[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 172 (Wednesday, November 7, 2007)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2341]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       TRIBUTE DR. DANIEL COLLINS

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. LYNN C. WOOLSEY

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, November 7, 2007

  Ms. WOOLSEY. Madam Speaker, it is with great sadness that I rise 
today to recognize the passing of one of our notable pioneers, Dr. 
Daniel Collins. Dr. Collins died this month at age 91, leaving an 
enduring legacy to the people of Marin County, where he lived, to those 
of the San Francisco Bay Area, where he worked and taught, and to 
generations of black Americans across the country.
  A practicing dentist, Dr. Collins was the first black man to teach at 
the University of California, San Francisco School of Dentistry.
  ``It opened the doors for others,'' says his son, Chuck Collins.
  After his retirement from dentistry, he served on the board of 
directors of the San Francisco Dental Society, the trustees of the 
American Fund for Dental Education and as a member of the house of 
delegates of the California Dental Association. Moreover, such 
pioneering efforts extended beyond his professional life. Dr. Collins 
founded the first black-owned savings and loan in San Francisco, for 
example, as well as the San Francisco chapter of the Urban League, 
later known as the Bay Area Urban League.
  Elberta Eriksson worked with Dr. Collins in those early days of the 
Urban League and remembers helping him promote awareness of 
discrimination in employment.
  ``I would see something on the college bulletin board announcing a 
job on Market Street or something,'' she says. ``When I would walk in 
to apply, they would say I was too qualified. Then I would report back 
to the Urban League and they would follow up.''
  She notes that Dr. Collins' intention was to help blacks to fair 
employment before there were fair employment laws.
  As a pioneer, Dr. Collins felt called to mentor young people, and he 
and his wife, DeReath, were activists in their community as members of 
various groups, such as the Marin African Coalition. Together they 
helped to found MARC--Malin Aid to Retarded Children--now known as 
Lifehouse, a residential and counseling center for people with 
developmental disabilities located in San Rafael.
  In 1960, former Gov. Pat Brown appointed Dr. Collins to the State 
Board of Education, which 6 years later approved a new history text 
that recognized the contributions of women and minorities. He was also 
named a Distinguished Alumnus by UCSF School of Dentistry, and a Local 
Hero by Bay Area television station KQED. His alma mater, Paine 
College, even named a library after him.
  ``But he had absolutely no ego whatsoever,'' says Regina Carey, a 
family friend and Dr. Collins' personal assistant for many years. ``He 
would do all kinds of things and get all kinds of accolades and it 
never went to his head.'' Among Dr. Collins' pioneering efforts, she 
notes, was his selection as the first black to head a national campaign 
for a presidential election, when he supported Adlai Stevenson. Collins 
also helped create the Sun-Reporter newspaper in San Francisco and the 
Church for the Fellowship of All People, one of the first 
nondenominational, interracial churches in the country.
  But perhaps Dr. Collins' greatest contribution will never be marked 
by an award or a plaque or a resolution. Perhaps it will be the one few 
people ever know about--which is this: In the early 1950s, when Dr. 
Collins and his wife tried to buy a home in Mill Valley, long a summer 
resort area for San Franciscans and an all-white town in an almost all-
white county, a deed restriction prevented the homeowner from selling 
to a black man. Local real estate agents offered to buy the house to 
keep the black family out. That the doctor and his wife were successful 
in purchasing their home and moving into the town eventually changed 
the landscape for future generations of black families in Marin.
  But then, Dr. Collins did that in all areas of his life, in his own 
quiet way. That is why, Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor the life 
and courage of Dr. Daniel Collins.

                          ____________________