The journalist and author Carl T. Rowan (1925-2000) was U.S. ambassador to Finland (1963-1964) and director of the U.S. Information Agency (1964-1965).

Carl Thomas Rowan was born on August 11, 1925, in Ravenscroft, Tennessee. He was one of five children (two boys and three girls) born to Thomas David and Johnnie B. Rowan and was raised in McMinnville, Tennessee. As a youth Rowan worked hoeing bulb grass for 10 cents an hour, later performing hard manual labor for 25 cents an hour when there was work available. Like many other African American youths, Rowan's childhood was deeply affected by the "Jim Crow" attitudes so prevalent in the South. While the economic and social situation was dismal, Rowan was determined to get a good education. He excelled in high school graduating from Bernard High School in 1942 as class president and valedictorian.

Rowan left McMinnville for Nashville with 77 cents in his pocket...