THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, February 1, 1996 TAG: 9602010298
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Column
SOURCE: Charlise Lyles
LENGTH: Medium: 84 lines
Three o'clock in the morning. Knocking on the door, unannounced, as usual. He'd driven half the night from Rochester, N.Y., to Norfolk.
There he was smiling as if he hadn't awakened a soul.
As the rap on the door echoed to little Leonard L. Clark Jr.'s room, a smile slipped over his lips. Out of the bedcovers he dashed into his Uncle Freddie's amazing arms.
Hugs came quickly. Before dawn, Uncle Freddie launched into some dazzling lesson on physics, African history, Asian history, Sputnik and how the Russians were trying to beat the U.S. into orbit.
Spellbound, the little boy listened.
Inventor, scholar, educator and research scientist in photography, genetics, tissue culture and plastic surgery, Dr. Freddie X. Thomas left his mark on history, from a boyhood experimenting with bugs in his Berkley back yard to adulthood as a research associate at the University of Rochester School of Medicine.
Uncle Freddie is one of a trillion reasons to celebrate Black History Month, which begins today, Feb. 1.
He is the legacy of people who endured a dark, brutal passage, labored in fields, gave birth on dirt floors and were segregated.
Harsh words to hear. But more beautiful than history is harsh is the way that African Americans have risen above it.
In the name of Thomas and others like him, The Virginian-Pilot has published its first special section for Black History Month. You'll find it in today's paper. Read. Learn. Enjoy. Appreciate.
Nearly 22 years after his death, history has honored Uncle Freddie.
In September, the Rochester Board of Education named a new middle school for him. The Dr. Freddie Thomas Learning Center stands on Scio Street, a sleek brick and stone monument to a man who used his talents to motivate others.
Clark, now a 40ish Norfolk juvenile probation officer, went to Rochester to attend the school dedication festivities. All about were doctors, lawyers, teachers, young and old of every hue who had learned from Uncle Freddie.
There was even a man there who had been in trouble with the law when Uncle Freddie encouraged him to return to school. He's a chemist living in Atlanta.
They chatted about the smiling, mustachioed man in characteristic bow tie, who typically took time to talk to boys on street corners about the importance of education.
Clark remembered other lessons, some learned in Uncle Freddie's library of more than 5,000 books on every subject you could imagine. He had penned some himself, such as ``A History of the African in Asia,'' ``Negro Members of Parliament in Bermuda'' and others on tissue cultures - I won't even pretend to understand the titles. Other tomes were on religion, from Buddhism to Islam, which Thomas embraced as a Muslim.
Uncle Freddie taught lessons in his lab at Eastman Kodak. And in the kitchen.
``One day during the summer, my mother had assigned me to sweep the kitchen,'' Clark recalled. ``Of course, being young and dumb, I was reluctant to do that. I just gave it a cursory sweep through. He observed that, took me aside and encouraged me to put forth my best effort in whatever I do or I would always have to come back and do it again.
``Those are the things that stuck with me.''
Memories did Clark no good when he tried to explain where Uncle Freddie belongs in the history books.
``He was a totally unique individual. He transcended . . . '' Clark couldn't find words.
He tried again. ``He was a genius, a selfless genius . . . Of all the things he did, he felt that his greatest contribution was to talk with those who needed uplifting to realize their capabilities.''
was reluctant to do that. I just gave it a cursory sweep through. He observed that, took me aside and encouraged me to put forth my best effort in whatever I do or I would always have to come back and do it again.
``Those are the things that stuck with me.''
Memories did Clark no good when he tried to explain where Uncle Freddie belongs in the history books.
``He was a totally unique individual. He transcended . . . '' Clark couldn't find words.
He tried again. ``He was a genius, a selfless genius . . . Of all the things he did, he felt that his greatest contribution was to talk with those who needed uplifting to realize their capabilities.''
KEYWORDS: BLACK HISTORY MONTH by CNB