Carroll, Helen Williams, Richard Roundtree, Cicely Tyson and others. Racism was rampant in New York's fashion business and the Grace Del Marco Agency was one of the few places non-White models could gain work. Her agency's shows took place in churches, college campuses, and in the ballrooms of the Diplomat and Waldorf-Astoria hotels. Like many non-Whites in the mid-twentieth century, DeVore's breakthrough came in Europe; specifically through the French fashion world. The initial impact took place at many of the Cannes Film Festivals during the 1950s and 1960s. DeVore also seized media for business equity by co-hosting ABC's Spotlight on Harlem. Her intensity to "make it" demanded relentless dedication and work ethic; enough to cause her a heart attack while still in her twenties. In the agency's later years, it was renamed Ophelia DeVore Associates, and then the Ophelia DeVore Organization. In 1985, DeVore broadened her enterprise globally to include Swaziland as a client, and published her late husband's newspaper The Columbus Times. Philosophy DeVore always maintained a role as activist for non-White inclusion in the fashion industry and creating universally inclusive concepts designed for excellence. References Further reading Hester, K (2005). Devore-Mitchell—writer, fashion model, entrepreneur. Miles, J. H., Davis, J. J., Ferguson-Roberts, S. E., and Giles, R. G. (2001). Almanac of African American Heritage. Paramus, NJ: Prentice Hall Press. Potter, J. (2002). African American Firsts. New York, NY: Kensington Publishing Corp. South Carolina African American History Calendar (1992). External links Ophelia Devore-Mitchell's oral history video excerpts at The National Visionary Leadership Project 1922 births 2014 deaths Female models from South Carolina African-American female models American female models African-American models American publishers (people) African-American publishers (people) Women in publishing American people of Cherokee descent Hunter College High School alumni African-American businesspeople American women in business New York University alumni 20th-century African-American people 21st-century African-American people 20th-century African-American women 21st-century African-American women 20th-century American businesspeople 21st-century American businesspeople 20th-century American businesswomen 21st-century American businesswomen