Several African American men have been elected to the city of Terre Haute, county, and state offices, beginning with Dr. Iverson Bell, who served five terms on the Vigo County School Board from the 1960s into the 1980s. She was elected Vigo County coroner, becoming the first African American woman elected to a countywide office. Myers is now the first Black woman elected at such a level here.
“I’m honored, first to have won with the support of lots of people,” Myers said Wednesday. “But I’m also honored to be the first [African American female county officeholder] and honored to provide a benefit to the county.” She’s anxious to take on that responsibility. An upcoming meeting with the current deputy coroners will help that team get the office “off and running” in the new year. “It is a great honor to be able to provide that for people on a local level,” Myers said. Her election can “show other people that if you want to do something, try,” she said. “Don’t be discouraged if you haven’t seen someone like you in that role.”
Myers was born 48 years ago in Augusta, Georgia. Her parents, James and Mary Orrington, moved the family to the Chicago suburbs and opened a dentistry practice in the Windy City. While Myers’ father is now retired, her brother practices dentistry in Chicago. Their parents were among the first in their own families to earn college degrees — James at Tuskegee Institute in Alabama and the Dental College of Georgia, and Mary at Albany State University in Georgia. “They wanted something for themselves, and they worked toward it,” Myers said. “Those are the values they’ve instilled in me — work hard and just try.”
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