THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, March 11, 1996 TAG: 9603110042
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
TYPE: Profile
SOURCE: BY JEFF HAMPTON, CORRESPONDENT
DATELINE: ELIZABETH CITY LENGTH: Long : 190 lines
Whittier Crockett ``W.C.'' Witherspoon doesn't believe in saying no.
Born on the fourth of July 83 years ago, Witherspoon has been involved in enough community activities to earn him more than six decades' worth of honors and respect.
An assortment of plaques hangs on almost every wall of Witherspoon's home, testaments to the commitments he has made in a lifetime of service. And the Pasquotank County commissioner remains an active member in more than a dozen organizations.
``I believe you should help others with all your might,'' Witherspoon drawled last week.
That philosophy keeps the longtime educator and statesman on an extra-full schedule. He goes out so much, in fact, that he remains in a shirt and tie all day - even if he gets time to work in the garden.
His sister-in-law gave him collarless shirts for Christmas in an attempt to get him to dress casually now and then. He's worn one once.
He can't help but remain dapper, Witherspoon says. He learned from his father to be a gentleman - and to dress like one. His father also passed on a devotion to public service.
Opening his calendar on Wednesday, Witherspoon reviewed his schedule. Leronia, his wife of 35 years, makes sure he gets to his appointed meetings as a secretary would - a demanding, but unpaid, position, she jokingly points out.
8 a.m.: Pasquotank County Commissioners' meeting. Witherspoon had to miss a meeting of the Hope Group, which he chairs, scheduled for the same time.
12:30 p.m.: Interview with a newspaper reporter.
2 p.m.: Reception for Doug Fairfax, departing head of Albemarle Hospital.
4:30 p.m.: Ribbon cutting.
5:30 p.m.: Meeting of the Schoolmasters' Club, of which he is president.
7 p.m.: Represent county commissioners at the AME Zion Church's Albemarle Conference.
``I go like that all the time,'' Witherspoon said of his itinerary. ``That's why I look so old.''
The many people who come in contact with Witherspoon during his busy days are full of praise.
``He's a remarkable person,'' said North Carolina Rep. W.C. ``Bill'' Owens Jr., who first asked Witherspoon to run for a seat on the Pasquotank County Commission in 1987. Owens was a commissioner at the time.
``The day I asked him to run was the best day's work of my life,'' Owens said. ``He adds stability to anything he does. Time and time again when tempers flared, Mr. Witherspoon would come in and calm the waters. Largely because of his influence, that board got along very well. We felt like it was our second family.''
Witherspoon is a family man. His father, William Franklin Witherspoon, was a Methodist minister from South Carolina who spoke with a British accent. He was a man of manners and discipline, and his grammar was nearly flawless.
Money was tight during the Depression, but William Witherspoon saw to it that five of his six children - one died at 19 - graduated from college.
Though a Methodist, Witherspoon attended Johnson C. Smith college, a Presbyterian school in Charlotte, where his family lived.``It was cheaper to stay at home and go to college,'' Witherspoon said.
Not long after graduating, Witherspoon was drafted from his first teaching job to fight in the Pacific during World War II. He served honorably in the thick of combat for the U.S. Army.
In an old scrapbook, Witherspoon keeps a picture of himself and a friend, armed with rifles, entering a jungle area of an occupied Pacific island. The friend in the photo was killed that afternoon.
``There were many men who I was talking to in the morning,'' Witherspoon recalled, ``and by that evening they were dead.''
Of his time in the service, Witherspoon said he's proudest of being among three selected from 65,000 men to teach other servicemen about the G.I. Bill. Witherspoon himself used the program to get a master's degree in education from New York University.
After the war, Witherspoon served as an archivist for the White House, sorting through letters to the president. Then he became supervisor of a reform school. Later he was principal at an all-black school in Martin County.
When the school burned down, he came to Camden County to be principal of a union school for grades one through 12 in 1955.
The superintendent left Witherspoon free to run Marian Anderson High School as he saw fit. Under his leadership, the school became known for producing students of scholarship and discipline.
``We had a rule that we would train the whole child,'' Witherspoon said. ``We taught them points of etiquette and hospitality and honesty. We had pleasant discussions during lunch. They were exceedingly interested in all that.''
Witherspoon met Leronia Beasley at Marian Anderson, where she taught math and served as the school's treasurer. He and Leronia got to know each other during their rides to the bank to make deposits.
It took Witherspoon a while to persuade Leronia to go out with him. She finally agreed to let him drive her to Edenton so he could meet her parents.
``He was such a gentleman,'' Leronia said. ``My parents loved him.''
The couple were a hot item around Marian Anderson, although they did their best to keep the courtship private. She wouldn't even wear his engagement ring around the school. They were married in the summer of 1961.
The Rev. Ricky Banks of Elizabeth City had Witherspoon as his principal at Marian Anderson from the fourth grade until graduation. Banks admits he was not the best-behaved student, but he credits Witherspoon with changing his life - even influencing his decision to become a minister.
``I saw him as a great disciplinarian and a great role model,'' Banks said. ``He had his school under control. We didn't walk in the middle of the hall. We respected our elders. We took off our hats when we entered the building, and we kept our shirttails tucked in.''
Banks received a few spankings from Witherspoon, but he knew the principal cared about him as he did every other student.
``He taught us to look at people as if everybody was somebody,'' Banks said.
Witherspoon is currently president of the Schoolmasters' Club, a group of current and former principals from throughout the region who discuss school improvement ideas and share them with officials.
Witherspoon has strong ideas about how to make today's schools better.
``Discipline is a ways and means of helping young people see the beauty, the sanity, of being an example for other young people,'' said Witherspoon, his eyes nearly closed as he pondered and spoke.
``We must give young people back their self-esteem. They should have the feeling they are a part of the school, that they are an integral part of the school and its goings-on. We must encourage them to love the school and be proud of the school.
``And don't ever compare children. For example, you don't tell a child he ought to be like John because he's going to be another Einstein. You don't do that. We must tell them, `You can be anything you want if you want to be it bad enough.' ''
Witherspoon often used poetry to teach children. He loves the great poets and philosophers - Shakespeare, Chaucer, Socrates - and he quotes them all.
``My father could quote poetry for an hour and a half,'' he said, leaning back on his couch. ``I can quote for one hour.''
He began with Hamlet's famous speech: ``To be or not to be, that is the question.'' Then he went on well beyond the part that everybody knows.
He continued with a lengthy piece of ``The Raven'' by Edgar Allan Poe. With head back, eyes closed and hands behind his head, Witherspoon recited various writers for several minutes.
Witherspoon also finds time for calligraphy and playing the piano. He wrote a school song when he was principal of Marian Anderson that his students and teachers still sing at reunions.
Witherspoon retired from the school system in 1969, four years after integration, and after Marian Anderson became Camden Middle School. He had no problems with integration; he just continued with his successful philosophy.
Witherspoon immediately went to work at Elizabeth City State University, serving as dean of students until he left the school in 1975.
His career in education over, Witherspoon turned to politics.
He served with H. Rick Gardner, now mayor of Elizabeth City, on the Pasquotank County Board of Elections. Even with a Republican majority on the board some of those years, Witherspoon, a devoted Democrat, was repeatedly named chairman.
``That shows you how well Mr. Witherspoon can get along with people,'' Owens said. ``He can get along with anybody.''
Witherspoon's wife agrees.
``He is a lovely husband,'' Leronia said. ``Very sweet and very kind. Of all the misunderstandings we've had, I am the cause. If we disagree, he'll go out to the car or turn up the television.''
It was Witherspoon's desire that everyone get along better that prompted him to found the Hope Group with Cader Harris. The group's purpose is mainly to help various races, sexes and nationalities get to know each other better.
``I am tired of hearing about African American or Jewish American, and all these kinds of things,'' Witherspoon said. ``Many of us of color have never been to Africa. We know little about it. We are not African Americans, we are Americans. This is the way I feel about it.''
That's not to say Witherspoon hasn't witnessed racial injustice.
``When a race sees that they have as good a chance as any other race does in this democracy, that they can put their training to use, you're not going to have much trouble with race relations,'' he said. ``Prejudice is taught. Hate is taught. The child is the imitator.''
He believes the child is also the imitator of good - just as W.C. Witherspoon imitated his father. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo by PHOTO BY JEFF HAMPTON
W.C. Witherspoon's days are filled with meetings and ceremonies. At
83, he has devoted more than 60 years to public service.
Graphic
W.C. WITHERSPOON: A LIFE OF ACTION
Here are a few of the memberships and accomplishments of Pasquotank
County Commissioner W.C. Witherspoon, 83:
Member of the Omega Psi Phi fraternity for 60 years, first president
of the Elizabeth City State University Retirees Association, first
black chairman of the Pasquotank County Board of Elections, first
black chairman of the Pasquotank County Commissioners, trustee of
Mount Lebanon AME Zion Church, board member of Albemarle Mental
Health, member and former treasurer of the Albemarle Commission,
co-founder of the Hope Group and member of the Kiwanis Club.
Witherspoon is a recipient of the Order of the Longleaf Pine, the
highest honor the North Carolina governor can give a civilian.
KEYWORDS: PROFILE by CNB