THE WILSON SISTERS

SCRIPPS COLLEGE SISTERS OF COLOR AND STRENGTH!

A wonderful tapestry at Scripps College, Claremont, California with two sisters, Charla Wilson (Scripps College, BA, 2011) and Bonita Wilson-Falconer (Scripps College, BA, 2013). Both sisters were attending Scripps College overlapping two years of their four-year degree programs. They were recruited by Patricia Goldsmith, Scripps College Admissions Director at the time who saw the humble and quiet strength of these two women of Color. Patricia Goldsmith invited them to apply and matriculate at Scripps College. Charla academic focus was American Studies and her thesis: “An Experience to Treasure”: A Critique of the American Girl Doll Company’s Depiction of American History. Bonita‘s major while at Scripps was English and her thesis: Hunger: Black Women Recasting the Shadows that Obscure Intellectual Tradition.

The two sisters continue to move in their strength supported by their Faith, family and friends. Charla Wilson continued her academic pursuits at Claremont Graduate University with a Master of Arts in Education in 2012. She received her second Masters of Arts in Digital History at the California State University San Marcos (CSUSM), receiving the California State University San Marcos Outstanding M.A. Thesis Award, 2015-2016 from the CSUSM Department of History with the thesis entitled: Refuge and Strength: The San Diego Young Women’s Christian Association (YWCA) Branch for African Americans from 1925 to 1951. Charla serves as the ARCHIVIST of the Black Experience at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois and is the 2022 recipient of the Daniel I. Linzer Award for Faculty Excellence in Diversity and Equity, an award which celebrates exemplary individuals or groups who work collaboratively to build a more diverse, inclusive and equitable climate at Northwestern University.

Bonita Wilson-Falconer continued her academic pursuit at San Diego State University with a Master of Arts in Sociology with the thesis: A Content Analysis of Black Thinspiration on Social Media Sites. She worked as a Research Administrator for the Palo Alto Veterans Institute for Research (PAVIR) and is a Freelancer. She is married to Darryl Falconer II, System Administrator for Juniper Square, a software development company.