[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 78 (Thursday, June 13, 2002)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1039-E1040]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      JAMES WILLIAM SMITH-BETSILL

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. WILLIAM J. COYNE

                            of pennsylvania

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, June 12, 2002

  Mr. COYNE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to note the passing of a 
distinguished public servant and an important player in the civil 
rights struggle. Mr. James William Smith-Betsill died in Harrisburg 
recently at the age of 67 after a period of illness. He was a 
remarkable individual.
  Mr. Smith-Betsill was an outstanding athlete, who earned a college 
basketball scholarship, was twice named a small college All-American--
averaging more than 20 rebounds per game--and was drafted to play for 
the Boston Celtics in 1958. Unfortunately, his professional basketball 
career was derailed by the development of knee problems during his 
service in the U.S. Army from 1958 to 1960. But his athletic 
achievements pale in comparison to his other accomplishments.
  Mr. Smith-Betsill pursued a career in public service that lasted for 
more than 30 years. In the 1960s, he trained volunteers and managed 
redevelopment projects in the Hazelwood neighborhood. He also trained 
people to take and pass union apprenticeship tests. Finally, as the 
western regional director of the Pennsylvania Bureau of Corrections 
Education, he worked for many years to provide inmates with better 
educational opportunities.
  In addition, Mr. Smith-Betsill has a long, proud record as a 
community activist in Wilkinsburg and Hazelwood. He worked hard for 
many years, at significant personal risk, to desegregate local unions. 
Mr. Smith-Betsill also was credited with keeping the peace in Hazelwood 
when riots raged in Pittsburgh in 1969. Mr. Smith-Betsill's many 
contributions to his community are widely recognized and appreciated.
  Mr. Smith-Betsill will be fondly remembered and sorely missed. I want 
to extend my condolences to his family and friends.


[[Page E1040]]



   James William Smith-Betsill, School Basketball Star, Activist and 
                             Public Servant

                            (By Paul Zeise)

       James William Smith-Betsill, a high school and college 
     basketball standout at Franciscan University who later became 
     a community leader and civil rights activist in Wilkinsburg 
     and Hazelwood, has died.
       Mr. Smith-Betsill, 67, was diagnosed with leukemia in 
     February and died May 5 at Harrisburg Hospital of a viral 
     infection.
       Mr. Smith-Betsill was born James Betsill in 1935, and lived 
     in Hazelwood until he was a sophomore in high school. He was 
     6 feet 6 inches tall, athletic and strong, but as a young 
     black man playing in the City League of Allderdice High 
     School, his opportunities to earn a college scholarship were 
     limited.
       The summer before his junior year, however, he was 
     recruited to play at Homestead High School by the school's 
     coach, Charles ``Chick'' Davies, so he moved in with a family 
     in Homestead and had his name legally changed to James Smith.
       Mr. Smith-Betsill's brother, Lawrence Betsill of 
     Doylestown, Bucks County, said changing his name and moving 
     across the Glenwood Bridge was one of the most important 
     moves his brother ever made.
       ``At that time, blacks needed to do whatever it was they 
     could do in order to get into college sports,'' said Betsill.
       ``The adoption was purely for basketball reasons. Jim still 
     had a bed at our house and came home to sleep most nights.'' 
     The coach at Allderdice tried to file a suit to stop it, but 
     at the time the WPIAL couldn't do anything about it and 
     neither could the courts because the Smiths were his legal 
     guardians.
       ``Had he not made the move, he probably wouldn't have 
     gotten a chance to go to college.''
       After earning all-state honors twice at Homestead and 
     graduating in 1954, Mr. Smith earned a scholarship to play 
     basketball for the College of Steubenville, now Franciscan 
     University.
       Mr. Smith-Betsill played for coach Hank Huzma at 
     Steubenville and became a two-time small college All-
     American. He averaged more than 20 rebounds per game 
     throughout his career and his 2,427 career rebounds is 
     believed to be an NAIA record.
       He was drafted in the second round of the 1958 NBA draft by 
     the Boston Celtics. But he never got a chance to play for the 
     Celtics because he also got drafted into the Army.
       He continued is basketball career in the Army and toured 
     Europe and the United States as a member of the All-Army 
     team. But he developed knee problems and after he was 
     discharged in 1960, he failed tryouts with the Celtics and 
     also with the Pittsburgh Rens of the ABL.
       ``Jimmy is the best player to ever come out of the 
     University of Steubenville. He put this school on the map the 
     same way that Maurice Stokes did for St. Francis,'' said 
     Kuzma. ``But when he came out of the Army, he wasn't the same 
     player because of his knees. It is a shame, because had he 
     played right out of college, he'd have probably had a nice 
     NBA career and be remembered like the Chuck Coopers and 
     Maurice Stokes.''
       Mr. Smith-Betsill moved to Wilkinsburg in the early 1960s, 
     was hired by Action Housing and began a career of public 
     service that lasted until he retied in 1997.
       His first job was with the U.S. Office of Economic 
     Opportunity program as a community organizer. A big part of 
     his job was training short-term volunteers to become 
     community servants and be directed a number of redevelopment 
     projects in Hazelwood.
       He also trained men to take and pass apprenticeship tests 
     in order to develop trades. But unions were segregated at the 
     time and blacks weren't given opportunities to join them.
       Mr. Smith-Betsill organized many protests and pickets, 
     which eventually helped to break the color barrier in several 
     powerful unions.
       ``During those days I was like his bail bondsman,'' said 
     his widow, Mary Harris-Betsill. ``He was constantly getting 
     arrested because he was picketing at the headquarters of 
     unions and at various construction jobs. And the fact that he 
     was leading protests wasn't popular. We received countless 
     death threats, bomb threats and burning house threats. Jim 
     was a hero of sorts to the people in the community.''
       He also was a calming influence in Hazelwood when riots 
     broke out in Pittsburgh in 1969.
       ``Every day during those riots, Jim would get up early and 
     walk the streets and encourage people to stay calm,'' said 
     Harris-Betsill. ``Some days, he'd have a lot of people walk 
     with him; others he'd be by himself. It was tense at that 
     point, but he was determined to make sure that the 
     neighborhood stayed intact.''
       Mr. Smith-Betsill's willingness to step in and help anyone 
     who needed assistance had an impact on thousands of people, 
     but it nearly cost him his life in the fall of 1976. He was 
     at a Howard Johnson's restaurant in Oakland watching the 
     Steelers play when another patron became drunk, got loud and 
     began harassing other customers. Mr. Smith-Betsill stepped in 
     and tried to calm the man down, but the man pulled a gun and 
     shot him in the face.
       ``That was the first time I fully realized how many 
     people's lives he touched,'' said Harris-Betsill, ``because 
     so many people came to visit him at the hospital that they 
     moved him to a bigger room and there was still a number of 
     people who couldn't get in to see him.''
       Mr. Smith-Betsill moved to Harrisburg in 1972 and took a 
     job with the Pennsylvania Department of Education as the 
     western regional director of the Bureau of Corrections 
     Education. He developed and implemented curriculum 
     programming guidelines that provided inmates with educational 
     opportunities.
       Mr. Smith-Betsill remained active in a variety of different 
     community service projects throughout his life and even after 
     he retired. He also was an active member of the Macedonia 
     Missionary Baptist Church in Harrisburg.
       In addition to his wife, survivors include two daughters, 
     Tracey R. Betsill of Harrisburg and Michelle Heggs of 
     Pikesville, Md.; two sons, James P. Betsill and Michael E. 
     Betsill, both of Harrisburg, seven sisters; three brothers; 
     and five grandchildren.
       He was buried Friday in Harrisburg.

       

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