FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WOWO): A longtime local civil-rights advocate has died.

Hana Stith passed away at the age of 90 Wednesday in Columbus, Ohio.

The Fort Wayne native was a co-founder of the city’s African-American Historical Society Museum and had a 36-year teaching career with Fort Wayne Community Schools. The News-Sentinel reports she was one of the first black teachers hired by the district. She also was the first woman to serve on the Fort Wayne Redevelopment Commission.

Mayor Tom Henry said in a statement on his Facebook page that Stith made Fort Wayne “a better place for all of us,” calling her a “tremendous person and leader.”