Educator, Advocate Juanita DeVaughn Marks 100th Birthday After Century of Civil Rights Service

Juanita Young DeVaughn will celebrate her 100th birthday on July 22, capping a remarkable century that began in rural Alabama and evolved into a lifetime of educational leadership and civil rights advocacy in Altadena, Pasadena, and beyond.

“Juanita DeVaughn is a gift that keeps giving!” said Associate Pastor George Van Alstine of Altadena Baptist Church, where DeVaughn has maintained active membership for five decades.

Born in Boligee, Alabama, DeVaughn attended public schools during segregation before earning a Bachelor of Science in Home Economics from Alabama A&M University. Her career began at the Industrial School for Girls and Boys in Alabama, followed by positions as dietician at Talladega College and nutritionist for the Head Start program in Birmingham.

As nutritionist for 47 schools in the Birmingham School District, DeVaughn attended meetings with Martin Luther King Jr. Following the September 1963 bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church that killed four young girls, she secretly used her institutional resources to help provide the funeral repast meal.

In 1967, DeVaughn and her husband Paul De Vaughn, married in 1950, relocated to Altadena. She taught at Charles Eliot Junior High School before completing a 30-year career at John Muir High School in Pasadena, where she was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2018.

Her community involvement includes chairing the annual John Muir High School campus beautification day, serving on the annual Martin Luther King Jr. Committee, and holding positions as Life Member of the NAACP, Chair of the NAACP ACT-SO program, and participant in the Interdenominational Ministerial Alliance of Greater Pasadena.

DeVaughn’s honors include Delta Sigma Theta Mother of the Year, YWCA Century Volunteer of the Year, NAACP Pioneering Woman of Altadena, Grand Marshall of the Altadena/Pasadena Black History Parade, and the City of Pasadena’s Human Relations Commission’s Harry Sheldon award.

She lives with her daughter, Paula. Her son Robert is married to Rev. Connie Larson DeVaughn, Pastor of Altadena Baptist Church. Her granddaughters, Lauren and Alena, are both healthcare professionals with advanced degrees.