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Eva Doyle

American, born 1946

Julia Bottoms’s portrait of Eva Doyle for The Freedom Wall, 2017. Photograph by Tom Loonan.

Eva Doyle is a prominent historian, author, and lecturer whose focus is African American history. In her various professional and volunteer activities, Doyle has exhibited a lifelong commitment to progress for African Americans in the region. Her motto is “Learning is a lifelong process.” She considers herself not only a teacher but also a student, and she is dedicated to exploring, discovering, and sharing dynamic and underrepresented legacies of African Americans. Doyle is a gifted storyteller and has shared some of her research in her ongoing newspaper column “Eye on History,” which she first began in 1979 for The Challenger and now runs in the Buffalo Criterion.

Doyle is deeply committed to education and equality, and to this day she continues to selflessly devote her time to the benefit of others. She has developed more than one hundred essay contests designed to encourage young students to enhance their writing skills, and in 2009, she inaugurated the Romeo Doyle Muhammad Scholarship, named after her late husband and awarded yearly to exceptional college-bound students of color. Her annual Roses for Outstanding Women awards program has honored more than 250 women since its inception.

Last updated 2019