[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 24 (Wednesday, February 24, 2010)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E232]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         HONORING MATTIE MEYERS

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. GEORGE RADANOVICH

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, February 24, 2010

  Mr. RADANOVICH. Madam Speaker, I rise today to commend and 
congratulate Mattie Meyers upon being honored with the ``Trail Blazers 
Award'' by the African American Museum. Mrs. Meyers will be honored at 
the African American History Month Celebration and Banquet on Saturday, 
February 6th, 2010 in Fresno, California.
  Mrs. Mattie Meyers was born and raised in Durham, North Carolina. She 
earned her Bachelor of Science degree in chemistry and mathematics from 
North Carolina College at Durham (now known as North Carolina Central 
University) in 1947. Shortly after completing her education, Mrs. 
Meyers met a young doctor named Earl Meyers, during his residency at 
Durham's Lincoln Hospital. Mr. Meyers was from a prominent black family 
in Fresno, California. When Earl and Mattie married, they moved to 
Fresno.
  Upon arriving in Fresno, Dr. Meyers established a medical practice to 
serve the nonwhite community of Fresno, which did not have medical 
services that were readily accessible to whites. Mrs. Meyers was the 
business manager and together they built the first black owned medical 
center in Fresno, which contained a clinical laboratory, pharmacy, 
housed an x-ray facility and was home to several African American 
physicians. Dr. Meyers served as a catalyst in bringing a number of 
young black physicians to the Fresno area, providing a higher standard 
of medical care available to African Americans.
  While Dr. Meyers continued to focus on the medical disparities, Mrs. 
Meyers began to recognize different disparities such as segregation 
within the schools. She joined with the National Association for the 
Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), and eventually Fresno schools 
adopted an ``open enrollment policy'' which made it possible for 
African American children to attend schools outside of West Fresno. 
Mrs. Meyers' children were among the first to take advantage of the new 
policy. Her involvement with the NAACP did not end there; she also 
served as the President of the Fresno Chapter.
  During Mrs. Meyers' term as President of the Fresno Chapter of the 
NAACP, she was able to orchestrate many achievements and milestones for 
the growing organization. She served during the early 1960s. She was 
able to bring Andrew Hatcher, the associate press secretary to 
President John Kennedy, to Fresno as a featured speaker at the NAACP's 
second annual banquet. Mr. Hatcher was one of the most influential 
African Americans in the country at that time. Later, Mrs. Meyers was 
instrumental in bringing Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. to Fresno to 
spearhead a civil rights demonstration and march to Ratcliff Stadium.
  Beyond her efforts with the NAACP, Mrs. Meyers was the first African 
American, and the first woman, to seek election as the Mayor of Fresno. 
She was not only active in local politics and local civil rights 
activities; she was also involved with movements around the nation. 
Mrs. Meyers was influential in the southern United States. She is a 
founding member of a number of black organizations, including Iota Phi 
Lambda Sorority.
  Mrs. Meyers is the mother of five successful children and grandmother 
to nine. She is a member of the Westside Seventh Day Adventist Church, 
lifetime member of the NAACP, charter member of Iota Phi Lambda, a 
founding member of the Fresno Black Educators Association.
  Madam Speaker, I rise today to commend and congratulate Mattie Meyers 
upon being honored with the ``Trail Blazers Award.'' I invite my 
colleagues to join me in wishing Mrs. Meyers many years of continued 
success.

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