DATE: Friday, March 21, 1997                TAG: 9703240204

SECTION: PORTSMOUTH CURRENTS     PAGE: 02   EDITION: FINAL 

COLUMN: IDA KAY'S PORTSMOUTH 

SOURCE: Ida Kay Jordan 

                                            LENGTH:   72 lines

MUSEUM WOULD HELP PORTSMOUTH CELEBRATE ITS FASCINATING PAST

The plan to develop the African American Museum of Virginia in Portsmouth is good. It's a major undertaking, and the people who have set it into motion are going to need a lot of help from everybody.

In the first place, they'll need some money to generate more money, whether from gifts or from grants. They need to buy a building, and then they need to refurbish it. Then they'll need to acquire artifacts for display and hire somebody to create exhibits. And, of course, expenses will be ongoing because you can't operate a museum without full-time staff.

As Margaret Gatling said Monday, the committee for the museum believes the museum should be on downtown High Street because it would be in keeping with the activities already in place. It would fit into the area and be attractive to visitors.

Portsmouth's black history is fascinating. Some years ago when I first sat down to write some stories for Black History Month, I was absolutely amazed to find more material than I could use.

From the 17th century to now, there have been black people who made a difference, often struggling against odds.

Two Portsmouth men were recognized as Revolutionary War heroes. Later, black men joined the Union's ``Colored Troops,'' some stationed right here in Portsmouth. J.H. Greene, a seaman during the Spanish-American War, was a decorated veteran.

One of the most interesting displays in a new museum would be the black men who emerged as leaders after the Civil War. Who were the six who served on City Council between 1865 and 1895? Or the three who were state delegates?

What about the story of All-American football player William H. Lewis, who played for Amherst and Harvard? Born a slave in Portsmouth, he received a law degree from Harvard, served in the Massachusetts legislature and became friends with President Theodore Roosevelt, who appointed him assistant U.S. attorney in 1903.

A section on the railroad development here that attracted a growing black middle class around the turn of the century would be interesting. And what happened to blacks in Portsmouth during the first and second World Wars?

How did a Portsmouth man, Joseph Jenkins Roberts, become the first black governor of Liberia? He later was elected the first president of the independent republic in 1847.

And how about Sissieretta Jones, a famous diva in the 1890s who had a command performance at the White House? Her success story is dimmed by the fact that she never got to sing at The Metropolitan Opera because she was black.

One of Portsmouth's most famous faces is that of Graham Jackson, who played the accordion along the funeral route of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The picture of him with a tear rolling down his cheek has been printed in many places over the past 50 years.

Another contemporary with a famous face - and voice - is Ruth Weston Brown, the R&B and jazz singer who won a Tony Award and a Grammy Award in the same year for ``Black and Blue'' on Broadway and its music on compact disc.

Then there's Charles Harris, who founded Amistad Press in New York and who publishes an outstanding catalog of books by and about African Americans. And Dr. Julian Earls, a NASA health division chief, who was among the first group voted into the National Black College Hall of Fame along with Martin Luther King Jr., Leontyne Price and Justice Thurgood Marshall.

The list goes on and on - and I haven't even mentioned local folks who now are very vocal and hard-working citizens. Nor have I mentioned today's politicians, such as Mayor Jim Holley, Vice Mayor Johnny Clemons and many others.

Everybody has a story, and most successful blacks have really good ones. I think the proposed museum would be interesting to everyone, not just local blacks.

Done properly, it also could be a wonderful teaching place for youngsters. And I think that's really what it ought to be about.

Young people here need to know what kind of stock they come from. A museum encompassing the right items and the right research could do just that.

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