Lenton Malry will speak to the Albuquerque Press Women and Friends on Monday, October 10 at 11:30 a.m. at the Claim Jumper Restaurant at 5001 Jefferson NE. Anyone coming down I-25 should take the Jefferson exit.

Malry served as New Mexico’s first African-American state representative from 1968 to 1978 and Bernalillo County’s first African-American Commissioner – serving as commission chairman in 1983-1984 and 1987-1988.  He was also the first African American to earn a PhD in education from the University of New Mexico.

Malry was influential in changing New Mexico from a state where in 1962, covenants were still in place restricting African-Americans from purchasing a home, to a state where diversity is respected and celebrated.

He taught in Albuquerque Public Schools and was Albuquerque’s first African-American principal; he retired from APS in 1987.

Malry has served our community on a number of boards and commissions including, as a past-president of the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education and on the boards of the United Way, the UNM Cancer Center, Heights Psychiatric Hospital and the Albuquerque Air Quality Board.

Malry is a member of APW and Friends, and he will be selling and signing his autobiography at the meeting.

Malry has been married to his wife Joy for 56 years and they have a son Lenton Jr.

At this luncheon, guests order directly from a menu and pay the restaurant. There is no need for advance reservations, but there is a $5 fee for nonmembers of APW&F.