DATE: Thursday, September 25, 1997          TAG: 9709240147

SECTION: SUFFOLK SUN             PAGE: 03   EDITION: FINAL 

TYPE: THUMBS UP 

SOURCE: BY SHIRLEY BRINKLEY, STAFF WRITER 

                                            LENGTH:   84 lines

HATTIE P. WEST HONORED STATE'S LEGISLATIVE BLACK CAUCUS, NAACP

While chopping weeds on her father's farm in Greensville County, Hattie P. West began to carve out plans for the future.

The fourth of nine children, West was only five-years-old when she started doing chores in the fields and at home..

``We felt it was a hard life,'' West said. ``We felt there was something better than being out in the hot sun. One day, I saw the mailman coming down the road. I told my siblings that he had a profession, and I was going to be just like that mailman. I would have something else to do.''

West was true to her word.

On Nov. 1, 1947, West moved to Suffolk and became the first black home economics agent in Nansemond County, and in 1977, was appointed the first black program leader in home economics in Virginia.

West saw a need for a housing program in Suffolk, wrote a proposal and applied to Virginia State College in Petersburg for funds to hire, train and supervise eight housing technicians for the first program of its kind in Virginia. She also assisted with the establishment of the Southeast 4-H Educational Center in Wakefield.

In recognition of her leadership and lifetime commitment to service in the community, the Virginia Legislative Black Caucus and the NAACP recently recognized West at ``The Tribute to Women of Distinction and An Evening with Maya Angelou and Daphne Maxwell-Reid'' in Richmond. The event honored women in Virginia and across the country.

From early childhood, West said that her mother stressed the value of an education to her children.

West graduated as salutatorian from the Greensville County Training School in 1943, received a four-year scholarship, and earned a bachelor's degree in home economics at Virginia State College. She was later hired as a cooperative extension agent.

``When I first came to Suffolk, I worked with adults in the whole area of home economics and with children in 4-H,'' she said. ``I taught foods and nutrition, health, and interior decorating.''

Through West's Housing Environment Project, she worked mainly with the needy, teaching them to paint, wallpaper, make drapes and lamp shades.

``We visited people, had group meetings, and formed home demonstration clubs,'' West said. ``Technicians went into the homes and the people were so receptive. We could show them something so insignificant, such as putting casters on furniture to move, and clean under wood boxes for stoves, and they got great satisfaction out of that.''

West laughed as she told of a group who wanted to learn to can meats in the home.

``It was supposed to be a learning experience and I told them they would have to bring their meats,'' West said, ``but when I got there, they had enough different kinds of pork for me to can for two or three days.''

Married to Whitt A. West in 1960, she continued her education by taking courses in both cooperative extension programs and administration at Cornell University, Colorado University, and the University of Wisconsin.

Prior to her appointment as program leader in home economics, West received a master's degree at the University of Maryland.

``My role changed and I supervised extension agents in 17 cities and counties,'' she said. ``My job involved quite a bit of traveling as the headquarters was in Blacksburg. However, I enjoyed being out working with the lay person. I went with agents to visit groups and observed programs.''

Throughout her career, West has received national honors and awards for her work from both state and national associations of extension home economists and 4-H agents, the South Atlantic Regional Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc., Virginia State Human Ecology Department, and American Home Economics Association.

After 37 years of service, West retired in 1984 to care for her elderly mother. Her husband, a retired local businessman, suffered a stroke and became disabled in 1991.

West has remained active in community service work, however. A member of the East End Baptist Church, she is involved with Suffolk Meals on Wheels and is on the planning advisory council of SEVAMP and the Retired Senior Volunteer Program (RSVP). Area captain of the American Heart Association, she is also chief of the Voter Precinct in the Hollywood area, and a member of the Paul D. Camp Community College Board, and the National, Eastern, and Suffolk Chapter of the Links Inc.

``My hobby has always been clothing construction,'' West said, ``but I'm also an outdoors person who loves swimming, traveling and working in the yard.'' ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by JOHN H. SHEALLY II

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