[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 84 (Tuesday, June 17, 1997)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1225]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               HONORING AARON EDD JACKSON HENRY, ``DOC''

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. MIKE PARKER

                             of mississippi

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, June 17, 1997

  Mr. PARKER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor a very special man and 
a great American who has recently passed away. Aaron Edd Jackson Henry, 
better known to friends and family as ``Doc,'' was born July 2, 1922, 
and died May 19, 1997.
  During his life, Doc Henry served as 1 of the 200 U.S. soldiers 
during World War II to live in a multiracial experiment leading to the 
1945 congressional bill outlawing segregated military housing, he 
organized the Coahoma County Branch of the NAACP in 1953, he was 
president emeritus of the Mississippi State Conference NAACP, and he 
owned and operated the Fourth Street Drug Store which is famous locally 
for being a center of civil rights activity.
  Doc Henry also served on numerous other boards and organizations, 
such as the National Caucus and Center for Black Aged, the Federal 
Council on Aging, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, the 
Southern Regional Council, the Mississippi Council on Human Relations, 
Mississippi Action for Progress, Inc., and the Civic Communications 
Corp. He was involved in such civic organizations as the American 
Legion, the Elks, the Masonic Order, the Veterans of Foreign Wars, and 
Omega Psi Phi Fraternity. Yet through all of this community 
involvement, he still made personal time for his wife, Noelle Celestine 
Henry, and his daughter, Rebecca Elizabeth Henry.
  Doc Henry's quest for equality took him across the Nation and around 
the world. He was instrumental in enacting laws that impacted the core 
of human rights in our Nation. For these accomplishments, he has been 
recognized with honorary doctorates from Mississippi Baptist Seminary, 
Tougaloo College, Rust College, Mary Homes College, Prentiss Institute, 
Queens College, and Boston University. He also received accolades such 
as the Distinguished Mississippians Award, the Clarksdale Hall of Fame 
Award, the NAACP's Living Legacy Award, the Jammie Whitten Award, and 
the prestigious Hubert H. Humphrey Award.
  Though the voice of a great humanitarian has ceased to resound to 
believers of civil rights everywhere, Doc Henry will live forever in 
our hearts and memories.

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