[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 34 (Wednesday, February 28, 2007)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E420]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
TRIBUTE IN HONOR OF BLACK HISTORY MONTH
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HON. NICK J. RAHALL, II
of west virginia
in the house of representatives
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
Mr. RAHALL. Madam Speaker, as Black History Month again draws to a
close, it is the perfect time to reflect on the accomplishments of so
many black figures who were intimately connected to the Mountain State.
To fully appreciate the breadth and depth of the contributions of
these heroes, we need only to imagine what life in the Mountain State--
what life across America--would be like without them.
We might not even be celebrating this special month, for example,
were it not for the efforts of Carter G. Woodson, referred to by many
as the ``father of black history,'' a son of slaves who came to
Huntington, West Virginia, and worked in our coal mines until he could
afford enough money for an education. Once firmly established in a
successful academic career which included West Virginia State College
and Howard University in Washington, D.C., Cater used this education to
bring to life the story of black Americans missing from many of our
history books. In 1926, he gained helped establish ``Negro History
Week,'' and in 1976 Woodson's week was expanded into the Black History
Month we celebrate today.
And where would America be without the contributions of Booker T.
Washington, undoubtedly West Virginia's most famous African American?
Poverty stricken but free at last, young Washington and his family made
a perilous journey on foot through deep forests and across the New
River Gorge, from Franklin County, Virginia to Kanawha County, West
Virginia. Alongside his father, Booker T. Washington went to work in
the salt furnaces at Malden when he was only nine and later in a coal
mine along Campbell's Creek. Naturally intelligent and starved for an
education, Washington left Malden at 16 and walked the 200 miles to
Hampton Institute in Virginia. Upon graduation, he returned to Malden
to teach school for both black children and adults.
Like Carter G. Woodson, Booker T. Washington rose to national
prominence. He established the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama, which
still educates many today, and he helped set up the National Negro
Business League. Washington wrote twelve books, the most famous of
which, Up From Slavery, recounted his early life in Malden, still read
widely in our schools today.
Other West Virginia sons and daughters, too, have made lasting
contributions that have changed the landscape of our land and our
intellect:
J.R. Clifford, born in Grant County, fought in the Civil War and then
came back home to fight for civil rights. A lawyer and a journalist, he
brought the first legal challenge of the state's segregated school
system to court, and worked with his friend W.E.B. Dubois to found the
Niagara Movement of 1905.
Christopher Harrison Payne, born a slave in Monroe County, broke
ground in black journalism, establishing three newspapers, The West
Virginia Enterprise, The Pioneer and the Mountain Eagle. In 1896 he was
elected to the state legislature as a Republican delegate from Fayette
County, the first black to serve in the West Virginia legislature.
Minnie Buckingham Harper of Keystone, the first African American
woman to become a member of a legislative body in the United States,
broke ground for countless women in 1928 when she was appointed to fill
the term of her late husband.
Leon Sullivan, born in Charleston, was brought up in a dirty alley in
one of the city's most poverished sections, worked in a steel mill to
pay his tuition at West Virginia State College, and rose from poverty
to found the Opportunity Industrialization Center, a job-training
organization with branches around the world.
Helen Dobson of Raleigh County, well-known throughout West Virginia
for her beautiful voice, performed at the inauguration of two of West
Virginia's governors and served as public school teacher for many
years. Her spirit is still strong in southern West Virginia and it was
with Ms. Dobson in mind that I signed on as a co-sponsor of a bill that
designates the African American spiritual as a national treasure. This
bill passed the House of Representatives earlier this month.
This, of course, is just a small sampling of so many strong African
Americans who have made a difference. Add to this list the countless
men and women who worked long hours for less pay to provide for a
better future for their children, the many men and women who fought and
continue to fight for our liberties in the armed forces, the men and
women who through their compassion and quiet strength, were role models
by which we all can live. Also add to this list the many African
Americans who continue today to work for a better West Virginia.
We are deeply indebted to our educators, folks like Bluefield State
President Albert Walker; Maurice Cooley, Director of African American
Programs at Marshall University; Betty Jane Cleckley, Vice President
for Marshall University Multicultural Affairs; Loretta Young, Vice
President for Development at Concord University; and Roslyn Clark-
Artis, Chief Advancement Officer at Mountain State University. These
men and women, and so many others, like Thomas Evans, Raleigh County
educator and principal of Stratton High School and Rev. William Law,
founder of the Beckley World Mission, whom both passed away recently,
have raised the torch that Carter T. Woodson lit so many years ago.
Too often, the history of black Americans is not fully taught or
remembered. Let this annual return of black history month spur us all
to celebrate African-American contributions to the greatness of West
Virginia and to commend those carrying on this proud tradition of
service today.
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