[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 117 (Friday, August 2, 1996)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1464]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      HONORING NELLIE A. THORNTON

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. ELIOT L. ENGEL

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                         Friday, August 2, 1996

  Mr. ENGEL. Mr. Speaker, Nellie A. Thornton was a wonderful person who 
labored long and hard for her community and the people in it. Her 
influence and good works spread beyond the borders of Mount Vernon, 
where she lived and taught, to being named as one of the 100 most 
influential black leaders in the Nation.
  She was the first black woman principal to be hired in Mount Vernon, 
NY, and she served as a principal there for 22 years. She was the 
organizer and first president of the Greater Hudson Valley Chapter of 
Links, Inc., where she was instrumental in organizing a program to 
bring children to visit parents in the Bedford Hills Correctional 
Center.
  As a member of the Grace Baptist Church, she was selected by the 
church to the Wall of Honor for her faithfulness and dedication. She 
was also invited to the signing of the 1991 Civil Rights bill by then 
President Bush and by President Clinton to his Inauguration. The city 
of Mount Vernon declared March 29, 1989, as Nellie Thornton Day.
  She is especially missed by her husband, Daniel Thornton, and their 
children, Danielle and Gabrielle, and by all of us who know of the 
great work she has done. To further honor her memory, Mount Vernon is 
renaming a school in her honor and on May 29, 1996, will officially 
open the Nellie Arzelia Thornton Elementary School. What she has done 
is an inspiration to all who want to further the goal of making America 
a truly equal home for all its peoples. Her name and her spirit lives 
on, and for this we should all be thankful.

                          ____________________