THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, November 10, 1994 TAG: 9411080086
SECTION: NORFOLK COMPASS PAGE: 09 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY LARRY W. BROWN, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 53 lines
Dorothy Williams can barely contain herself.
With this weekend's 100th anniversary of Unitarian Universalists' first black churches in Norfolk and Suffolk, she will have the chance to honor her great-grandfather, Joseph Fletcher Jordan, who helped found the Suffolk church.
``I feel really good,'' said Williams, of Suffolk. ``He's done a lot for the people who have lived in Suffolk. I think it's going to be a beautiful centennial celebration.''
The anniversary celebrates The First Universalist Church of Norfolk and St. Paul's Universalist Church of Suffolk. They were founded by black ministers, the Rev. Joseph Jordan and Thomas E. Wise, who both sponsored day schools at the churches.
Wise, along with Joseph Fletcher Jordan (no relation to the first Jordan) and his daughter Annie B. Willis, also started the Suffolk church and school in 1894.
``The Suffolk school,'' said Willard Frank, an ODU history professor. ``was for many decades an important element in the education of Universalists about black people, their lives and their contributions.''
Members of the Jordan and Willis families as well as parents, graduates, teachers from the former Jordan school and community members will be part of this weekend's celebration.
Williams said relatives from as far away as Washington and New York are coming to take part.
``The idea behind the Unitarian church was to serve the community and the empowerment of the black community,'' said Frank, who has done extensive research on the faith's history.
Many blacks from the community once attended the Jordan schools, which were funded by parents who paid a nickel a week, Frank said.
Over the years, about 8,000 to 10,000 students attended the Jordan school, which closed its doors in the 1980s. ``The school stopped because of educational opportunities that came about from integration,'' Frank said. ``The tightness of the black community weakened.''
The faith did not begin attract larger numbers of blacks until the 1880s. Although black Universalists and most white Universalists wanted the faith to prosper in the black community, that did not happen, Frank stated.
The churches in Norfolk and Suffolk are integrated, and this weekend will celebrate the efforts of the blacks and whites in the faith's history.
Open registration begins on Friday at 3 p.m. Highlights will include tours, guest speakers and worship services in Norfolk and Suffolk. For more information, contact the Jordan Centennial Committee at 627-5371. by CNB