[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 12 (Friday, January 20, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1252-S1253]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
TRIBUTE TO RUBYE ELIZABETH STUTTS-LYELLS
Mr. COCHRAN. Mr. President, on December 22, Mississippi lost one of
its most outstanding citizens when Mrs. Rubye Stutts-Lyells passed
away. She was a personal friend of mine, but she was also a friend of
many, and was one of the real leaders in our State in many areas of
activity and interest. She took a very active role in helping to
improve the opportunities for everyone in our State through her work in
civic, cultural, religious, and political endeavors.
While I was not able to attend her funeral, which was described as
``The Celebration of Triumph,'' which was held in Jackson, MS, members
of my staff did represent me on this occasion and sent me a copy of the
program which contains a very fine and sensitive obituary.
In memory of Mrs. Lyells, I ask unanimous consent, Mr. President,
that a copy of the obituary and the program, ``The Celebration of
Triumph, Mrs. Rubye Elizabeth Stutts-Lyells,'' be printed in the
Record.
There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in
the Record, as follows:
The Celebration of Triumph--Mrs. Rubye Elizabeth Stutts-Lyells
1:00 p.m.: Special Ceremonies conducted by Beta Delta Omega
Chapter, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., Mrs. H. Ann Jones,
President.
program
order of services
(Dr. Lelia Gaston Rhodes, Presiding)
Prelude
Processional
Scriptures: Old and New Testaments, The Reverend Dr. Leon
Bell, Pastor, New Mt. Zion Baptist Church, Jackson,
Mississippi.
Prayer.
Solo: Mr. L.L. Knowles.
Tributes:
Alcorn State University, Dr. Walter Washington, President
Emeritus' Dr. R.E. Waters, Interim President.
``As a Friend and Physician,'' Robert Smith, M.D., Director
and Chief of Staff, Mississippi Family Health Center.
Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., Mrs. Mildred B. Kelly,
Beta Delta Omega Chapter.
Solo: Mrs. Rose Knowles White.
Acknowledgements: Ms. Renalda Jaynes.
Obituary, Interlude: Read Silently.
Solo: ``The Lord's Prayer,'' Mr. Jobie Martin.
The Christian Science Message: Mr. Harold Karyes, reader.
Funeral Directors of Peoples in Charge.
Recessional.
Postlude: Mrs. Princess B. Gwynn, organist.
acknowledgements
The family of the late Mrs. Rubye E. Stutts-Lyells extends
loving gratitude to all friends, neighbors, and church
members who have provided ongoing comfort and have displayed
innumerable acts of kindness during her illness and our
bereavement. We thank you today, tomorrow and always. May
God's richest blessings of good health, happiness and hope
for 1995 be with you!
____
Obituary
Mississippi's claim to a segment of intellectual
prominence, perhaps can be best described in the polished
craftsmanship of some of the progenitors who suffered with
dignity, with poise, with scholarship and a demeanor of
elegance, the complexes, and atrocities of Mississippi's
intricate maze of social classes, racial differences, poverty
and ignorance.
So to chronicle the life of a scholar, par excellence, who
was a major player in the saga of change in Mississippi,
historians must thoroughly research data for future
generations, the multifaceted experiences of the stature of
Mrs. Rubye E. Stutts-Lyells. Mrs. Lyells was born Rubye
Elizabeth to the late Tom and Rossie A. Cowan Stutts in
Anding, a crossroad village in Yazoo County, Mississippi. Her
parents had two sets of twins; one set of whom Mrs. Lyells
was the older. All sisters preceded her in death. Mr. Tom
Stutts was a prominent progressive farmer known throughout
the deep South.
Mrs. Lyells' early education was begun at Utica Institute
where in 1923 she completed both the eighth and ninth grades,
and in 1924 completed the tenth and the eleventh grades. In
1925 she graduated as Valedictorian of her class.
During the fall semester of the same year Mrs. Lyells'
parents enrolled her in the former Alcorn A&M College (now
Alcorn State University) where she graduated in 1929 as
Valedictorian of her class. Following graduation from Alcorn,
she matriculated at Hampton Institute as a Julius Rosenwald
Fellow and in 1930 was conferred the degree of Bachelor of
Science in Library Science. She immediately returned to her
Alama Mater as the first professionally trained African
American Librarian in the State of Mississippi. Mrs. Lyells
worked assiduously to bring the library in compliance with
standards of professional accrediting agencies, both on the
state and regional levels. Much of her work became a model
for collection development in other Black Land Grant
Colleges.
Mrs. Lyells has been at the forefront of almost every
significant educational, social, and political advancement
made in Mississippi during the past half century. To be on
the cutting edge of advancements in the field of
librarianship, she took a leave of absence from Alcorn to
enroll in the Masters of Arts Library degree program at the
University of Chicago where she graduated with distinction in
1942.
Mrs. Lyells' services, as the state's only African American
librarian, were in great demand throughout the nation.
However, her immediate decision was to stay in Mississippi to
serve as a catalyst in helping to raise the standards of
academic and public libraries. She served with distinction as
head librarian at Jackson State University as the first
African American Librarian to head a branch of the Jackson
Municipal Library System; acting librarian at the Atlanta
Public Library System and Special Assistant Librarian at the
Iowa State University Library.
Mrs. Lyells' persistent pioneering efforts for
professionalism among African American librarians and her
emphasis on quality, available public library resources and
facilities for all people were met with apathy, hostility and
out-right resistance by those who viewed her ``call for
change'' as threatening to their way of life--as recounted by
Clarence Hunter and the editor of the Jackson Advocate, Mr.
Tisdale--``Mississippi's Library Heritage--Rubye E. Stutts
Lyells--A Woman For All Seasons'' She was adamant in her
views that librarians should be treated as professionals;
that if historically black colleges are to carry out their
mission, they should by statutory mandate be funded at a
level to acquire and maintain quality libraries.
As a world traveler, noteworthy among her distinguished
affiliations were: Executive Director, Mississippi State
Council on Human Rights; member of the Mississippi Women
League of Voters, President, Mississippi Federated Clubs,
President of Terrell Literary Club; a post president of Beta
Delta Omega Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.;
Alcorn State University National Alumni Association, Inc. and
the University of Chicago Alumni Association, Inc. She was
the recipient of numerous citations and awards. Mrs. Lyells
was a candidate for nomination to the Mississippi Senate in
1975; attended the Republican National Convention in 1952 and
was invited to the Inauguration of President Dwight D.
Eisenhower in 1953. In 1970 she served on the Advisory
Committee of the Co-chairman of the Republican National
Convention (In 1969 she was a delegate to the Southern
Republican Conference in New Orleans). In 1979, Mrs. Lyells
was appointed to the Mayor's Advisory Committee in Jackson.
She is listed in numerous scholarly publications which
include Marquis Who's Who; The World Who's Who of Women,
Cambridge, England, 1978, p. 724. She was a prolific writer.
Many of her articles appeared in refereed journals.
Mrs. Lyells served on the Board of Trustees of Prentiss
Institute. The Library is
[[Page S1253]] named in her honor. The Doctor of Humanities
(L.H.D.) degree was conferred on her from Prentiss Institute.
She was married to M. J. Lyells, a long-time professor at
Alcorn A&M College and Lanier High School. She was a member
of the Christian Science faith having joined the Mother
Church in Boston, Massachusetts with local affiliation in
Jackson.
Following an extended illness, Mrs. Lyells demise came
Friday, December 22, 1994 at Englewood Manor Nursing Home.
Survivors include a niece, Mrs. Rose Knowles White, Baton
Rouge, LA; grand-nieces: Ms. Angela Denise White, San
Francisco, CA, Ms. Ann Rossie White of Chicago, IL; one
nephew, Mr. Leon Stutts Knowles, Los Angeles, CA (Dana);
brother-in-law, Mr. L. L. Knowles; a special daughter-nieces,
Mrs. Alice Stutts Jaynes, Jackson, MS; a special cousin, Mr.
Renalda Jaynes of Jackson, MS and additional relatives and
friends.
Mr. COCHRAN. Mr. President, in conclusion, let me simply say that one
mark of the courage and interest in the political development of our
State was illustrated by Mrs. Lyells' active and conspicuous
participation in the development of the modern Republican Party in
Mississippi.
As an African-American, she took a stand and defended it with grace
and with dignity and with intelligence, in a way that reflected credit
on many of us who were actively involved in trying to build a new
political party as a vehicle for political expression for our State and
the citizens of our State at the national level. For that, I also will
be forever grateful to her and to her family.
Mr. President, I yield the floor.
____________________