[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 23 (Thursday, February 6, 2014)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E175-E176]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         HONORING ROBERT BOOKER

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. JOHN J. DUNCAN, JR.

                              of tennessee

                    in the house of representatives

                       Thursday, February 6, 2014

  Mr. DUNCAN of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, Robert Booker is a former 
Tennessee State Legislator and longtime columnist for the Knoxville 
News Sentinel. He is a man for whom I have very great respect.
  His weekly column is usually devoted to the history of the African-
American community in and around my hometown of Knoxville. Because I 
love history, and especially that about East Tennessee, I almost always 
enjoy his columns. They are interesting, informative and well-written 
and thoroughly researched.
  His column of February 4th was one I particularly enjoyed. He wrote 
about three activist ministers in Knoxville, all of whom I have known 
and respected: Rev. Harold Middlebrook, Rev. William T. Crutcher, and 
Rev. Frank Gordon.
  I was very proud of my late father for many reasons, but near the top 
to me was his leadership while Mayor of Knoxville to help peacefully 
integrate our City. He was good friends and worked closely with Rev. 
Crutcher and Rev. Gordon and in later years with Rev. Middlebrook.
  When I practiced law in Knoxville, I represented Rev. Crutcher's 
church, Mount Olive Baptist. He was a great man, and his widow is still 
a wonderful, sweet woman.
  Rev. Middlebrook stayed in our family home in Alexandria, Virginia, 
when he came to be my guest at the joint session of Congress honoring 
Nelson Mandela.
  I am thankful that Knoxville has a man like Robert Booker who does so 
much to honor forgotten leaders from our past.
  I would like to call to the attention of my colleagues and other 
readers of the Record Mr. Booker's recent column about activist 
preachers.

            [From the Knoxville News Sentinel, Feb. 4, 2014]

               Middlebrook in Line of Activist Preachers

                           (By Robert Booker)

       When my friend the Rev. Harold Middlebrook retired as 
     senior pastor of Canaan Baptist Church of Christ, I reflected 
     on his civic activities and compared them to those of other 
     pastors who made a difference during the past 149 years. He 
     has shouted for justice in a sea of silence. He has stood for 
     equality while others just sat by. He has preached against 
     street violence as others gave lip service. He has led the 
     battle many times to help save Knoxville College as others 
     failed to rally their troops.
       Indeed, Middlebrook is a rare breed who talks the talk, 
     walks the walk and gets things done. He knows how to put on a 
     good show, but it is not just an act. He can preach up a 
     storm, but the fallout is to irrigate, fertilize and 
     cultivate minds and hearts to bring about man's humanity to 
     man.
       We have a number of excellent preachers today who can stir 
     up their congregations

[[Page E176]]

     with great messages. Some of them successfully push pet 
     projects, but it has not been easy for them to capture a mass 
     following across the city as has Middlebrook.
       Perhaps the first one to have that kind of influence and 
     reverence was the Rev. George Washington LeVere, who came 
     here as pastor of Shiloh Presbyterian Church on Feb. 9, 1866. 
     He had been a chaplain in the 29th Regiment of the United 
     States Colored Infantry. Having been born and educated in 
     Brooklyn, N.Y., he came here ready to practice what he would 
     preach.
       In 1869 he organized the Shieldstown (LeVere) School on 
     Linden Avenue, which provided the initial education for 
     William H. Franklin, the first black graduate of Maryville 
     College in 1880. LeVere was a charter member of the Meridian 
     Lodge No. 4 of the Free and Accepted Masons. He served as 
     their Grand Master. He helped organize the Colored Mechanics 
     Association in 1871. He was pastor of Shiloh for 22 years.
       Another giant in the fight for human dignity was the Rev. 
     William T. Crutcher, who served as pastor of Mount Olive 
     Baptist Church for 54 years. He arrived there in 1935 and 
     served until his death in 1989. He attended the Baptist World 
     Alliance in London, England, in 1955 and went on a month-long 
     preaching mission to Africa in 1973.
       He was a true fighter for justice here in Knoxville. In 
     1948 he took the lead in getting the city of Knoxville to 
     make Chilhowee Park available to blacks one day a week 
     instead of one day a year. He also led the effort to allow 
     blacks to play gold at the city-owned Whittle Springs Golf 
     Course. In the early 1960s Crutcher was a co-chair of the 
     Associated Council for Full Citizenship, which led to the 
     desegregation of lunch counters and movie theaters. Numerous 
     threats were made on his life.
       The Rev. Frank Gordon became pastor of Shiloh Presbyterian 
     Church in 1952 and he, too, was a trailblazer in many 
     activities outside his church. He taughtBible and religious 
     history at Knoxville College from 1953 to 1956 and was a 
     candidate for the Knoxville Board of Education on two 
     occasions. He was a member of the Mayor's Commission on Race 
     Relations and a member of Gov. Frank Clement's State 
     Commission on Race.
       Gordon was president of the Knoxville branch of the 
     National Association for the Advancement of Colored People 
     and the state president of that organization, which helped 
     integrate the school systems of all 95 Tennessee counties.
       Middlebrook was not the first activist preacher in this 
     city, but he has been one of the most successful ones in his 
     undertakings. He has left a real legacy for those who choose 
     to follow his lead.

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