[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 34 (Friday, February 28, 2014)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E276-E277]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




     HONORING REV. ABRAHAM L. WOODS, JR. AND BISHOP CALVIN W. WOODS

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. TERRI A. SEWELL

                               of alabama

                    in the house of representatives

                       Friday, February 28, 2014

  Ms. SEWELL of Alabama. Mr. Speaker, in honor of Black History Month, 
I rise today to continue my commitment to paying tribute to outstanding 
African-Americans who have made tremendous contributions to the 
political, economic and social fabric of Alabama and this nation. 
Today, I am honored to recognize brothers Rev. Abraham Lincoln Woods, 
Jr. and Bishop Calvin W. Woods, Sr. for their incredible audacity and 
courage during the darkest days of the Civil Rights Movement.
   Rev. Abraham Lincoln Woods, Jr. and Bishop Calvin W. Woods, Sr. were 
both born in Birmingham, Alabama to Maggie Rosa Lee Wallace Woods, a 
homemaker, and Rev. Abraham Lincoln Woods Sr., a plant worker and 
Baptist minister.
   In the spring of 1963, Rev. Abraham Woods led Birmingham's first 
demonstration at a whites-only lunch counter in downtown Birmingham. In 
the days and weeks following the first sit-in, Rev. Abraham Woods was 
arrested along with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and other civil rights 
leaders for confronting Bull Conner. Rev. Abraham Woods had become 
friends with Dr. King while they were students at Morehouse College in 
Atlanta, Georgia and later joined him on the steps of the Lincoln 
Memorial for his ``I Have a Dream'' speech in 1963.
   Rev. Abraham Woods received a bachelor's degree in theology from 
Birmingham Baptist College, a bachelor's in sociology from Miles 
College in Birmingham and a master's in American history from the 
University of Alabama. He co-founded the Alabama Christian Movement for 
Human Rights in 1956 with Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth and served as the 
director for the Miles College Voter Registration Project.
   Thirty-four years after the bombing of Birmingham's 16th Street 
Baptist Church, Rev. Abraham Woods played a pivotal role in urging the 
federal government to re-investigate the bombing. The new investigation 
led to the conviction of two Klansmen. ``Even the Klan, as bad as they 
are,'' he told the New York Times in a 1997 interview, ``you didn't 
think they would go as far as to bomb a church on Sunday with little 
children in Sunday school.''
   While president of the Birmingham chapter of the Southern Christian 
Leadership Conference (SCLC), Rev. Abraham Woods led protests which 
were instrumental in integrating country clubs and golf courses in 
Alabama and across the nation. The P.G.A. had chosen a Birmingham 
country club as the site for its 1990 Championship. The protests that 
followed impelled major corporations to withdraw advertising from the 
tournament which led to the integration of the club.
   Rev. Abraham Woods is also remembered as an exemplary educator. He 
was the first African American to teach American history at the 
University of Alabama. In 2002, Rev. Abraham Woods retired from Miles 
College after forty years on its faculty. Upon his retirement, Miles 
College conferred upon him the Doctorate of Humane Letters. He went on 
to retire as president of the Birmingham chapter of the SCLC in 2006. 
He served as pastor of St. Joseph's Baptist Church in Birmingham for 
thirty-seven years until his death on November 7, 2008 at the age of 
80.
   Rev. Abraham Woods had an incredible impact on the state of Alabama 
and this nation in his pursuit of justice. He taught all of us the 
importance of loving God and living for others.
   In 2006, Bishop Calvin Woods succeeded his older brother as 
president of the Birmingham SCLC and became president of the New Era 
Baptist State Convention a year later.

[[Page E277]]

   Bishop Calvin Wallace Woods, Sr. was born on September 13, 1933 in 
Birmingham, Alabama. At the age of twelve, he entered Parker High 
School where he developed a talent for shoe repair and tailoring and a 
gift for public speaking.
   Bishop Calvin Woods graduated from Parker High School in 1950 and 
went on to earn a B.S. degree in social science and B.D., B.R.E., M.B.S 
and D.D. degrees from the Universal Baptist Institute, the Universal 
Baptist Seminary and Birmingham-Easonian Baptist Bible College.
   In 1960, Bishop Calvin Woods became pastor of East End Baptist 
Church in Birmingham, Alabama. During the 1960's, he was a resolute 
advocate for the boycott of Birmingham's segregated city bus system. He 
was sentenced to prison for six months and fined for his leadership in 
the Birmingham Bus Boycotts. Despite this setback, Bishop Calvin Woods 
continued his steadfast commitment to the Movement. In 1963, he was 
arrested and beaten by Birmingham's police for participating in public 
protests. Again, his dedication to fighting segregation and intolerance 
in the Deep South did not waver. Bishop Calvin Woods was heavily 
involved in the 1965 protest of Birmingham's voter registration 
procedures. He served as the strategy chairman for the protest of the 
shootings of five black protestors at a Birmingham supermarket.
   Today, Bishop Calvin Woods continues to be a guiding light for the 
city of Birmingham and the state of Alabama. He remains an outspoken 
advocate for justice speaking out most recently against the verdict in 
the Trayvon Martin case and the Supreme Court's decision striking down 
Section 4 of the Voting Rights Act. I am inspired by the words he spoke 
at a memorial service and wreath laying ceremony in 2012 for the 6 
Birmingham youth killed on September 15, 1963. ``In a sense we've 
crossed a stream,'' he said, ``but still there are mighty oceans of 
adversity that lie ahead.''
   As a direct benefactor of their life's work and sacrifices, it is my 
honor to recognize the contributions of brothers Rev. Abraham Lincoln 
Woods, Jr. and Bishop Calvin W. Woods on the floor of the United States 
House of Representatives. Their contributions have inspired 
generations. On behalf of a grateful state and nation, we acknowledge 
these trailblazers and their influence on the progress we have made. 
The City of Birmingham, the State of Alabama and this entire nation 
have benefited from their sacrifices and tenacious pursuit of justice. 
I urge my colleagues to join me in honoring Rev. Abraham Lincoln Woods, 
Jr. and Bishop Calvin W. Woods.

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