[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 152 (Tuesday, October 9, 2007)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2095]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[[Page E2095]]
          PHILADELPHIA'S RENAISSANCE MAN, FORGOTTEN NO LONGER

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. CHAKA FATTAH

                            of pennsylvania

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, October 9, 2007

  Mr. FATTAH. Madam Speaker, I rise today to share the good news that a 
great Philadelphian of another time, whose life, accomplishments and 
even his burial site have been lost in obscurity for too long, is 
finally being restored to prominence.
  Octavius Valentine Catto, a champion of African American empowerment, 
civil rights and civil disobedience before those terms were even in 
use, was assassinated by a political thug on October 10, 1871, during a 
Philadelphia municipal election. Catto was walking between his South 
Street home and a nearby polling place on a riot-torn day during which 
he had been organizing African Americans to exercise their newfound 
franchise and throw out a corrupt local political machine.
  Catto has been called a renaissance man for all that he undertook and 
accomplished in his short life (1839-1871). He was a classically 
trained student and then professor at the Institute for Colored Youth 
in Philadelphia, the forerunner of Cheyney University; an officer in an 
all-black unit of the Pennsylvania National Guard during the Civil War 
who insisted on a meaningful role for his soldiers; and even manager-
second baseman for the Pythian Baseball Club, a renowned and pioneering 
all-black team. In the 1860s Catto, along with another prominent 
Philadelphian, the black abolitionist William Still, organized a civil 
disobedience campaign that led to laws desegregating Philadelphia's 
trolley car system.
  Catto's assassination led to a massive public funeral and an outcry 
for justice. But gradually his deeds and memory faded from view. His 
remains were relocated from Lebanon Cemetery in Southwest Philadelphia 
to Eden Cemetery in Delaware County in 1903, but contemporary admirers 
haven't even known where to find his resting place.
  On the anniversary of O.V. Catto's assassination, October 10, 1871, a 
group of Philadelphians led by Philadelphia City Council member Jim 
Kenney are changing all that. At a ceremony that includes 
representatives of the Philadelphia Union League, to which Catto 
belonged, Cheyney University; the O.V. Catto Elks Lodge and others, a 
temporary marker is being installed and dedicated at Eden Cemetery, 
1434 Springfield Road, Collingdale, Pennsylvania. Significantly, his 
modest burial site is not far from the tomb of William Still. A 
permanent and appropriate headstone for Catto soon will follow.
  That's not all. A site has been designated on the plaza outside 
Philadelphia City Hall for the construction of a statue of Catto. A 
design competition and fundraising effort are being launched by the 
O.V. Catto Memorial Fund under the leadership of Carol Clark Lawrence, 
the Fund's Chair, and Jim Straw, the Co-Chair. The Fund will also 
develop an educational program to assure that future generations will 
be well aware of the contributions of this outstanding Philadelphian.
  Octavius V. Catto is an inspiration to Philadelphians of all races. 
The telling of his story is long overdue. And now it begins.

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