Republican political activist and businessman, was born Wardell Anthony Connerly in Leesville, Louisiana, the son of Roy Connerly and Grace Soniea. Roy Connerly left the family when Ward was two years old, and Ward's mother died when he was four. After the death of his mother, Connerly was sent to live with Bertha Soniea, his maternal aunt and her husband James Louis in Sacramento, California. Later, at the age of twelve, his grandmother, Mary Soniea relocated to Sacramento and gained custody of Ward.
After graduating from Grant Union High School in 1957, Ward Connerly entered American River Junior College that same year. He transferred to Sacramento State College in 1959, one of fifty blacks out of a total of two thousand students. In 1962 he earned a BA degree with honors in Political Science At Sacramento State Connerly became the first black student to pledge ...
