Beloved mother of Gabriel Smithson.
Loving daughter of Judge William Sylvester White and George Vivian White nee Bridgeforth,
Cherished twin sister of Marilyn White Steinbach.
********************************
I went to Kozminski school in the Hyde Park neighborhood in Chicago with Carolyn and her sister Marilyn from about the 3rd grade to 8th grade graduation. I would have attended Hyde Park High School with them but my family moved out of that school district.
I remember both sisters being very smart and getting top grades. I knew then, they would do well in life. I never saw them after graduation. I lost contact but was thrilled, I saw Carolyn on television one day.
Years later, I learned from her cousin, that she had passed away.
I decided to Google her name and got the following information about her:
Carolyn grew up in Chicago and became involved in the civil rights movement and Students for a Democratic Society while at Goucher College near Baltimore. In 1964, she dropped out of college and worked in the SDS national office. In 1965 she moved to San Francisco and helped set up SDS's first regional office. She later became a radio and television journalist.
I also learned Carolyn is in the 3rd book written on "Notable Black American Women". She is on page 129.
Born in Chicago on Dec. 28, 1944, Carolyn Marie White was the daughter of William S. White, the first African American commissioned as an officer in the Navy. Her mother, George White, was a schoolteacher who served on Chicago's library board.
Carolyn Craven grew up in Hyde Park on the south side of Chicago and was taught by her father, who became a state appellate judge, and her mother that "she was not to let up until the whole world was free," recalled her twin sister, Sala Steinbach.
During her news career in the Bay Area, Ms. Craven was well-known as a reporter on "Newsroom."
She was also known for talking publicly about a terrible incident in her life. In 1978, she became the 60th victim of a Berkeley rapist police dubbed "Stinky" because of his foul odor. The rapist was never arrested, and the statute of limitations on his crime ran out in 1981.
During her eight-year career reporting on "Newsroom," Ms. Craven covered stories that included the University of California at Berkeley student anti- war protests, the trial of black militant Angela Davis in San Jose, the rise of the Black Panthers and the 1974 kidnapping of Patty Hearst.
The "Newsroom" show began as an effort to keep people informed during the 1968 San Francisco newspaper strike. The show outlasted the 52-day strike, and Ms. Craven remained a reporter there until the show ended in 1977.
Several months later -- in January 1978 -- Ms. Craven was 33 years old, divorced and living with her 6-year-old son, Gabriel, in a small rented home in the Berkeley flatlands when a man broke into her home. The man raped her during a two-hour ordeal. The rapist made her tell her son that everything was all right and that he should go back to sleep. Her son was not hurt in the attack.
Six months after the rape, Ms. Craven told the San Francisco Examiner: "I still jump at every noise even though I'm behind a door that is bolted and chained. . . . When I am in the streets, in a restaurant, I think of myself as a rape victim."
Kate Coleman, a fellow reporter with Ms. Craven on KQED, said Ms. Craven was very brave to talk publicly about her rape. "She went public at a time when women didn't do that, and the police said Carolyn was the absolute best witness they had," Coleman said.
"Even though she was blindfolded, she gave them a sense of the man's height,
weight," Coleman said. "The whole time her mind was working as a reporter. She worried that the rapist knew who she was, but it was never established. She said he told her he'd been watching her for a long time."
Throughout her career, Ms. Craven was outspoken about what she cared about. In 1973, she told The Chronicle that during her television career she had concluded that the stations were "committed to tokenism."
She said that if she knew a television station had a black woman on its staff, she would not bother to apply because "I know they would have no interest in ever hiring more than one." Ms. Craven said that the television industry pits women against one another, making "them compete for the very limited resources and causing jealousies among them."
Yesterday many of her colleagues from the "Newsroom" show spoke glowingly of her fire, energy and sense of humor.
"She converted to Judaism," Coleman said. "She was the most Jewish black girl around -- she could schmooze. She was hilarious. She was ethical, human and a wonderful journalist."
Former "Newsroom" reporter Tom DeVries said of Ms. Craven: "There were a lot of good-looking, smart women around. She was more than that. She was really something."
Mel Wax, who was the anchor of the KQED show, called her "a damned good reporter."
Bill Schechner, a former "Newsroom" reporter who now reports on KPIX- Channel 5, said when he worked with Ms. Craven she had "a free-wheeling kind of energy. She would gather, gather, gather and pay no attention to the constraints of television which require you, no matter what you gathered, to synthesize and do 3 1/2 minutes on it. Somehow she would put it together and get it on TV, but it was always an adventure to sit across from her."
More than anything else, Schechner said he recalled being terribly low once and even though Ms. Craven was working on a story, she "stopped everything to drive around San Francisco with me in her old VW loaded with newspapers -- to help me out. She was a very generous person."
During her childhood, she grew up in a family where the dinner table conversation was about politics. "We were taught to think, not just to accept what someone said, and Carolyn took that to heart," her sister Sala Steinbach said.
An important piece of the family's life was that "a lot of our friends were Jewish, she said, so we celebrated all the holidays -- Christian and Jewish."
After Ms. Craven graduated from Hyde Park High School in 1962, she attended Goucher College outside Baltimore for two years before leaving with her boyfriend, Eric Craven, who became her first husband, to work for the Students for a Democratic Society. She moved to California in the mid-'60s. She later married Denny Smithson, a KPFA reporter who is the father of her son. They divorced, and she later married Ken McEldowney, now the executive director of the group Consumer Action. The couple later divorced.
For the past 10 years of her life, Ms. Craven fought severe bouts of depression and the painful, debilitating effects of Crohn's disease.
Her family said she died peacefully at Summit Hospital in Oakland.
In addition to her sister, she is survived by her parents and her son, who lives in Oakland.
Plans for a memorial service for Ms. Craven are pending.
Loving daughter of Judge William Sylvester White and George Vivian White nee Bridgeforth,
Cherished twin sister of Marilyn White Steinbach.
********************************
I went to Kozminski school in the Hyde Park neighborhood in Chicago with Carolyn and her sister Marilyn from about the 3rd grade to 8th grade graduation. I would have attended Hyde Park High School with them but my family moved out of that school district.
I remember both sisters being very smart and getting top grades. I knew then, they would do well in life. I never saw them after graduation. I lost contact but was thrilled, I saw Carolyn on television one day.
Years later, I learned from her cousin, that she had passed away.
I decided to Google her name and got the following information about her:
Carolyn grew up in Chicago and became involved in the civil rights movement and Students for a Democratic Society while at Goucher College near Baltimore. In 1964, she dropped out of college and worked in the SDS national office. In 1965 she moved to San Francisco and helped set up SDS's first regional office. She later became a radio and television journalist.
I also learned Carolyn is in the 3rd book written on "Notable Black American Women". She is on page 129.
Born in Chicago on Dec. 28, 1944, Carolyn Marie White was the daughter of William S. White, the first African American commissioned as an officer in the Navy. Her mother, George White, was a schoolteacher who served on Chicago's library board.
Carolyn Craven grew up in Hyde Park on the south side of Chicago and was taught by her father, who became a state appellate judge, and her mother that "she was not to let up until the whole world was free," recalled her twin sister, Sala Steinbach.
During her news career in the Bay Area, Ms. Craven was well-known as a reporter on "Newsroom."
She was also known for talking publicly about a terrible incident in her life. In 1978, she became the 60th victim of a Berkeley rapist police dubbed "Stinky" because of his foul odor. The rapist was never arrested, and the statute of limitations on his crime ran out in 1981.
During her eight-year career reporting on "Newsroom," Ms. Craven covered stories that included the University of California at Berkeley student anti- war protests, the trial of black militant Angela Davis in San Jose, the rise of the Black Panthers and the 1974 kidnapping of Patty Hearst.
The "Newsroom" show began as an effort to keep people informed during the 1968 San Francisco newspaper strike. The show outlasted the 52-day strike, and Ms. Craven remained a reporter there until the show ended in 1977.
Several months later -- in January 1978 -- Ms. Craven was 33 years old, divorced and living with her 6-year-old son, Gabriel, in a small rented home in the Berkeley flatlands when a man broke into her home. The man raped her during a two-hour ordeal. The rapist made her tell her son that everything was all right and that he should go back to sleep. Her son was not hurt in the attack.
Six months after the rape, Ms. Craven told the San Francisco Examiner: "I still jump at every noise even though I'm behind a door that is bolted and chained. . . . When I am in the streets, in a restaurant, I think of myself as a rape victim."
Kate Coleman, a fellow reporter with Ms. Craven on KQED, said Ms. Craven was very brave to talk publicly about her rape. "She went public at a time when women didn't do that, and the police said Carolyn was the absolute best witness they had," Coleman said.
"Even though she was blindfolded, she gave them a sense of the man's height,
weight," Coleman said. "The whole time her mind was working as a reporter. She worried that the rapist knew who she was, but it was never established. She said he told her he'd been watching her for a long time."
Throughout her career, Ms. Craven was outspoken about what she cared about. In 1973, she told The Chronicle that during her television career she had concluded that the stations were "committed to tokenism."
She said that if she knew a television station had a black woman on its staff, she would not bother to apply because "I know they would have no interest in ever hiring more than one." Ms. Craven said that the television industry pits women against one another, making "them compete for the very limited resources and causing jealousies among them."
Yesterday many of her colleagues from the "Newsroom" show spoke glowingly of her fire, energy and sense of humor.
"She converted to Judaism," Coleman said. "She was the most Jewish black girl around -- she could schmooze. She was hilarious. She was ethical, human and a wonderful journalist."
Former "Newsroom" reporter Tom DeVries said of Ms. Craven: "There were a lot of good-looking, smart women around. She was more than that. She was really something."
Mel Wax, who was the anchor of the KQED show, called her "a damned good reporter."
Bill Schechner, a former "Newsroom" reporter who now reports on KPIX- Channel 5, said when he worked with Ms. Craven she had "a free-wheeling kind of energy. She would gather, gather, gather and pay no attention to the constraints of television which require you, no matter what you gathered, to synthesize and do 3 1/2 minutes on it. Somehow she would put it together and get it on TV, but it was always an adventure to sit across from her."
More than anything else, Schechner said he recalled being terribly low once and even though Ms. Craven was working on a story, she "stopped everything to drive around San Francisco with me in her old VW loaded with newspapers -- to help me out. She was a very generous person."
During her childhood, she grew up in a family where the dinner table conversation was about politics. "We were taught to think, not just to accept what someone said, and Carolyn took that to heart," her sister Sala Steinbach said.
An important piece of the family's life was that "a lot of our friends were Jewish, she said, so we celebrated all the holidays -- Christian and Jewish."
After Ms. Craven graduated from Hyde Park High School in 1962, she attended Goucher College outside Baltimore for two years before leaving with her boyfriend, Eric Craven, who became her first husband, to work for the Students for a Democratic Society. She moved to California in the mid-'60s. She later married Denny Smithson, a KPFA reporter who is the father of her son. They divorced, and she later married Ken McEldowney, now the executive director of the group Consumer Action. The couple later divorced.
For the past 10 years of her life, Ms. Craven fought severe bouts of depression and the painful, debilitating effects of Crohn's disease.
Her family said she died peacefully at Summit Hospital in Oakland.
In addition to her sister, she is survived by her parents and her son, who lives in Oakland.
Plans for a memorial service for Ms. Craven are pending.
Beloved mother of Gabriel Smithson.
Loving daughter of Judge William Sylvester White and George Vivian White nee Bridgeforth,
Cherished twin sister of Marilyn White Steinbach.
********************************
I went to Kozminski school in the Hyde Park neighborhood in Chicago with Carolyn and her sister Marilyn from about the 3rd grade to 8th grade graduation. I would have attended Hyde Park High School with them but my family moved out of that school district.
I remember both sisters being very smart and getting top grades. I knew then, they would do well in life. I never saw them after graduation. I lost contact but was thrilled, I saw Carolyn on television one day.
Years later, I learned from her cousin, that she had passed away.
I decided to Google her name and got the following information about her:
Carolyn grew up in Chicago and became involved in the civil rights movement and Students for a Democratic Society while at Goucher College near Baltimore. In 1964, she dropped out of college and worked in the SDS national office. In 1965 she moved to San Francisco and helped set up SDS's first regional office. She later became a radio and television journalist.
I also learned Carolyn is in the 3rd book written on "Notable Black American Women". She is on page 129.
Born in Chicago on Dec. 28, 1944, Carolyn Marie White was the daughter of William S. White, the first African American commissioned as an officer in the Navy. Her mother, George White, was a schoolteacher who served on Chicago's library board.
Carolyn Craven grew up in Hyde Park on the south side of Chicago and was taught by her father, who became a state appellate judge, and her mother that "she was not to let up until the whole world was free," recalled her twin sister, Sala Steinbach.
During her news career in the Bay Area, Ms. Craven was well-known as a reporter on "Newsroom."
She was also known for talking publicly about a terrible incident in her life. In 1978, she became the 60th victim of a Berkeley rapist police dubbed "Stinky" because of his foul odor. The rapist was never arrested, and the statute of limitations on his crime ran out in 1981.
During her eight-year career reporting on "Newsroom," Ms. Craven covered stories that included the University of California at Berkeley student anti- war protests, the trial of black militant Angela Davis in San Jose, the rise of the Black Panthers and the 1974 kidnapping of Patty Hearst.
The "Newsroom" show began as an effort to keep people informed during the 1968 San Francisco newspaper strike. The show outlasted the 52-day strike, and Ms. Craven remained a reporter there until the show ended in 1977.
Several months later -- in January 1978 -- Ms. Craven was 33 years old, divorced and living with her 6-year-old son, Gabriel, in a small rented home in the Berkeley flatlands when a man broke into her home. The man raped her during a two-hour ordeal. The rapist made her tell her son that everything was all right and that he should go back to sleep. Her son was not hurt in the attack.
Six months after the rape, Ms. Craven told the San Francisco Examiner: "I still jump at every noise even though I'm behind a door that is bolted and chained. . . . When I am in the streets, in a restaurant, I think of myself as a rape victim."
Kate Coleman, a fellow reporter with Ms. Craven on KQED, said Ms. Craven was very brave to talk publicly about her rape. "She went public at a time when women didn't do that, and the police said Carolyn was the absolute best witness they had," Coleman said.
"Even though she was blindfolded, she gave them a sense of the man's height,
weight," Coleman said. "The whole time her mind was working as a reporter. She worried that the rapist knew who she was, but it was never established. She said he told her he'd been watching her for a long time."
Throughout her career, Ms. Craven was outspoken about what she cared about. In 1973, she told The Chronicle that during her television career she had concluded that the stations were "committed to tokenism."
She said that if she knew a television station had a black woman on its staff, she would not bother to apply because "I know they would have no interest in ever hiring more than one." Ms. Craven said that the television industry pits women against one another, making "them compete for the very limited resources and causing jealousies among them."
Yesterday many of her colleagues from the "Newsroom" show spoke glowingly of her fire, energy and sense of humor.
"She converted to Judaism," Coleman said. "She was the most Jewish black girl around -- she could schmooze. She was hilarious. She was ethical, human and a wonderful journalist."
Former "Newsroom" reporter Tom DeVries said of Ms. Craven: "There were a lot of good-looking, smart women around. She was more than that. She was really something."
Mel Wax, who was the anchor of the KQED show, called her "a damned good reporter."
Bill Schechner, a former "Newsroom" reporter who now reports on KPIX- Channel 5, said when he worked with Ms. Craven she had "a free-wheeling kind of energy. She would gather, gather, gather and pay no attention to the constraints of television which require you, no matter what you gathered, to synthesize and do 3 1/2 minutes on it. Somehow she would put it together and get it on TV, but it was always an adventure to sit across from her."
More than anything else, Schechner said he recalled being terribly low once and even though Ms. Craven was working on a story, she "stopped everything to drive around San Francisco with me in her old VW loaded with newspapers -- to help me out. She was a very generous person."
During her childhood, she grew up in a family where the dinner table conversation was about politics. "We were taught to think, not just to accept what someone said, and Carolyn took that to heart," her sister Sala Steinbach said.
An important piece of the family's life was that "a lot of our friends were Jewish, she said, so we celebrated all the holidays -- Christian and Jewish."
After Ms. Craven graduated from Hyde Park High School in 1962, she attended Goucher College outside Baltimore for two years before leaving with her boyfriend, Eric Craven, who became her first husband, to work for the Students for a Democratic Society. She moved to California in the mid-'60s. She later married Denny Smithson, a KPFA reporter who is the father of her son. They divorced, and she later married Ken McEldowney, now the executive director of the group Consumer Action. The couple later divorced.
For the past 10 years of her life, Ms. Craven fought severe bouts of depression and the painful, debilitating effects of Crohn's disease.
Her family said she died peacefully at Summit Hospital in Oakland.
In addition to her sister, she is survived by her parents and her son, who lives in Oakland.
Plans for a memorial service for Ms. Craven are pending.
Loving daughter of Judge William Sylvester White and George Vivian White nee Bridgeforth,
Cherished twin sister of Marilyn White Steinbach.
********************************
I went to Kozminski school in the Hyde Park neighborhood in Chicago with Carolyn and her sister Marilyn from about the 3rd grade to 8th grade graduation. I would have attended Hyde Park High School with them but my family moved out of that school district.
I remember both sisters being very smart and getting top grades. I knew then, they would do well in life. I never saw them after graduation. I lost contact but was thrilled, I saw Carolyn on television one day.
Years later, I learned from her cousin, that she had passed away.
I decided to Google her name and got the following information about her:
Carolyn grew up in Chicago and became involved in the civil rights movement and Students for a Democratic Society while at Goucher College near Baltimore. In 1964, she dropped out of college and worked in the SDS national office. In 1965 she moved to San Francisco and helped set up SDS's first regional office. She later became a radio and television journalist.
I also learned Carolyn is in the 3rd book written on "Notable Black American Women". She is on page 129.
Born in Chicago on Dec. 28, 1944, Carolyn Marie White was the daughter of William S. White, the first African American commissioned as an officer in the Navy. Her mother, George White, was a schoolteacher who served on Chicago's library board.
Carolyn Craven grew up in Hyde Park on the south side of Chicago and was taught by her father, who became a state appellate judge, and her mother that "she was not to let up until the whole world was free," recalled her twin sister, Sala Steinbach.
During her news career in the Bay Area, Ms. Craven was well-known as a reporter on "Newsroom."
She was also known for talking publicly about a terrible incident in her life. In 1978, she became the 60th victim of a Berkeley rapist police dubbed "Stinky" because of his foul odor. The rapist was never arrested, and the statute of limitations on his crime ran out in 1981.
During her eight-year career reporting on "Newsroom," Ms. Craven covered stories that included the University of California at Berkeley student anti- war protests, the trial of black militant Angela Davis in San Jose, the rise of the Black Panthers and the 1974 kidnapping of Patty Hearst.
The "Newsroom" show began as an effort to keep people informed during the 1968 San Francisco newspaper strike. The show outlasted the 52-day strike, and Ms. Craven remained a reporter there until the show ended in 1977.
Several months later -- in January 1978 -- Ms. Craven was 33 years old, divorced and living with her 6-year-old son, Gabriel, in a small rented home in the Berkeley flatlands when a man broke into her home. The man raped her during a two-hour ordeal. The rapist made her tell her son that everything was all right and that he should go back to sleep. Her son was not hurt in the attack.
Six months after the rape, Ms. Craven told the San Francisco Examiner: "I still jump at every noise even though I'm behind a door that is bolted and chained. . . . When I am in the streets, in a restaurant, I think of myself as a rape victim."
Kate Coleman, a fellow reporter with Ms. Craven on KQED, said Ms. Craven was very brave to talk publicly about her rape. "She went public at a time when women didn't do that, and the police said Carolyn was the absolute best witness they had," Coleman said.
"Even though she was blindfolded, she gave them a sense of the man's height,
weight," Coleman said. "The whole time her mind was working as a reporter. She worried that the rapist knew who she was, but it was never established. She said he told her he'd been watching her for a long time."
Throughout her career, Ms. Craven was outspoken about what she cared about. In 1973, she told The Chronicle that during her television career she had concluded that the stations were "committed to tokenism."
She said that if she knew a television station had a black woman on its staff, she would not bother to apply because "I know they would have no interest in ever hiring more than one." Ms. Craven said that the television industry pits women against one another, making "them compete for the very limited resources and causing jealousies among them."
Yesterday many of her colleagues from the "Newsroom" show spoke glowingly of her fire, energy and sense of humor.
"She converted to Judaism," Coleman said. "She was the most Jewish black girl around -- she could schmooze. She was hilarious. She was ethical, human and a wonderful journalist."
Former "Newsroom" reporter Tom DeVries said of Ms. Craven: "There were a lot of good-looking, smart women around. She was more than that. She was really something."
Mel Wax, who was the anchor of the KQED show, called her "a damned good reporter."
Bill Schechner, a former "Newsroom" reporter who now reports on KPIX- Channel 5, said when he worked with Ms. Craven she had "a free-wheeling kind of energy. She would gather, gather, gather and pay no attention to the constraints of television which require you, no matter what you gathered, to synthesize and do 3 1/2 minutes on it. Somehow she would put it together and get it on TV, but it was always an adventure to sit across from her."
More than anything else, Schechner said he recalled being terribly low once and even though Ms. Craven was working on a story, she "stopped everything to drive around San Francisco with me in her old VW loaded with newspapers -- to help me out. She was a very generous person."
During her childhood, she grew up in a family where the dinner table conversation was about politics. "We were taught to think, not just to accept what someone said, and Carolyn took that to heart," her sister Sala Steinbach said.
An important piece of the family's life was that "a lot of our friends were Jewish, she said, so we celebrated all the holidays -- Christian and Jewish."
After Ms. Craven graduated from Hyde Park High School in 1962, she attended Goucher College outside Baltimore for two years before leaving with her boyfriend, Eric Craven, who became her first husband, to work for the Students for a Democratic Society. She moved to California in the mid-'60s. She later married Denny Smithson, a KPFA reporter who is the father of her son. They divorced, and she later married Ken McEldowney, now the executive director of the group Consumer Action. The couple later divorced.
For the past 10 years of her life, Ms. Craven fought severe bouts of depression and the painful, debilitating effects of Crohn's disease.
Her family said she died peacefully at Summit Hospital in Oakland.
In addition to her sister, she is survived by her parents and her son, who lives in Oakland.
Plans for a memorial service for Ms. Craven are pending.
