Kaaren Ragland

Kaaren Ragland was born in Richmond, Virginia but her family moved to New England. She attended the Northfield School in Massachusetts, Brown University (BA) and studied acting at Boston University's School of Fine Arts (MFA) where she also took classes in the Music Department. Ragland's later education included a JD from UCLA. She states that her mother, a well known Virginia educator, always stressed the importance of a well-rounded education. Ragland appeared in the Broadway theatre production of "Eubie" with Cab Calloway, and in productions of "Little Shop of Horrors" and "Balm in Gilead" in Los Angeles. She was the first African-American ingenue hired by the National Shakespeare Company in New York City in the mid-1970s while she was still a student at Boston University. Former member of The Supremes, Mary Wilson, hired Ragland for concert tours around the world during 1978, continuing throughout the 1980s. Ragland 's final tour with Wilson took place in March and April 1989. In