From The Washington Post:

Tuesday, October 7, 2008; B05

Elizabeth W. Stone, 90, a retired Howard University law school official and founding president of the advocacy organization Black Women's Agenda, died of congestive heart failure Sept. 7 at the Boca Raton Community Hospital in Florida. She moved to Delray Beach from Arlington County in the mid-1990s.

Dr. Stone was director of communication skills at Howard University law school from 1975 to 1990. Earlier, she was training director for the former Department of Health, Education and Welfare's Social and Rehabilitation Service.

Her other federal positions, starting in 1965, included U.S. Information Agency education specialist, deputy director of an interagency committee on Mexican-American affairs, and special assistant to a White House conference on civil rights.

Elizabeth Walker was a native Washingtonian and a 1936 graduate of Dunbar High School. At Howard University, she received a bachelor's degree in English magna cum laude in 1940 and a master's degree in American literature in 1942.

She received a master's degree in fine arts, with a focus on drama, from Catholic University in 1948 and a doctorate in speech and drama from Columbia University in 1956. More than 60 of her articles were published in many fields, and she received several awards and commendations for her federal service.

She was an assistant English professor at Howard from 1944 to 1955 and held other positions in the D.C. school system.

She wrote and directed television commercials for Democrat L. Douglas Wilder's successful 1985 campaign for Virginia lieutenant governor. In 1960, a seconding speech she wrote was delivered at the Democratic National Convention to nominate Sen. John F. Kennedy for the presidency.

In 1977, she was founding president of Black Women's Agenda and became an emeritus board member of the organization.

She was a former board member of the Capitol Ballet Company and formerly served on the Governor's Board of Visitors at Mount Vernon.

She was a former national president of the National Smart Set women's organization. Her other memberships included the Links Inc., a professional organization for black women.

Her marriage to Frank D. Reeves ended in divorce.

Survivors include her husband of 40 years, French F. Stone of Delray Beach; two children from her first marriage, Daniel R. Reeves of Seattle and Deborah E. Reeves of Washington; two stepdaughters, A. Rosemary Royal of Los Angeles and Ellena Huckaby of Houston; a brother, M. Theodore Walker of Washington; four grandchildren; and six great-grandchildren.

-- Adam Bernstein