[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 34 (Thursday, February 26, 2009)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E482-E483]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    IN HONOR OF BLACK HISTORY MONTH

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. NICK J. RAHALL, II

                            of west virginia

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, February 26, 2009

  Mr. RAHALL. Madam Speaker, in his Inaugural Address, President John 
F. Kennedy asked the people to ask not what their country could do for 
them but what they could do for their country.
  Last month, as I again stood witness to history, President Barack 
Obama spoke a similar message, asking the people he had been elected to 
serve to remember the legacy that came before and with which many of us 
are intimately familiar: hard work, faith, and understanding in the 
face of economic insecurity, international conflict and personal 
differences.
  No one understands this legacy better than African Americans, and it 
is with that in mind that we come together again this February to 
celebrate Black History Month.
  The theme of Black History Month this year is ``The Quest for Black 
Citizenship in the Americas.'' It is a theme we in West Virginia 
understand to our core. Making our homes in a state born out of the 
Civil War, we are intimately familiar with the struggle for equality.
  It is no surprise that we've seen significant moments in history 
celebrated right here in our hills and hollows. Carter G. Woodson, the 
``father of Black History'' hailed from Huntington, a son of slaves who 
worked in the coal mines to earn money for an education at West 
Virginia State College and then Howard University in Washington, DC.
  Booker T. Washington, perhaps our most famous African American, 
walked from Virginia to Kanawha County, `free at last,' to have a 
better life for his family. He also worked hard to obtain the education 
he felt in his heart was his right to pursue, working in the coal mines 
until he was 16. He walked 200 miles on foot to study at the Hampton 
Institute in Virginia and then came right back to West Virginia to 
teach the children of Appalachia.
  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 poverty-stricken 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 was from 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 cosponsor of a bill 
that designates the African American spiritual as a national treasure. 
This bill passed the House of Representatives earlier this month.
  Countless men and women have worked long hours for less pay to 
provide for a better future for their children. They have fought, and 
continue to fight, for our liberties in the armed forces. Through their 
compassion and quiet strength, these men and women are role models by 
which we all can live.
  With change and the spirit of unity sweeping the Nation, we have come 
together again to celebrate Black History month. I can think of no more 
fitting honorees this month than the African American men and women of 
West Virginia who have done so much to serve our Nation.
  Today, southern West Virginians remain deeply indebted to our African 
American educators who work hard to make sure the children of the 
Mountain State are ready to take part in an ever more challenging and 
modern economy. Folks like Bluefield State President

[[Page E483]]

Albert Walker; Maurice Cooley, Director of African American Programs at 
Marshall University; Dr. Shari Williams-Clarke, Vice President for 
Marshall University Multicultural Affairs; Loretta Young, Vice 
President for Development at Concord University; and Roslyn Clark-
Artis, Executive Vice President at Mountain State University, are an 
inspiration to us all.
  Too often, the history of black Americans is not fully taught or 
remembered. With the indomitable spirit of Dr. Carter G. Woodson and 
new leaders such as President Barack Obama, African Americans in 
southern West Virginia and across the country are making great 
progress. Let us take this Black History Month to celebrate the African 
American contributions to the greatness of West Virginia and to commend 
those carrying on this proud tradition of service today.

                          ____________________