[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 160 (Tuesday, November 12, 2013)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1636]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




     RECOGNIZING THE 80TH BIRTHDAY OF MRS. BERNICE COLEMAN THOMPSON

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. G.K. BUTTERFIELD

                           of north carolina

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, November 12, 2013

  Mr. BUTTERFIELD. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize Mrs. Bernice 
Coleman Thompson on the occasion of her 80th birthday. Mrs. Thompson 
has been a trailblazer and leader in her church and local community her 
entire adult life. Mrs. Thompson was born in Salford, Alabama on 
September 24, 1933, to Daniel and Annie Coleman. At the age of 10, she 
moved to New York City where she would remain throughout her formative 
years. Mrs. Thompson earned an AAS degree in secretarial studies with 
an emphasis on the medical field from Brooklyn College. She also earned 
a B.A. in Psychology and M.S. in education with a concentration in 
Guidance and Counseling from Lehman College of the City University of 
New York.
  Mrs. Thompson has been involved in her church for almost seventy 
years. As a child, she was guided in her faith by her former Pastor, 
the late Reverend W. L. Harding of St. Luke Baptist Church, in New York 
City. In 1955 she wed her husband, the Reverend Randolph Thompson, now 
Pastor Emeritus of the Victory Baptist Church. Through the years, Mrs. 
Thompson has served in many different capacities within the ministries 
of a number of churches. She is most proud, however, of her service as 
a Sunday School Teacher.
  Mrs. Thompson has always been a trailblazer. She and her husband were 
actively involved in the Civil Rights movement and became leaders 
within the African American community in my hometown of Wilson, North 
Carolina. In the 1960's she was hired as one of the first African 
Americans to integrate and work for the Federal Bureau of 
Investigations (FBI) in Miami, Florida. She was also one of the first 
African Americans to work at the Wilson Memorial Hospital in Wilson, 
North Carolina. Mrs. Thompson is the proud mother of five children and 
three grandchildren. As parents, she and her husband fought for 
integration of public schools and their two daughters were the first 
African American girls to integrate the Wilson, North Carolina public 
school system.
  When Mrs. Thompson and her husband returned to New York City, she 
worked as a medical secretary at Columbia University's Medical School. 
She later worked as a high school guidance counselor at Walton and 
Morris High Schools in the Bronx, New York.
  Through the years she has received a number of awards including 
Guidance Counselor of the Year at Morris High School, the National 
Association of Negro Business and Professional Women's Club Church 
Woman of the Year, and the Meritorious Service Award for assisting and 
supporting her husband while he was a seminary school student at 
Colgate Rochester Divinity School. She has also been a member of the 
NAACP, United Federation of Teachers and their Guidance and Counselors 
Chapter.
  Mrs. Thompson's extraordinary life has been one of devotion and love 
for her family, church, and social justice. Mr. Speaker, I salute Mrs. 
Bernice Coleman Thompson on her 80th birthday and send her best wishes 
for the years to come.

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