Bernice Pitts was born on April 13th, 1939, in Laurinburg, North Carolina, and was one of Mary Magdalena McCoy and Dan Mclean’s ten children. After her mother died in childbirth, Ms. Pitts and her younger siblings were sent to live with relatives. In 1956, at the age of 17, Ms. Pitts moved to D.C. to stay with one of her older sisters. After initially working different jobs as a cook and housekeeper, Ms. Pitts secured a job doing custodial work for the federal government. After moving to Washington she also married her husband, Nathaniel Pitts, and had seven children. Eventually, Ms. Pitts was forced to stop working for the government after a workplace injury. Since that time she has worked in the home, spent time with her husband until his passing, and helped raise her grandchildren. Ms. Pitts has a passion for cooking and baking and now spends her days cooking cakes and spending time with family.