[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 104 (Friday, July 26, 2002)]
[Senate]
[Page S7428]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 TRIBUTE TO ROSELLA FRENCH PORTERFIELD

 Mr. BUNNING. Mr. President, I rise today to honor a truly 
amazing and admirable individual, Mrs. Rosella French Porterfield. This 
Saturday, the Elsmere Park Board will be rededicating the Rosella 
French Porterfield Park to honor the retired educator, who played such 
a vital part in the successful integration of the Erlanger-Elsmere 
Independent School System.
  A bronze plaque depicting Mrs. Porterfield holding the hands of a 
young Debbie Onkst of Erlanger, a white student who later followed in 
Mrs. Porterfield's footsteps as a librarian for the school system, and 
Elsmere Mayor Bill Bradford, northern Kentucky's first African-American 
Mayor, will be unveiled.
  Looking back on Rosella Porterfields' life and her many 
accomplishments, I am impressed the positive strides one African-
American woman was able to make in a nearly all-white community during 
the 1950s. But once you hear people talk of Rosella, you understand the 
simple fact that amazing people can do amazing things.
  A Daviess County native, Rosella received a graduate degree during a 
time when African-American women did not accomplish such things due to 
institutional and personal biases. Her first job as an educator was at 
Barnes Temple Church on Elsmere's Fox Street. After 7 years at Barnes 
Temple, Rosella moved to Wilkins Heights School in Elsmere, where she 
successfully transformed the one depleted school library into a place 
that fostered and encouraged educational excellence. But even as hard 
as Rosella worked, the segregated school system constantly worked to 
her disadvantage.
  In 1955, 1 year after the U.S. Supreme Court abolished segregated 
schools, Rosella Porterfield approached Superintendent Edgar Arnett. 
She told him the time was right to bring white and black together in an 
educational atmosphere. She firmly believed that if the kids could be 
brought together in an effort to achieve common goals, they could learn 
to live together in peace and harmony. Mr. Arnett listened to Rosella 
and promptly took her proposal to the school board. In turn, the school 
board unanimously approved a phased-in integration starting in the 
lower grades.
  Erlanger-Elsmere schools integrated in what Time magazine recognized 
as a very smooth and peaceful manner, a very uncommon phenomenon at the 
time. The schools were not forced to action by any outside factors such 
as government officials or military personnel. It was a voluntary and 
rational approach to a community's educational needs. This happened 
largely because of the efforts of individuals like Rosella Porterfield.
  I kindly ask that my fellow colleagues join me in paying tribute to 
Mrs. Porterfield for her vision, persistence, and patience. When I 
think of Rosella's actions and the effect she had on her community, I 
recall the words of Winston Churchill, who said, in reference to the 
heroic efforts of Great Britain's RAF, ``Never have so many owed so 
much to so few.''

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