Oprah: A Look Back

Oprah as a junior at East Nashville High School, April 1970, after winning first place in the State Forensic Tournament. "It's like winning an Academy Award," she told the student newspaper. Oprah represented Tennessee in dramatic competition in the National Tournament with a reading from God's Trombones by James Weldon Johnson.
Courtesy of Larry Carpenter
Oprah: A Look Back

Oprah wearing peace symbol earrings in her graduation picture for the yearbook, Class of 1971, East Nashville High School.
Courtesy of Gary Holt
Oprah: A Look Back

Oprah as Student Body Vice President, East High School, Nashville, Tennessee. Left to right: Gary Holt, Student Body President; Oprah.
Courtesy of Larry Carpenter Caption: Oprah as Student Body Vice President
Oprah: A Look Back

On Oprah's application for Miss Black Nashville, she signed herself as Oprah Gail Winfrey and stated that she had "never conceived a child," although she had given birth to a little boy she named Vincent Miquelle Lee on February 8, 1969. The baby died March 16, 1969.
Handout
Oprah: A Look Back

The Contestants for Miss Black Nashville in June 1972. Left to right: Maude Mobley; unknown; Patrice Patton-Pricel and the winner Oprah Winfrey, who became Miss Black Tennessee and competed for Miss Black America. "The girl from California won because she stripped," said Oprah, although The New York Times made no mention of the beautiful California singer who won as having performed a strip tease.
Courtesy of Patrice Patton-Price
Oprah: A Look Back

Radio disc jockey Tim Watts and Oprah in Baltimore in 2007, thirty years after their tumultuous love affair. "He was her first real love," said Oprah's sister, Patricia, in 1990.
Courtesy of WJZ Channel 13 Baltimore, MD, Fair Use
Oprah: A Look Back

Katharine Carr Esters, Oprah's Cousin, whom she calls "Aunt Katharine," stands with the author, Kitty Kelley, outside Seasonings Eatery in Kosciusko, Mississippi, on July 30, 2007.
Courtesy of Jewette Battles
Oprah: A Look Back

Vernon Winfrey and Kitty Kelley in Vernon Winfrey's barbershop in Nashville, Tennessee, on April 22, 2008.
Courtesy of Peter Johnston
Oprah: A Look Back

Oprah's father, Vernon Winfrey, whispering to the author, Kitty Kelley, during their interview in Vernon's barbershop in Nashville, Tennessee, on April 22, 2008.
Courtesy of Peter Johnston