[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 55 (Wednesday, April 1, 2009)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E842]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




CELEBRATING DR. JAMES DUMPSON'S 100 YEARS AND HIS IMPRESSIVE RECORD OF 
                             PUBLIC SERVICE

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. CHARLES B. RANGEL

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, April 1, 2009

  Mr. RANGEL. Madam Speaker, I rise today in honor of Dr. James 
Dumpson, a preeminent social activist of outstanding character and a 
transformative life's work, who turns one hundred years of age on April 
5, 2009. This public servant of notable and illustrious record--who in 
1959 became the only African American Commissioner of Welfare in the 
country--is a quiet hero of our movement for Civil Rights and racial 
equality. He is a gentle man of forceful voice and conviction, 
agitating on behalf of children, the elderly, and the impoverished in 
New York for 60 years, his country for 80 years--and we are all the 
better for it. A modern-day Renaissance man, Dr. Dumpson's long-
distinguished activism touches the fields of health, education, social 
justice, and academia. He is a familiar, popular, and pioneering leader 
in New York and in the African American community; an icon who worked 
tirelessly on behalf of others.
  He earned a teaching certificate in 1932 from the Chaney Normal 
School, a B.A. degree from Temple University in 1934, an M.A. degree 
from Fordham University, and his Ph.D.--when he was henceforth known as 
``Dr. D.''--from the University of Dacca in Ghana. Dumpson has 
throughout his life served as a teacher to others, teaching elementary 
school for two years as a young man, and later, beginning as a Visiting 
Associate Professor at Fordham University in 1957 and returning a 
decade later as Dean of the Graduate School of Social Work, with the 
faculty rank of professor. He served as a United Nations Advisor and 
Chief of Training in Social Welfare to the government of Pakistan in 
1953, returning to Pakistan in 1971 as a consultant and receiving a 
fellowship there in 1977 through the U.S. Department of Health, 
Education, and Welfare to Pakistan.
  He cemented his trailblazing status by becoming Commissioner of 
Welfare for New York City in 1959, the only African American and social 
worker to serve in that post in the country. He wielded his talents and 
skill to assist Presidents Kennedy and Johnson as an advisor, serving 
on various advisory commissions, including the Parents Commission on 
Narcotics and Drug Abuse. He did not retire until the spritely age of 
97, channeling his vigor and youthful spirit as New York City's Health 
Service Administrator and Chairman of the Health and Hospitals 
Corporation beginning in 1990, and teaching at Fordham University up 
until 2006.
  May this Congress today note, applaud, and send its gratitude for the 
contributions of Dr. Dumpson, and send him warm birthday wishes.

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