[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 139 (Tuesday, October 1, 1996)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1885-E1886]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 TRIBUTE TO GARLAND VERNON G.V. STEWART

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. ALCEE L. HASTINGS

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                       Monday, September 30, 1996

  Mr. HASTINGS of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to 
one of the greatest Americans who ever lived, Mr. Garland Vernon G.V. 
Stewart, who departed this life on September 12, 1996. I make this 
distinction without the slightest hesitance, for Mr. Stewart embodied 
all the things that good people consider great.
  Though born at a time when few African-Americans were expected to, or 
even allowed to, seek high academic training, Mr. Stewart was an 
educated man, having received degrees from two of the most prominent 
institutions in the South, Atlanta University and Morehouse College. 
More significant for a man of his era and circumstances, he also 
received a masters degree from the University of Michigan. Thus, it can 
be said that Mr. Stewart was truly a learned man. But education was not 
what made Mr. Stewart a great man. Rather, it was how he used his 
education to serve others, that made him great.
  For almost half a century, G.V. Stewart committed himself to the 
education and uplifting of his community and his race. From school 
teacher, to principal, to the first African-American administrator in 
Hillsborough County, FL, he inspired his students and those around him 
to seek a better life, and to make life better for others. He believed, 
as most great men know, that it was his responsibility to reach back 
for others as others had reached back for him. In this regard, he used 
his influence, and his own personal resources to ensure that young 
African-American men and women who desired a college education received 
one. Many of those individuals are today very successful lawyers, 
doctors, politicians, judges, and educators, whose debt of gratitude 
can never be repaid. My own debt of gratitude spans a life time. When I 
decided to run for the U.S. Senate in 1970, Mr. Stewart was stalwart in 
his support of me: When others asked, ``Why?,'' Mr. Stewart asked, 
``Why not?'' Not only did he encourage me to seek public office, but he 
backed me financially. As a Federal judge, I was often blessed with Mr. 
Stewart's wise council, and when I was elected to the U.S. Congress, no 
one was more proud than him.

  To say that Mr. Stewart was a community activist is like saying that 
Ghandi was a philosopher. He was. And in his activism there was genuine 
purpose and there was great vision. The world, owing so much of its 
progress to men like G.V. Stewart, will miss his vision and his 
commitment to serving others--the way he sought to build bridges 
between people of different orientations. But what it will miss most is 
the great love that exemplified his life--bestowed not just upon his 
family and close friends, but those who simply came in contact with 
him, and many who never did. His legacy is large: the number of 
Florida's community leaders, educators and other professionals who were 
influenced by G.V. Stewart is too great to list.
  The world is a better place for knowing G.V. Stewart, and heaven is a 
better place for welcoming him. I take pride in honoring my mentor, my 
friend, and a man who claimed me as

[[Page E1886]]

a son. I join Congressman Sam Gibbons, Mr. Stewart's close personal 
friend and Representative, in saluting the life of G.V. Stewart, a 
great man.

                          ____________________