THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, March 5, 1995 TAG: 9503040066
SECTION: PORTSMOUTH CURRENTS PAGE: 12 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Cover Story
SOURCE: BY JANIE BRYANT, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 385 lines
After 34 years of teaching, Agnes Johnson retired and finally lived out a fantasy.
September came and Johnson could stay in bed, listening sleepily to chattering neighborhood children board school buses for a new year.
That fantasy lasted about two months. By then, Johnson had had enough of retirement.
She started out volunteering at a nearby school. Today at 60, she is an area supervisor - a sort of citywide principal - for 60 staff members and about 238 children at four Stop Organization Head Start centers.
But Johnson is not the only woman doing her part to better the community, especially those who came along in an era when life offered more challenge than opportunity for African Americans.
It wasn't enough to succeed in their own lives. The expectation was that they would reach into the community and help others to do the same.
Today, many of these women are still at work. They do not run for office or court attention for their efforts. Usually, you find them in the background.
They work in the kitchen that feeds the hungry and homeless or on the committee that looks for ways of healing racial relations.
They are tucked away in classrooms with pre-schoolers who need a head start or in music rooms where teens catch a glimpse of a world outside their own.
They are women who simply see a problem and feel a need to plug in their energies - quiet, but powerful forces who refuse to give up hope on young people or the city in which they live.
Today, we look at some of these women and ask them why. Audrey Orton This 79-year-old retired teacher remains active in the community
Because you are Black the task will arduous seem.
For the road will be stony, rough and wide.
That deters not the ones who will dream;
They plod onward and upward to stem the tide.
From a poem written as ``a challenge to young black women'' and included in a collection of poetry by Audrey Orton.
Audrey Orton likes to write poetry for special occasions or sometimes when she's upset about something and needs to work it out.
At 79, there is no reason she couldn't curl up with pen and paper in the sunlight of her Harbor Tower apartment, glancing up now and then to watch a sail or tugboat cross her riverfront view.
No reason, except that the sedentary, solitary life is not for this woman who raised two children and taught hundreds more.
``I like people and I like being with people,'' she explains.
Fortunately for her community, that has meant pitching herself full force into a lifetime of activities.
She claims to backing out of much of that now.
True she isn't on the board of directors for the Community Concert Association anymore. But she still works on the membership drive.
And after 17 years of delivering meals to homebound elderly, she's given up her spot on that board, hopefully to the next generation. But that was with the promise that she recruit volunteers for her team.
Orton's no longer on the board of the Fine Arts and Museums Commission or a museum docent either. But she still volunteers to help with the mailings and to work on the yard sale fund-raiser.
That would leave her with her work on Mount Hermon Baptist Temple's bereavement committee, which shows up and takes over the work in the kitchen whenever there is a death in the congregation.
And 10 years ago, she became the first woman to serve as a church trustee. Which means she has to get up pretty early if she's going to get to First Lutheran and help Carlotta Bryce feed the homeless and hungry and get to church services in time.
So, basically, that's it as she approaches her 80th year - Audrey Orton's idea of pulling back some.
She admits it might take her a while to really do that.
``I don't like to leave people in the lurch,'' she said.
Orton, who grew up in Eastville on the Eastern Shore, comes by her notions of community responsibility naturally.
Her mother, a teacher, was a leader of missionary groups, an active person involved in the church and the community around her.
``It became a part of me,'' Orton said.
She has seen no reason to change.
``It keeps you alert,'' she said. ``You feel young if you feel you've helped. It's part of my calling.''
Another part of that calling was to teach. Former students point to her as an inspiration, just as she points to her own mother and two aunts who taught before her.
She came to Portsmouth when her husband accepted a position as a school principal here.
The late Vernon A. Orton was principal of the S. H. Clarke Junior High School for many years and was in charge of adult education for the city when he retired.
Audrey Orton taught English for a quarter of a century at Norcom High School.
When she retired in 1976, she thought her work with the church and two organizations she belonged to would be enough.
But Orton never learned to say no, and people kept asking.
She has no regrets.
``I didn't want to just sit and rot away,'' she added. ``I've seen people retire and just do nothing. And they didn't stay here very long. Some of Orton's other activities: Member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority since 1950; longtime member of the Epicureans; honored by Church and Community in Action as one of the city's Outstanding Citizens. Agnes Johnson Former kindergarten teacher continues to give kids a head start
Agnes Johnson wipes her brow and looks a little tired, but still manages a quick pace down the hall of the HiLanders Center to a classroom where a little boy has been misbehaving.
The pre-schooler's leg is flailing in the air, as he perfects a karate kick. She pulls him gently away from the other children, telling him she needs to talk to him.
The small boy smiles up at her, delighted to see the woman who is a favorite with children at the Head Start center.
Johnson leans down and talks in a whisper, then ends their chat with a hug. If he is daunted by her grandmotherly dose of discipline, he doesn't show it.
``Can I go with you?'' he asks.
Johnson tells him not this time, but promises to come back for him later and he looks pleased.
Johnson, who retired in 1991, spent the biggest part of her years with the Newport News school system teaching kindergarten.
She, like other teachers, saw the changes over the years.
``I can remember the day all you had to do is look at a child,'' she said. ``Now that little one might say some real ugly words to you. They'll look you right in your face, my gray hair and all.''
Why come back to a profession that, however noble, has taken a beating in recent years?
``I don't care how your day is going, there will be one little bright and morning star,'' she said. ``One of the kids will do something that will erase all the frustration that you've gone through that day.
``I guess that's the reason most teachers stay in it.''
While giving 3- to 5-year-olds from low-income families preparation for their school years, the program also is designed to get parents involved early.
Johnson believes in Head Start, seeing it as a program that can make a difference in the whole family.
And a strong family contributed to Johnson's success in life.
Her parents were deeply religious and placed an emphasis on the value of education to their children.
``We did things together,'' she said. ``We were really family.''
The children were taught to look out for each other, even helping to put each other through college after their father had retired.
Six of the eight children went to college. Five became teachers.
``My dad and my mom . . . they were always there for us,'' she added. ``Everyone in the community respected them, and I was glad I was theirs.''
As they grew up and had their own families, they looked after each other's children. Johnson, who has one daughter, helped take care of her nephews after her younger sister died. She now provides a home for that same sister's granddaughters.
But the idea of taking care of each other extended beyond the family. Johnson also has opened her home to a nephew's friend from California who wanted to stay in the area to go to school and work.
``During our day everybody was everybody's Mamma,'' she said. ``Everybody respected everyone. It was a way of life in the community at that time. This younger generation is more self-centered than they are outgoing.''
Johnson adopted her sister's motto: Don't return a favor; pass it on.
That thought keeps Johnson plugging along with her church, organizations and second teaching career.
``Maybe somewhere along the line something I have done for someone, as my sister would say, will be passed on to somebody else.'' Other activities: Charter member of Delicados; member of New Bethel Baptist Church (formerly Pinners Point Baptist) Jerlene Harding She founded and directs the Tidewater Area Musicians orchestra
The chain hanging from her eyeglasses bobs on either side of her face as Jerlene Harding sings out each note in the Stevie Wonder medley her Tidewater Area Musicians orchestra is rehearsing.
``Okay, nice and full bows,'' she directs the strings in the group. ``Oooh, can't you feel it - it's so pretty.''
Obviously, they can.
The music draws them together again and again, as they tackle everything from jazz and gospel to classical music.
They thrill to the applause of audiences all over the country. And their 61-year-old director is now on another fund-raising campaign to take the whole orchestra to Germany.
There's nothing she won't do for these young people. She'll call friends, churches, clubs and corporations. She'll recruit her own family members and even their friends to fill a bus for one of their whirlwind trips to places some might never have seen.
Widening their world comes with the package. It was the same gift Harding's father gave his family.
The family could travel on the train free when she was a child because her father was a fireman for the railroad.
It was a time when many blacks didn't travel at all; a time when there were few hotel accommodations, said Agnes Johnson, Harding's sister.
But Harding's father had many good friends who offered hospitality to the family on their excursions.
``He instilled a love of travel for us,'' Harding said. ``We had such good experiences as children, this is why I think other children should have them.''
And Harding learned early that sometimes it takes the whole community pitching in to give young people the opportunities they need.
When she was in the 7th grade, the principal bought some instruments and the school picked 10 of the students that had musical talent and let them select the instrument they wanted to play.
``It was the first band for blacks in the school system,'' Harding said. ``Norcom didn't have a band at the time.
``We thought we were something, we were so proud of ourselves,'' she said. ``After we all got to Norcom then they were forced to do something to continue this band.''
The ``they,'' she refers to was the black community, not the city's school officials, Harding added. She still remembers how a group of citizens rallied around the young people and bought instruments and uniforms, then recruited a director from one of the black fraternal lodges to teach.
``I played saxophone,'' Harding said. ``They didn't have violins for us at that time.''
Years later Harding helped bring another generation of students their first school orchestra.
She had learned to play the violin at college and was teaching at S.H. Clarke Junior High when the principal, Vernon A. Orton, saw mention of her orchestra training on her transcript.
The late Orton had always wanted to see a black orchestra, Harding said.
``He asked me if I would do it,'' she said. ``So I did.''
Harding, who had developed a love of classical music as a child, got more training in orchestra strings.
``It was a challenge to me and I loved challenges,'' she said.
But there would be more challenges down the road when the school system started putting the orchestra students under the band director, probably to save money, Harding recalled.
Harding was being transferred from school to school, forced to leave orchestra students behind.
``A lot of (orchestra) students didn't get the attention I was giving them,'' she said. ``They just dropped out.''
So 20 years ago, Harding started the Tidewater Area Musicians orchestra to give them another outlet for their love of the music.
Among her first students was Karen Briggs, now a violinist for internally-known musician Yanni.
When Harding first started TAM most of the members were students she had taught at Harry Hunt or Wilson.
Now the orchestra includes a cross section of musicians from all over the area.
She worked to get many of them scholarships. But more importantly, she worked to show them there was a world outside their environment and a life beyond high school. Other activities of Jerlene Harding: Founded Portsmouth Chapter of Delicados, active in Links, member of St. James Episcopal Church and member of Portsmouth Pan Project's board of directors. Betty Wright A lifetime as a volunteer helping children
As newlyweds, Betty Wright remembers she and her husband, Joe, used to sit back and think about the things they would do when they had children.
``We decided we wanted to be totally involved in their lives,'' she said.
But the Wrights took it beyond their own children. They became totally involved in the lives of hundreds of children throughout Cavalier Manor.
They were the couple who taught children how to swim and watched over them as they splashed into the neighborhood pool. They were the couple who coached them in football, baseball and basketball.
When her husband couldn't get there because of a lung condition, Betty Wright would step in for him until he was better.
``It's just something I've been doing all my life,'' she said. ``When I met Joe and we married . . . we just saw that there were more children than there were parents that could help. And we had the time.''
They wore out three cars hauling kids around and failed several attempts to establish a nice lawn when their children were growing up.
``This is the first time in our lives, we've had grass we could admire,'' she laughed. ``We had so many children over here, it was just like a playground. Our home was everybody's home.''
They were Scout leaders and band parents.
Along with parents and young people in Cavalier Manor, the Wrights pitched in and helped gut and renovate the neighborhood's recreation center.
The Wrights volunteered for the recreation department on and off for more than 20 years and Betty Wright served as a paid recreation director there for about nine years.
Now, she has found a job near to her heart with the Stop Organization's Head Start program.
``I had retired one time, but I said `That's not for me,' '' Wright said. ``I'm just not the housewife-y type.
``I enjoy children,'' she said. ``I have a lot of love to give and I just want to do it.
And, at 56, she is considering going after a degree from Old Dominion University.
``I'll practice what I preach,'' she said. ``I'm always encouraging young people to get their education.''
``I haven't finalized what I'm going to do . . . but I really love this program,'' she said.
But when Wright leaves the classroom, her contributions to the community are not over.
As wife of the man who heads Cavalier Manor's neighborhood watch, she drives the patrol car several times a month. About three nights a week she goes up to a neighborhood nursing home to make sure the women changing shifts get to and from the building safely.
``I just can't do anything 10 percent, I've got to give it 110 percent,'' she said. ``I think that's what drains me.
``Sometimes I'm coming home and Joe's going or we're both leaving at the same time.
``I just give because I have the capacity to give,'' she said. ``The only thing I expect from some of the children is to be productive citizens and I let them know I expect that from them.
``But I won't stop loving them if they fall short.'' Other activities of Wright include: Member of First Baptist Church, Elm Avenue, chairman of publicity and church's Woman's Day Committee; member of Martha 10 Chapter, Eastern Star; member of Community Services Board. Past commandress of the Daughters of Isis, a woman's auxiliary to the Arabia Temple; she was in charge of a statewide youth division. Eloise Collins-Hall She hopes to heal old racial wounds
After 50 years of community involvement in Maryland, Eloise Collins-Hall moved back to Portsmouth to be near her aging parents.
She had dreams of what retirement would be like.
She wanted to travel to nearby places in Virginia. She wanted to learn to sew.
``I wanted to sit down and enjoy the scenery,'' she said from her condominium near the foot of High Street.
But some of the scenery from her balcony surprised her. She saw families walking to Riverfront Park, white on one side, black on the other.
It was the same kind of division she had seen as a high school student years ago, when the yellow line in the road separated white students walking to Wilson High School from black students walking to Norcom.
But it's a new day, or should be, she believes.
So the 73-year-old has joined the efforts of the city's Cultural Diversity Team, which hopes to heal old wounds and resentments that have ripped away at racial harmony in Portsmouth for too long.
The committee launched ``Face to Face on Race'' last summer, a project that brought white and black citizens together to talk, to discover common ground, while understanding differences.
For Collins-Hall, it is like turning the clock back 30 years.
``This is what we did in Washington,'' she said. ``Small groups met in homes. Then I came here and started all over again.''
Collins-Hall grew up in Truxtun, one of five children. Her father was a shipyard worker, her mother a homemaker who wanted more for her children.
Collins-Hall went to what is now Norfolk State University for a year before moving to the Washington area.
For 30 years she worked as an intelligence research aid for the State Department Bureau of Intelligence and Research.
After taking an early retirement in 1979, Collins-Hall worked as a town manager for two small Maryland towns before retiring again.
In the 1960s, she was at the forefront of the Civil Rights struggle in Washington and Maryland.
Her daughter was one of two students who integrated the secondary schools in Prince George's County.
``I would not ever do that again,'' Collins-Hall said, remembering the suffering her daughter went through breaking that barrier.
``But it was necessary,'' she said. ``It started a good system in the county. Not just black kids sitting next to white kids - that was not the purpose. The purpose was to give some equality to education.''
Collins-Hall served on the Prince George's County Human Relations Commission from 1963 to 1971 and on the Maryland Commission on Human Relations from 1972 to 1978.
She was on the U.S. Commission for Civil Rights for six years.
So why start all over again?
For one thing, Collins-Hall likes Portsmouth.
``The main thing is the lack of communication between people,'' she said. ``I hear so many people talk about the race problem, but when you go out, I don't see this race problem.
``What I do see is . . . people just not communicating to see who you are or who I am.'' Other activities of Collins-Hall include: Member of Portsmouth Chapter, American Red Cross; a past president of Portsmouth Optimist Club, ; member of West End United Methodist Church; volunteer for National Association of Federal Employees' service center which helps surviving spouses file for annuities and benefits. ILLUSTRATION: ON THE COVER
Agnes Johnson helps out at the HiLanders Center, a Head Start
program, in a picture by staff photographer Mark Mitchell.
Staff photo by MARK MITCHELL
Audrey Orton relaxes in her Harbor Tower apartment, but the
sedentary, solitary life is not for her.
Staff photo by MARK MITCHELL
Agnes Johnson shares a smile with 5-year-old Angela Newton.
Photo by GARY C. KNAPP
Jerlene Harding at work with the youngsters who play in the
Tidewater Area Musicians orchestra.
Staff photo by MARK MITCHELL
Eloise Collins-Hall has joined the efforts of the Cultural Diversity
Team.
Staff photo by MARK MITCHELL
Betty Wright works with 17 pre-schoolers in the Head Start program.
KEYWORDS: VOLUNTEERS VOLUNTEERISM WOMEN by CNB