[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

                                 ______
                                 

                        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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