[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 71 (Tuesday, May 2, 1995)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E928]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



[[Page E928]]

                     Dr. E. ALMA FLAGG--ROLE MODEL

                                 ______


                          HON. DONALD M. PAYNE

                             of new jersey

                    in the house of representatives

                          Tuesday, May 2, 1995
  Mr. PAYNE of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased and honored to 
inform my colleagues of a special event that was held this past 
weekend. It was the recognition of a woman who has touched the lives of 
generations of residents of the greater Newark, NJ community. This 
genteel woman is Dr. E. Alma Flagg.
  Dr. E. Alma Williams Flagg was born in City Point, VA, to the late 
Hannibal Greene Williams and Caroline Moody Williams. She and her 
family, which included a sister and three brothers, later settled in 
Newark, NJ. The traditional family has always been a source of support 
and it was no different in Dr. Flagg's family. Her widowed mother 
provided the love, support, encouragement and inspiration that enabled 
Dr. Flagg to excel.
  Dr. Flagg is a graduate of Newark's East Side High School where she 
became a member of the National Honor Society, served as class poet and 
was voted most likely to succeed. She continued her education at Newark 
State College. She earned her master's degree at Montclair State 
College and the doctor's degree from Columbia University.
  Her full-time teaching career began in Washington, DC but she 
returned to Newark, NJ in 1943 and taught and served as a school 
administrator in all wards of the city. Throughout her career she has 
been a trail blazer. In 1964 she was appointed principal of the 
integrated Hawkins Street School. She became the first African-American 
woman to hold that distinction. Her appointment as assistant 
superintendent in charge of curriculum services in 1967 was also a 
milestone. In 1985 a new elementary school was dedicated and named for 
her.
  Dr. E. Alma Flagg's life is filled with acts that prove she has made 
a difference. Although retired, she continues to give of herself. Her 
days are filled with church, community, and various committee work. Her 
love for life and its participants is evident in her poetry. She and 
her late husband, Dr. J. Thomas Flagg, have raised two outstanding 
children--Dr. Thomas L. Flagg, a professor of psychology at Eastern 
Michigan University, and Luisa Flagg Foley, a Spanish teacher at Cherry 
Hill High School.
  Mr. Speaker, I am sure my colleagues would have joined me as I gave 
my best wishes to an outstanding human being and consummate role model, 
Dr. E. Alma Flagg.


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