[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 147 (Tuesday, October 13, 2009)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2508]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    TRIBUTE TO PEARL BEATTY ON THE CELEBRATION OF HER 74TH BIRTHDAY

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                          HON. DONALD M. PAYNE

                             of new jersey

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, October 13, 2009

  Mr. PAYNE. Madam Speaker, I ask my colleagues here in the House of 
Representatives to join me as I rise to acknowledge the 74th birthday 
of my good friend, Ms. Pearl Beatty. Her family, friends and associates 
have gathered on October 8, 2009, to hold a party in her honor and to 
wish this incredibly talented woman best wishes. Pearl Beatty has 
always been passionate about her community and those closest to her 
want to be sure that she knows how much she is loved and appreciated.
  Pearl Beatty never allowed her early fragile health to preclude her 
from involvement in the things that mattered most to her. Throughout 
her life, Pearl Beatty has been an active participant in the political 
process and community organizing. She was also gifted with a beautiful 
voice which she utilized at Arts High School and with the Sweethearts, 
a group that was fortunate enough to sing at a John F. Kennedy for 
President rally. In fact, Pearl Beatty was active in the New Jersey 
campaign for the election of President Kennedy. Always an advocate for 
fairness, Pearl Beatty joined me and my brother, Bill, in the picketing 
of a local Woolworth 5&10 forcing them to hire young African Americans 
to work at the lunch counter.
  In addition to being active in the Urban League and the NAACP, Pearl 
Beatty assisted in organizing the New Jersey contingent for the 1963 
March on Washington. She was also instrumental in the four successful 
campaigns of Newark mayor Kenneth Gibson, the first African American to 
be elected mayor of a major eastern city. She represented Governor 
Hughes at the 1968 Democratic Convention in Chicago and was the New 
Jersey campaign scheduler for President Jimmy Carter in 1976. In June 
1978, Pearl Beatty was elected as a freeholder for Essex County and 
soon found herself as the first director of the newly elected Board of 
Chosen Freeholders under the new form of charter change government of 
Essex County. Ms. Beatty was the first African American appointed as 
president of the New Jersey Council of Counties and in 1987, she was 
appointed executive chairperson of the New Jersey State Dr. Martin 
Luther King, Jr., commission.
  Madam Speaker, I know my colleagues agree that Pearl Beatty deserves 
to be feted at this 74th Birthday celebration. I am pleased to 
congratulate her and thank her for the many lasting contributions she 
has made to the Greater Newark community.

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