[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 23 (Tuesday, February 28, 2006)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E208-E209]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      IKE WEATHERLY ESSAY WINNERS

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. MIKE PENCE

                               of indiana

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, February 28, 2006

  Mr. PENCE. Mr. Speaker, I rise this morning on the last day of Black 
History Month to congratulate Chandler Boys, Brynden Danner and Tristen 
Horton. These three fine students from Anderson, Indiana were recently 
named winners in the Ike Weatherly Essay Contest.
  Ike Weatherly was a school board member and respected community 
leader in East Central Indiana. The Essay Contest held in his honor is 
part of the curriculum to help students better understand the 
achievements of African-Americans in our Nation's rich history.
  Chandler, Brynden and Tristen wrote carefully crafted and insightful 
essays detailing the accomplishments of three of American history's 
Black leaders. I had the pleasure of speaking with each of them when 
they appeared on the ``WHBU Morning Show with Leland Franklin and Bret 
Busby'' last week.
  Chandler Boys of Eastside Elementary wrote about Medgar Evers, a 
1950s civil rights leader and Army veteran who taught the importance of 
education, religion and hard work.
  Brynden Danner of Liberty Christian School wrote about the struggles 
faced by Charles Cooper, the first Black athlete drafted by the Boston 
Celtics.
  And Tristen Horton of Erskine Elementary wrote about Lonnie G. 
Johnson, an Air Force veteran and NASA scientist who is noted as the 
inventor of the super soaker water gun.
  Mr. Speaker, I again congratulate Chandler, Brynden and Tristen for 
their fine work in honoring America's Black leaders and wish to submit 
their essays into the Congressional Record.

                              Medgar Evers

                           (By Chandler Boys)

       Medgar Evers was born on July 2, 1925 in Decatur, 
     Mississippi. Medgar would grow up in the Depression of the 
     1930's. His father worked in a sawmill. His mother was a 
     laundress. He was the youngest of four children. In their 
     home they believed in education, religion, and hard work. 
     Medgar went to all black schools. Medgar and his siblings had 
     to walk a long way to school. They did not have many school 
     supplies. Their schools had few teachers, many students, 
     small classrooms, and old books.
       In 1942, Medgar joined the United States Army. He joined 
     the Army to see the world. He was in World War II. He fought 
     in France and Great Britain with a segregated group. When he 
     returned home from the war he registered to vote. But angry 
     whites wouldn't let him.
       Evers returned to school on the G.I. bill. He finished high 
     school and college. He met his wife, Myrlie Beasley, during 
     this time. During school he was elected into many student 
     offices and joined many sports teams.
       In December 1954, he was elected to be the NAACP state 
     field secretary. His family moved to Jackson. Myrlie was made 
     the secretary. Evers faced many challenges. He investigated 
     racial murders and cases of abuse

[[Page E209]]

     of black victims. He tried to convince local youth to get 
     more involved. Statewide membership of the NAACP chapters 
     almost doubled from 1956 to 1959.
       On June 12, 1963, Medgar Evers was shot in the back in his 
     driveway. He was coming home. He died later that night. On 
     June 22, 1963 Byron Beckwith was arrested for shooting Evers. 
     Beckwith had two trials with all-white juries. They ended 
     with a hung jury. In February 1994, Beckwith was found guilty 
     and sentenced to life in prison. Beckwith died there. Medgar 
     Evers was a hard working man. He was loved very much by his 
     family.
                                  ____


                      The Star Who Couldn't Shine

                          (By Brynden Danner)

       Charles H. Cooper was an N.B.A. basketball star who was 
     never allowed to let his talent shine. On April 25, 1950, 
     Cooper was the first black player to be drafted by the Boston 
     Celtics. He played on a N.B.A. team for six hard years where 
     race was more important than his skills.
       Owners of white only hotels refused to rent a room to 
     Cooper separating him from his teammates on long trips. When 
     they played games in the southern states, the Celtics were 
     told to leave Cooper behind. Cooper's teammates supported his 
     right to play and that made the violence grow more and more.
       Black players received very little national attention. Even 
     though Cooper played four years for Boston, one year for the 
     Milwaukee Hawks and one year for the Fort Wayne Pistons he 
     was never recognized for his great athletic talent.
       Cooper ended his career with a bad feeling about 
     basketball. All of the racial teasing hurt him very deeply. 
     He decided not to have bad feelings about people who treated 
     him so badly. In 1961 Cooper got his masters degree in social 
     work. Nine years later he was named the first black person to 
     head a city government agency. He became the director of 
     parks and recreation in Pittsburgh. At the time of his death 
     in 1984, he was an officer of Pittsburgh National Bank.
       Chuck Cooper is an inspiration to me because he suffered 
     many hard times in his life but never gave up. His story will 
     always be a great lesson for me to remember.
                                  ____


                   Lonnie G. Johnson, Water Gun Maker

                          (By Tristen Horton)

       Lonnie G. Johnson invented the world famous water gun, the 
     super soaker. For years Lonnie G. Johnson has been inventing 
     things for NASA and other organizations; but he has achieved 
     his greatest fame with his squirt gun, the super soaker.
       Johnson started a childhood of creating with inventing 
     things out of old appliances. In his senior year of high 
     school, he won an around the world competition for a remote 
     controlled robot he had built out of junkyard scraps. He went 
     on to more formal training at Tuskegee University where he 
     first earned a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering and then M.S. 
     in Nuclear Engineering. Soon after, Lonnie G. Johnson joined 
     the U.S. Air Force. In the Air Force, he became advanced in 
     space systems.
       I am really happy he invented the super soaker water gun 
     because it's just plain fun.

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