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Laura Ashrow Robinson ’42

Laura Ashrow Robinson ’42, of cancer, February 7, 2000, in Washington, D.C. She had been a real estate broker with her own company for over 40 years. After graduating from Reed she earned a master’s degree from Columbia University in 1946. She worked as assistant director of the National United Jewish Appeal Speakers Bureau in New York City for three years and was executive director of the fundraising arm of Hebrew University-Hadassah Medical School in Israel. In 1948 she married Edgar Robinson, and the couple had two children. They settled in Washington, D.C., where he was on the faculty at American University and she started a real estate business. After being ostracized by other real estate agents in the area for being the first realtor to sell a house in Chevy Chase to an African American family, she worked to form the Fair Housing Committee of Chevy Chase. She was also active in other fair housing groups in the area. She was a member of the greater Capital Area Association of Realtors and was a skilled tennis player. Survivors include her husband, a son and daughter, a sister, a brother, and two grandchildren.

Appeared in Reed magazine: November 2000

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