegiate Institute (now West Virginia State University).[7] Because her husband also worked for the school, she was forced by nepotism rules to leave her job during their marriage, from 1933 to 1957. She returned to teaching in widowhood.[8] She retired from college teaching in 1973.[9]

Rutherford helped establish the West Virginia Collegiate Credit Union, was the credit union's first treasurer, and later served on the board of directors of the West Virginia Credit Union League.[10][11] She was president of the West Virginia Consumer Association and served on the boards of the Community Banking and Savings Company.[7][12] She taught community classes in tax preparation.[13] In 1963, she won a Ford Foundation fellowship, to pursue doctoral studies at Indiana University.[14] After she retired, she ran an accounting firm, specializing in taxes. "Most older people have encouraged young black women to go into teaching, but I certainly would encourage them to go into accounting if they are capable," she told an interviewer in 1977.[15]

Rutherford was active in the Alpha Kappa Alpha (ΑΚΑ) sorority.[16][17] She was a charter member and first president of the ΑΚΑ graduate chapter at Charleston, West Virginia when it was founded in 1929.[18] She was also active in the League of Women Voters[19] and the Girl Scouts, and ran a summer camp for girls on the Coal River in the 1930s.[20]

In 1983, Rutherford was honored by Howard University for her lifetime of achievement, with fellow alumni Debbie Allen, Wayman Smith III, James E. Bowman, Gloria Twine Chisum, and Robert E. L. Perkins.[21][22]

Personal life

Theodora Fonteneau married Charles Robert Rutherford, who also worked at West Virginia State University. She was widowed when Charles died by suicide in 1956.[23] Her only child, Rosalie (1932-1976),[24] was disabled in an accident as a young woman; Theodora Rutherford raised her granddaughter, Elvira Morgan (1958-1976).[7][25]

Legacy

The Black Business Students Association at Columbia University awards a Theodora Fonteneau Rutherford Scholarship, named for Rutherford as the business school's first black graduate.[26]

References
  1. "Theodora F Rutherford in Social Security Death Index". Fold3. Retrieved 2020-09-09.
  2. "Negroes of Houston Pay Honors to Emancipation" The Houston Post (June 20, 1919): 11. via Newspapers.com
  3. "Theodora V. Fonteneau" The Crisis (July 1924): 124.
  4. Theresa A. Hammond, A White-Collar Profession: African American Certified Public Accountants since 1921 (University of North Carolina Press 2003): 12-16. ISBN 9780807874943
  5. Essays for the Master's Degree 1924 (Columbia University Libraries 1924): 18.
  6. "Theresa A. Hammond, "Counting on Change: The History of African American CPAs" The Crisis (May/June 2002): 42.
  7. Wilma Higginbotham, "CPA Third Title Earned by Theodora Rutherford" Charleston Daily Mail (November 23, 1974): 4. via Newspapers.com
  8. Lula Jones Garrett, "Mrs. Rutherford a C. P. A." Baltimore Afro American (February 16, 1960): 39. via NewspaperArchive.com
  9. "Reception will Honor Retiring Faculty, Staff" Raleigh Register (May 10, 1973): 10. via NewspaperArchive.com
  10. "History" West Virginia Credit Union League.
  11. "Credit Union Officers" The Weirton Daily Times (April 20, 1965): 9. via Newspapers.com
  12. "Dunbar Group Seeks State Bank Charter" Charleston Gazette (June 27, 1972): 13. via Newspapers.com
  13. "3-Week Income Tax Workshop Set Soon" Bluefield Daily Telegraph (June 4, 1961): 25. via NewspaperArchive.com
  14. "Wins Fellowship" Morgantown Dominion News (May 15, 1963): 10. via NewspaperArchive.com
  15. Ann Griffith, "State's First, Only Black Woman CPA Has Own Firm, Specializes in Taxes" Charleston Daily Mail (July 27, 1977): 21. via NewspaperArchive.com
  16. "Alpha Kappa Alphas Hold Fine Session Here" The Pittsburgh Courier (May 4, 1935): 8. via Newspapers.com
  17. William H. Peeler, "Charming Sorors Enjoy Our City" The Pittsburgh Courier (May 4, 1935): 5. via Newspapers.com
  18. "The History of Alpha Omicron Omega" Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated.
  19. "Women Voters Plan First Fall Meetings" The Charleston Daily Mail (September 16, 1967): 6. via Newspapers.com
  20. "A. K. A.'s Entertain School Principal" The Pittsburgh Courier (August 8, 1936): 8. via Newspapers.com
  21. "Bennett is Speaker for HU Convocation" Washington Informer (March 2, 1983): 1. via ProQuest
  22. "Howard to Honor 6" Washington Informer (February 9, 1983): 2. via ProQuest
  23. "College Man Shoots Self" Charleston Daily Mail (January 7, 1956): 3. via NewspaperArchive.com
  24. "Mrs. Rosalie Morgan" Sunday Gazette-Mail (June 20, 1976): 47. via Newspapers.com
  25. "Elvira Theresa Morgan" The Charleston Daily Mail (February 9, 1976): 8. via Newspapers.com
  26. "Auction Raises Scholarship Funds — and Honors School‘s First African-American MBA" Columbia Business School (March 1, 2007).
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