Cora M. Vaughn, a trailblazer and tenacious legal advocate, made her transition from this life on Friday, March 28, 2014 at her home in Johannesburg, South Africa surrounded by her loving family. She was 65. Mrs. Vaughn, born November 9, 1948, of humble beginnings in Gary, Indiana, never allowed life to define her; she defined life and charted her own course. She was a loving mother, wife, friend, mentor and role model.
Mrs. Vaughn graduated from the University of Washington in 1974 with a degree in journalism. She was the first editor of The Seattle Medium Newspaper and was a national acclaimed journalist who established the tone for the many national awards The Seattle Medium won. While at The Seattle Medium she tutored Black law students at the University of Washington School of Law in editorial/essay writing and enabled many of them to pass the state bar in the subjective essay writing portion of the Washington State bar exam.
Mrs. Vaughn graduated first in her class from Texas Southern University, Thurgood Marshall School of Law in 1977 and returned to Gary, Indiana where she practiced law for over 20 years. Mrs. Vaughn was an outspoken and steely-advocate who shattered racial and gender barriers in the legal profession. She represented the Teamsters Local 703 before opening her law firm, Vaughn & Associates, where she represented local municipalities and obtained judgments for disenfranchised individuals. Throughout her career, Mrs. Vaughn was an active and dedicated member of the National Bar Association and served as the first woman Chair of its Young Lawyers Division from 1985-1986.
In 2000, Mrs. Vaughn retired from her law practice and moved to South Africa where she and her husband, Roger Scott, ran two inns. Featured in the 2008 documentary, Blacks Without Borders, Mrs. Vaughn stated, “I love living in South Africa. Besides being beautiful, scenic, as close to the Garden of Eden you will get on this Earth, it is progressive.” Mrs. Vaughn adopted South Africa as her own and continued her advocacy for the underserved by creating jobs for native Black South Africans in her inn and in a restaurant she and her husband owned with other American ex-pats. Additionally, she encouraged guests to patronize local Black South African tour guides and businesses; and was an advocate for a local children’s orphanage.
Mrs. Vaughn will be remembered by those she touched as someone who used her life as a tool to affect change in the lives of people in both small and big, but all significant ways. She is survived by her husband of 21 years, Roger Scott; three daughters, Vazantha Meyers, Carmen Vaughn and Kenyanna (Kameno) Bell; five grandchildren, Pryce Johnson, Rani Vaughn, Alyssa, Nia and Maya Bell; her mother-in-law, Hazel Scott; seven siblings, Algia (Mary) Lee Sr., Shirley Vann, Willie Vann Jr., Barbara Vann, Hildred (Francis) Vann, Cornelius Vann and Holden Vann; numerous nieces and nephews and innumerable beloved friends.
Mrs. Vaughn is predeceased by her parents, Georgia Lee and Will Vann Sr. and siblings Adley Berry (Conway) Vann, Eddie (Lillie) Hampton, William (Dehay) Bogan, Curly Mae Vann, Esther Brooks and Vernice Vann.
Please make donations to the American Cancer Society, P.O. Box 22718, Oklahoma City, OK 73123-1718 or online at www.cancer.org in lieu of flowers. The dates for the services in South Africa and in the U.S. are still being determined.
