THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, February 1, 1996 TAG: 9602030284
SECTION: THE AFRICAN AMERICAN TODAYPAGE: 08 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Special section
SOURCE: BY CHARLISE LYLES
LENGTH: Long : 170 lines
Here are your heroes of African-American history.
Scores responded to The Virginian-Pilot's call for blacks making history in Hampton Roads.
You told us about neighbors, friends, spouses, parents.
Many are heroes whose courage and diligent civic commitment have received media attention: former Chesapeake Vice Mayor Hugo Owens, Norfolk State University President Dr. Harrison B. Wilson; attorney J. Hugo Madison, who fought segregation in Norfolk Public Schools, a state park and other public facilities; Norfolk Judge G. Jones Jackson, the first black woman to serve in an area General District Court; State Sen. Yvonne Miller, the first black woman to be elected to the General Assembly.
Others, like Norfolk's Evelyn T. Butts, who fought the state poll tax to the U.S. Supreme Court, have gone on.
But most of the people you told us about are unsung heroes who quietly and determinedly write their chapter of history every day.
Some are young'uns who have moved fast to make a mark. Others are golden, 60, 70, 80 years old.
Perhaps their stories are to be most treasured, for they are the living archives of the modern civil rights movement. They marched alongside Martin Luther King Jr. They shivered at his words. They knew somebody who knew Malcolm X. Or somebody in SNCC.
Individuals who wanted to prove their mettle in a society that promised equal treatment to all, many broke color lines. They were ``the first,'' paving the way for the second, third and so on.
Each is a grio, an African word meaning storyteller. Before they slip away, their stories ought to heard.
If you're a high school history teacher, invite them to your class to teach students the courage of conviction. If you're a radio host, have them on the air. If you're a business, make a donation to a worthy cause in their honor.
As a resident, you can submit their moniker to rename local streets, roads and highways. Teenage entrepreneurs can design a T-shirt, praising their contributions.
The history-making heroes you told us about reflect the values of African-Americans in Hampton Roads, from the church to business, community service and the arts.
The fight for freedom demands high maintenance of the spirit. Clergy came easily to mind for many of you, people like Bishop Barbara M. Amos, pastor of Faith Deliverance Christian Center in Norfolk. Her Master's Touch Learning Center preschool and Faith Academy School of Excellence focus on foreign language, math and science and the word of the Lord.
The Rev. Lola Morgan Gordon was one of the first women to be ordained assistant minister by the Council of Baptist Churches.
In Portsmouth, Talitha Talley felt that her father Pentecostal Bishop Thomas E. Talley has worked his way into history by guiding two congregations and serving on the Portsmouth School Board.
But the spirit's no good without the body. The names of Dr. Oswald W. Hoffler and Phillip Brooks are inevitable in any discussion of black health care in Hampton Roads.
As president of Norfolk Community Hospital, Brooks has steered over rough financial roads for many of his 26 years. Hoffler served as the hospital's medical and surgical director for nearly 40 years. Though retired now, on any day you can find him in the hospital, still deeply involved in its affairs. The surgery suite is named in his honor.
Sentara Norfolk General trauma surgeon L.D. Britt and dentist Dr. Kenneth T. Boyd have made their marks, too.
Educators remain black America's first line of defense against injustice. Hampton Roads history brims with teachers who taught pride and academics by day, and continued the mentoring and nurturing into the evenings for needy students who sometimes didn't even have homes.
``It was because of persons like Dr. G. W. C. Brown, a founder of Norfolk State University, that many young African Americans are college graduates today,'' writes Johnnie Q. Branch. ``He found jobs for them, encouraged them, acted as a mentor for them, and was just there for them. He was a leader, businessman, helper, model and a great person.
Mae Haywood at I.C. Norcom High School in Portsmouth thought of William E. Water, elected school principal in 1942. During his tenure, the school improved so much that it was considered ``one of the best schools in all Virginia,'' according to newspaper editorials.
Delta Sigma Theta Sorority pointed to the quality of NSU instructors. Dr. Marian Palmer Capps was a professor of English at NSU. She set up an honors and intensive learning programs. Capps also made philanthropic and humanitarian efforts, such as a college scholarship and the Norfolk Community Hospital's Mammography Wing in memory of her husband, Dr. John W. Capps.
Jocelyn Pretlow Goss also taught English, publishing numerous articles and two books on reading and rhetoric.
The Deltas also singled out Mildred Dudley Peters and Alice Ferguson for their contributions to Norfolk Public Schools. Ferguson was the first black female to qualify and teach driver education in schools, among many other achievements.
Raynell Hargrave in Portsmouth wanted Churchland Middle School teacher Lena Williams to be recognized. She was Virginia's 1991 Teacher of the Year, and national runner-up.
Lee Starkey, a retired utilities executive, praised Junius H. Williams, Virginia Power's director of community and government affairs.
Williams served in Vietnam and left active duty as a captain. In the reserves, he served as aide-de-camp to the 80th Division commanding general.
Thysha Shabazz's black-history hero is her father. Bernard Karriem Shabazz is ``a self-employed black man, whose business, A & S Hauling and Roofing, has succeeded for 10 years,'' the 14-year-old writes. Also, he has been ``a devoted muslim for 25 years.''
Some sent in names of noble community servants.
William T. Mason Jr. will never forget his parents' strong stand against local school segregation. ``When I reached 5, my mother took me to New York City to attend public schools,'' he writes.
Later, Vivian Carter Mason returned to Norfolk, founding innumerable organizations and programs aimed at advancing black women in economics and politics.
Among them were Women for Political Action and The Committee of 100 Women. She also founded and served as the first president of the Women's Council for Interracial Cooperation. She died in 1992.
Bea Jennings and Bea Garvin were not about to watch their old Huntersville neighborhood come crumbling down to crime and other urban problems. Mother and daughter packed up their suburban life and moved back to the inner city.
The results: rehabilitated homes, 40 new houses, block security, youth projects. They're still busy. Their efforts are renowned.
Wanda Golden wanted the tireless efforts of her mother Gertrude Armstrong-Golden to be recognized. A native of Suffolk, Armstrong-Golden is devoted to providing substance-abuse treatment to women and children. She's developed after-school programs and summer computer camp. The holiday season always finds her delivering hefty food baskets to needy families.
What about the music of the struggle?
No mountains could be moved, no waters parted without creative genius. Doris Jerlene Harding, a Portsmouth strings teacher, founded TAMS, the Tidewater Area Muscians orchestra, and cultivated sometimes restless students into classical, jazz and gospel musicians.
They played symphony and soul. In December, Harding passed away. Her legacy plays on.
Finally, Barbara-Marie Green of Virginia Beach was just a woman Jacqueline Sebastian met on a bus. But when Green read her poems, Sebastian was sure she heard history talking.
The retired teacher, journalist and arts magazine publisher had some thoughts of her own about who goes down in history.
``I once read that those of us who live under the laws enacted rarely write history,'' said Green. ``History is usually written by the powerful, the kings, the mayors. But it doesn't have to be that way.''
ILLUSTRATION: Photos
Hon. G. Jones Jackson achieved a legal milestone.
Harrison B. Wilson is president of Norfolk State University.
Lena Williams was Virginia's 1994 Teacher of the Year.
Jocelyn Pretlow Goss taught English and published two books.
Marian Palmer Capps was a teacher and humanitarian.
Rev. Lola Morgan Gordon was one of the first women to be ordained.
Bishop Thomas E. Talley served on the Portsmouth School Board.
Junius H. Williams Jr. of Virginia Power served in Vietnam.
Vivian Carter Mason was a political crusader for women.
Attorney J. Hugo Madison fought segregation.
Gertrude Armstrong Golden, top, with daughter Wanda Golden, provides
substance-abuse treatment.
Dr. Oswald W. Hoffler served at Norfolk Community Hospital for
nearly 40 years.
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HISTORY BLACK HISTORY by CNB