Background
She was born on August 20, 1916, in Monrovia, her father was Richard Wiles, speaker of the House of Representatives and her mother Mai, the sister of the late Chief Justice Louis Arthur Grimes.
She was born on August 20, 1916, in Monrovia, her father was Richard Wiles, speaker of the House of Representatives and her mother Mai, the sister of the late Chief Justice Louis Arthur Grimes.
Educated in Monrovia, she graduated in 1935 from the College of West Africa, and then taught for a year following graduation.
She was secretary to President Barclay at the Executive Mansion between 1936 and 1940 and secretary to the Firestone Plantations Company between 1940 and 1950. She then became Executive Secretary to President Tubman between 1951 and 1955 before accompanying her husband to the United States as Ambassador. She played a major part in organising the Sanniquellie Conference in 1959 and the Monrovia Conference in 1962 which led to the founding of the Organisation of African Unity. She became Special Assistant to President Tubman between 1963 and 1971.
She had found time to have five children with her husband George Padmore.