Melba Tolliver (born 1939) is an American journalist and former New York City news anchor and reporter.
[2] She is best remembered for her defiant stance against ABC owned WABC-TV when she refused to don a wig or scarf to cover up her Afro in order to cover the White House wedding of President Richard Nixon's daughter Tricia Nixon in 1971.
[4] Strikes by the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists in April 1967 and by the National Association of Broadcast Employees and Technicians in September led to short stints where Tolliver filled in for Marlene Sanders.
[5] With Pia Lindstrom she was also half of the first all female co-anchor team in the New York television market.
[10] In 2015 Tolliver received the Distinguished Alumni Award from her Alma Mater, Empire State University.