Color Your World: 120 Days of Crayola; Vivid Violet

By CadyLuck Leedy on April 21, 2016

Vivid Violet was added to the Crayola line in 1997. It is Day 112 of the Crayola Challenge and I have presented more beautiful flowers from the gardens in the UK. I thought perhaps my flowers were not quite vivid enough.  But, I came across this Vivid Violet also.

Arlene Violet, a real life Vivid Violet, was born into a middle class family in Providence, Rhode Island. After attending Providence College, she entered the Sisters of Mercy convent in 1961, taking her final vows in 1969. Later Violet earned a bachelor’s degree from Salve Regina University and was a school teacher in a disadvantaged neighborhood during the 1970’s.  She became interested in law and graduated from Boston College Law School in 1974. She then clerked in the judge’s chambers and did an internship in the Rhode Island General Attorney’s office. When the convent had financial difficulties she left her legal work and returned to the convent, serving as an administrative nun into the 1980’s. In 1984, Violet ran for election and won, becoming the first female Attorney General in the United States. During her term in office she focused on organized crime, environmental issues and victim’s rights. One of her innovations was to use videotape interviews of child victims rather than direct testimony. In the courtroom, she was known as Attila the Nun! After leaving office, Violet returned to prosecuting, taught environmental law at Brown University, and ran a talk show from 1990 to 2006. She has written two books, Convictions: My Journey from the Convent to the Courtroom, and Me and the Mob, a book about the witness protection program. As you can tell, Violet was no shrinking Violet!

This post is just one of many in the Color Your World: 120 Days of Crayola Challenge! 

Check out some of the other 150+ challenge participants, it’s amazing what we have done with the Crayola colors!