the NAACP's executive director, Benjamin Hooks, alleging managerial incompetence after a 25% drop in membership, significant turnover of financial managers, and unpaid bills. Wilson alleged he refused to cooperate in an audit of the accounting system, so in May 1983 she unilaterally suspended Hooks for insubordination, improper conduct and noncooperation. The board reversed her action eight days later, stripped her of all but ceremonial duties and would deny her the chairman’s traditional right to speak at the NAACP’s annual convention. Six months later, she stood for reelection against a dead man nominated by the 64-member governing body. After her ouster from the NAACP leadership, Wilson returned to St. Louis and continued to practice law until her death. In the 1980s she was critical of President Ronald Reagan and his administration's deep budget cuts. When she introduced him before his speech to the NAACP's 1981 national convention in Denver, she openly attacked him for reviving "war, pestilence, famine, and death," visibly upsetting Reagan and his wife Nancy Reagan. She was Board Chair of two historically African-American colleges, St. Augustine's College and Talladega, and also served on numerous boards for national companies and nonprofit organizations. She was a trustee emerita of Washington University in St. Louis and Webster University, and was Chair of Law Day 2000 for the American Bar Association. Notes External links 1919 births 2009 deaths People from St. Louis American activists Missouri lawyers NAACP activists African-American lawyers Activists from Missouri Talladega College alumni Lincoln University (Missouri) alumni 20th-century American lawyers 20th-century American women lawyers 20th-century African-American women 21st-century African-American people 21st-century African-American women