* From 1976-87, Marian Wright Edelman chaired the Spelman College board of trustees.

* Throughout her career, Edelman has called for increased federal spending on social welfare programs, coupled with cuts in military expenditures. In her 1987 book Families in Peril, she wrote, “We must curb the fanatical military weasel and keep it in balance with competing national needs.”

* In 2000, Edelman was a signatory to a letter titled “Appeal for Responsible Security” that appeared in the New York Times. The letter stated, “… we call upon the United States government to commit itself unequivocally to negotiate the worldwide reduction and elimination of nuclear weapons, in a series of well-defined stages accompanied by increasing verification and control.” Other signatories included Jimmy Carter, Martin Sheen, George Soros, John Sweeney, and Ted Turner.

* Over the years, Edelman has made a number of campaign contributions to Democratic political candidates, including Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton, and John Kerry.