[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 86 (Friday, June 26, 1998)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1243]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  IN RECOGNITION OF EVELYN CUNNINGHAM

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. CHARLES B. RANGEL

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, June 25, 1998

  Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, I would like to bring to your attention and 
to the attention of my colleagues here in the House, the story of a 
woman 82 years young, who was once known as ``Big East'' and the 
``Lynching Editor'' when she was a reporter for The Pittsburgh Courier. 
This dynamo of whom I speak is none other than Evelyn Cunningham.
  Evelyn Cunningham grew up in New York where she was the daughter of a 
dressmaker and a cab driver. She would come to work at The Pittsburgh 
Courier from 1940 to 1962, working out of the paper's New York City 
office at 125th Street and Seventh Avenue when not at the home office 
on the outskirts of Pittsburgh.
  When Evelyn Cunningham entered a room, you knew it. Nicknamed ``Big 
East'' because of her high heels, red hair, mink coat, and attitude, 
Ms. Cunningham was a force to be reckoned with. She was also known as 
the ``Lynching Editor'' which was a name she earned as a result of her 
stories on the fight for equal rights in the early 1960's. She reported 
on the school desegregation fight in Birmingham, Alabama, and on the 
Montgomery bus boycott.
  Presently living in Harlem where she's been a resident for the past 
40 years, Ms. Cunningham is still very much active. She serves on a 
number of boards including the Appollo Theatre Foundation and the 
Studio Museum, and just recently, was among five former Courier 
reporters accepting the George Polk Career Award when the paper was 
honored by Long Island University.
  Ms. Cunningham often prided herself on covering the hard news 
stories, but thought that the black press lacked `humor'. What did she 
do? She changed that by writing a column of commentary called, ``The 
Women.''
  Yes, Evelyn Cunningham once a star of one of the most influential 
newspapers in America, is someone to whom we can extend accolades of 
respect and admiration. This is for you Evelyn.
  May God continue to bless you and keep you in his care.

                          ____________________