[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 16 (Tuesday, January 27, 2009)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E153-E154]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     IN MEMORY OF AUSTIN CUNNINGHAM

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. JOE WILSON

                           of south carolina

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, January 27, 2009

  Mr. WILSON of South Carolina. Madam Speaker, on January 26th, a long-
time friend and favorite son of South Carolina, Austin Cunningham, 
passed away. In his lifetime--that spanned almost an entire century--
Mr. Cunningham was a successful businessman, a tireless leader in the 
community, a prolific philosopher, and a mentor. He was a valued 
advisor to the late Congressman Floyd Spence and Governor Carrol 
Campbell leading the efforts to reduce capital gains taxes. His 
steadfast belief in the importance and virtue of service was an 
inspiration to many, and he left a positive and indelible mark on South 
Carolina and the Nation.
  Staff writer Lee Tant of the Times and Democrat of Orangeburg, South 
Carolina has thoughtfully developed the following fitting tribute to 
Mr. Cunningham.

[[Page E154]]

              [From the Times and Democrat, Jan. 27, 2009]

                      Austin Cunningham Dies at 94

                             (By Lee Tant)

       It is hard, if not impossible, to describe the life of 
     Orangeburg icon Austin Cunningham.
       Cunningham, who died Monday at the age of 94, was a 
     community leader, businessman, writer, lawyer, soldier and 
     citizen of the year.
       He was the definition of a Renaissance man.
       His lifetime spanned 18 presidents, 11 recessions, two 
     world wars and the civil rights movement.
       Cunningham was the leader of five companies and in 1998 was 
     named Outstanding Elder Citizen of the Year for South 
     Carolina.
       A decade later, he was named the Kiwanis Club of 
     Orangeburg's Citizen of the Year. He also was honored with 
     the Order of the Palmetto.
       Cunningham was involved with nearly everything in the 
     Orangeburg community. He was constantly willing to be out 
     front in volunteering and promoting community involvement.
       During the 1970s, Cunningham made business trips to Denmark 
     and Manning while an executive at the Sunbeam Outdoor Co. It 
     was then he first became interested in Orangeburg. When the 
     company relocated its executive headquarters to Santee in 
     1974, Cunningham and his family moved with it.
       He said his new home was like an ``island'' because its 
     residents had to drive at least 50 miles to reach Columbia or 
     Charleston.
       The man who once called cities such as Chicago and New York 
     home quickly became involved in the community. He joined what 
     was then the Greater Orangeburg Chamber of Commerce, attended 
     First Presbyterian Church, and was active in the local 
     Republican Party.
       He retired from Sunbeam to open a Burger King restaurant on 
     John C. Calhoun Drive in 1975.
       Cunningham accepted the chairmanship of the Orangeburg 
     Regional Hospital's major gifts division four years later. 
     His work was instrumental in procuring the funding to build 
     the Regional Medical Center.
       Cunningham also became a tireless advocate of the Targeted 
     Jobs Tax Credit program during the summer of 1983. The 
     program provided a tax credit for employers who hired 
     underprivileged teenagers.
       During that time, Cunningham served as chairman of the 
     local Economic Recovery Committee.
       To market the program in Orangeburg, Cunningham illustrated 
     how it not only made good financial sense but also helped the 
     community.
       ``Your reward is two-fold. You'll get a good worker for 
     jobs you want them to do. And when you go to pay your federal 
     businesses taxes next year, you'll get back 85 percent of 
     what you paid out,'' he said to encourage local employers.
       In the spring of 1984, President Ronald Reagan invited 
     Cunningham to the White House to honor his efforts in 
     promoting the program.
       Reagan lauded Cunningham and credited him with fostering 
     partnerships with 77 local businesses that gave 264 jobs to 
     teenagers in poverty.
       ``For most of these 16- and 17-year-olds, it was their 
     first real job. Now that's partnership in action, and 
     everybody is better off because of it,'' Reagan said.
       A July 1983 T&D editorial described Cunningham as ``a one-
     man crusade'' that informed the community about the program's 
     merits. It also noted he was dubbed ``Mr. TJTC'' by the head 
     of the State Employment Security Commission back then.
       However, Cunningham didn't want all the attention and 
     refused to take credit for it.
       He insisted the real heroes were the businesses that hired 
     the young workers.
       He said the success of the program in Orangeburg boded well 
     for industry and race relations here.
       ``It's made Orangeburg a better community than it was 10 
     weeks ago,'' Cunningham said after the program concluded its 
     first summer.
       He served on the People's Assault on Drugs Committee in the 
     1990s.
       Cunningham was also behind getting 132 streetlights 
     installed in New Brookland as part of efforts by the People's 
     Assault on Drugs. He said then that drug dealers were 
     relegated to hanging back in the shadows.
       ``They can't stand out in the streets anymore. They are not 
     aggressively stopping people and vying with each other,'' he 
     said.
       Additionally, Cunningham was a patron of the arts.
       After hearing the South Carolina State University Choir, he 
     realized how good it was and, he spearheaded the choir's 
     partnership with the South Carolina Philharmonic Orchestra. 
     This led to an annual concert series in Orangeburg.
       S.C. State awarded him its Distinguished Service Award at 
     the 1995 Founder's Day festivities.
       When he was named the ``Outstanding Older South 
     Carolinian'' of the year by the state Department of Health 
     and Human Services' Office on Aging in 1998, Cunningham used 
     the honor to make a push for funding county councils on 
     aging. The annual Elder Hop event on New Year's Day in 
     Orangeburg was his brainchild as a fund-raiser for the Meals 
     on Wheels program.
       Born in Washington, he lost his journalist father at age 
     12. Cunningham went to work in the U.S. Supreme Court as a 
     page at age 14 and subsequently worked under J. Edgar Hoover 
     at the FBI. He served in the U.S. Army Air Corps during World 
     War II. He lost two brothers in the war.
       After earning a law degree from the University of Virginia, 
     he did advanced studies at the University of Chicago and 
     Oxford University.
       He married his late wife Jacqueline in 1946. An infant son, 
     Paul, died in 1954.
       He is survived by two daughters, Manhattan psychotherapist 
     Kathryn Janus (wife of Jeffrey Janus), magazine journalist 
     Amy Cunningham of Brooklyn (wife of Steven Waldman), son 
     Austin Cunningham III, a business owner residing in Swansea, 
     and two school-aged grandsons Joseph and Gordon Waldman of 
     Brooklyn. His younger sister, Mrs. Clotilde Luce, at age 88, 
     still works at New York City's renowned Neighborhood 
     Playhouse School of the Theatre.
       As a longtime author of articles for The Times and Democrat 
     and other publications, Cunningham wrote from his vast 
     repertoire of life experiences. He offered insight on 
     historical figures from George Washington and Abe Lincoln to 
     Bill Clinton. He spent a weekend in a state prison, at his 
     own request, gathering material to provide insight on life 
     behind bars.
       Most recently, Cunningham was the subject of a story about 
     his experience as an usher on the podium at Franklin 
     Roosevelt's presidential inauguration in 1933.
       Also, he was honored this past week by the Orangeburg 
     County Community of Character initiative. The board of 
     directors voted to create the Austin Cunningham Orangeburg 
     County Community of Character award. It will be given once a 
     year to worthy citizens who exemplify the character traits 
     that make their communities better places to live, work and 
     play.
       A memorial service for Cunningham will be held at noon 
     Friday at First Presbyterian Church in Orangeburg. The family 
     will receive visitors from 7 to 9 p.m. Wednesday at Dukes-
     Harley Funeral Home.

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