Ms. Lou E. Bolden, the daughter of Mrs. Roxie E. and Mr. A.M. Holloway, was born March 12, 1928, in Rankin County, Mississippi.  She transitioned to her eternal home on Wednesday, May 26, 2021, at Magee General Hospital in Magee, Mississippi.

Ms. Bolden was a graduate of Piney Woods School in Piney Woods, Mississippi. She was a saxophonist with the Piney Woods School Band. When the band traveled throughout the South, the band members stayed with White parishioners of the Catholic Church. After graduating from Piney Woods, Ms. Bolden attended and graduated from Tougaloo College with a B.S. degree in History.  She earned a Master's Degree from Wesleyan University.

Always in the pursuit of knowledge, Ms. Bolden conducted research on Black Studies in Africa and pursued advanced studies in Colorado. She authored a paper on "Vicksburg, Mississippi after Reconstruction." During her tenure as educator, she served on the faculty of several prestigious institutions of higher learning which included Morehouse College, the University of Virginia and Tougaloo College. While at Morehouse, she taught classes beside Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. She founded the Black Studies curriculum at the University of Virginia and in 1973; she was the moderator of the program at Tougaloo College when blues legend, B.B. King received the honorary doctorate degree. She was also friends with civil rights icons Medgar Evers and Charles Evers.

Ms. Bolden was preceded in death by her parents; five brothers, Willie Holloway, Lee Holloway, Earl Lester Holloway, Theodore Holloway and Vonado Holloway. Her precious memory will be cherished by her brother, Anthony Holloway of Florida; sister, Mildred H. Lester of California; her niece and nephew whom she helped her mother and brother rear, Carolyn Fay Williams and Willie Holloway, Jr; and a host of nieces and nephews.