Ella Gaines Yates (June 14, 1927 – June 27, 2006) is recognized in the library world as being the first African-American director of the Atlanta-Fulton Public Library System in Georgia. Yates was born into a well known and wealthy family in Atlanta, Georgia. She attended Booker T. Washington High School. She was accepted to Spelman on July 13, 1944. She wrote in her admission letter to the college “I wish to come to Spelman, because I feel there is no other college anywhere in the world finer for a girl to receive training to prepare her for higher gain in life. I have always looked forward to entering Spelman College, because Spelman students have a certain air about them that denotes character and culture. I would naturally fall in line.” Ella graduated from Spelman in 1949. She not only