. Later Hardy married, had children, and a 30-year teaching career in Atlanta schools.
Early life and education
Hardy Lavender was born in
African-American
, Hardy had to look elsewhere to attend college.
In college, Hardy continued playing basketball and enjoyed it. Raymond Pitts, the track coach at Fort Valley, encouraged her to look into track. She agreed, and in 1949, she ran and won her first race at the Tuskegee Relays. Two years later, she won the
All-American. In 1952, Hardy received her B.S. degree in business education
. After graduation, she trained hard in preparation for AAU events and the Olympic tryouts. At the AAU, Hardy was a triple winner, winning the 50-yard dash, as well as the 100- and 200-meter races.
Hardy was offered coaching positions in the northern U.S., but chose to enter her field of study—education—in
Atlanta, Georgia. There she settled, marrying the late Edward Wright Lavender, Sr. in 1956, and bearing two children—a son Edward Lavender, Jr. in 1957, and a daughter Stephanie in 1960. Hardy Lavender continued teaching, having a career that lasted over 30 years. She retired in 1986 to care for her aged mother who had Alzheimer's disease. After her mother died in 1987, Hardy Lavender returned to education by substitute teaching in the Atlanta Public Schools
2. Olympians Against the Wind: The Black American Female Difference by A. D. Emerson; 1999, Darmonte Enterprises.
3. 1995–1996 Spirit of Legends Calendar of Black History; BellSouth, Carl Swearingen; 1995.
