[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 142 (Wednesday, November 1, 2000)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2047]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          TRIBUTE TO THE ALLIED ORGANIZATIONS OF GUYANA, INC.

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                          HON. EDOLPHUS TOWNS

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, November 1, 2000

  Mr. TOWNS. Mr. Speaker, today I pay tribute to a remarkable cultural 
and humanitarian organization which has helped to promote and sustain 
the national pride of the Guyanese community in America and to provide 
humanitarian assistance to indigent groups in Guyana. Today, I 
celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Allied Organizations of Guyana.
  This organization was established in 1960 to promote the cultural, 
social, economic, and political welfare of the Guyanese American 
community and to provide humanitarian assistance to indigent groups in 
Guyana. During its stewardship of 40 years, it has achieved both 
objectives. It has helped to create a national pride among Guyanese in 
America, while providing vital humanitarian assistance to indigent 
groups in Guyana, such as the Archer's Home, the Dharma Sala, the 
Children's Wing of the Georgetown Public Hospital, and the Convent of 
Mercy.
  The organization was founded in 1960 by two outstanding Guyanese 
Americans--Dr. Aaron (Neddy) Peters and Dr. Thomas E. Thompson. Neddy 
Peters was a successful physician of Guyanese descent who had 
established a large and successful medical practice in the Bedford 
Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn. He devoted a considerable portion of 
his time, energy and financial resources to promoting humanitarian 
efforts in the U.S. and Guyana. So devoted was Neddy Peters to the 
nation of Guyana that he requested that his body be returned and 
interred in the soil of Guyana. He died in 1971 and his body was 
interred in Guyana.
  Dr. Thomas Eustace Thompson was a well-known teacher and 
administrator in the public school system in New York, who has lived in 
the Crown Heights section of Brooklyn. Like Neddy Peters, he devoted a 
considerable portion of his time, energy, and financial resources to 
promoting the arts and culture of Guyana. Together with his wife, Dr. 
Marguerite Thompson, he had accumulated the largest collection of 
Guyanese artifacts in the world. The collection was recently destroyed 
by fire, and it is our fervent hope that Guyanese organizations can put 
together the resources to replenish and restore this magnificent 
collection.
  The name of those associated with this organization are too numerous 
to mention, but among the prominent supporters were Eustace Bowen, 
Frank Applewaite and P.J. Storey from the Georgetown Dramatic Club; 
David Nurse, Euphemia Nurse and Clarence Griffith from the Help Guyana 
Movement; Pearl Softleigh from Daneco; Rev. Gladwyn Frazer and Edward 
S. Butts from the British Guiana Benevolent Association; Theresa 
Bowling, Ivan Cameron, Dolly Davis, Leslie Hendricks and Claire Johnson 
from the Guyana group in Queens; Dr. Thomas E. Thompson. Victor Blair 
and Dr. Marguerite Thompson from the Guyana Educational and Cultural 
Association.

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