[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 131 (Monday, September 15, 2014)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1402-E1403]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        TRIBUTE TO DAISY ALSTON

                                 ______
                                 

                       HON. SHELLEY MOORE CAPITO

                            of west virginia

                    in the house of representatives

                       Monday, September 15, 2014

  Mrs. CAPITO. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to commemorate the 100th 
birthday of Mrs. Daisy Alton, and to honor her many contributions to 
the communities she has proudly served.
  Daisy was born on July 27, 1914 in Virginia. At the age of ten, her 
parents moved their family to Pittsburgh so that their children could 
attend public high school. Public education for African-American 
children stopped at eighth grade in the segregated South. In 1932, 
Daisy came to West Virginia to pursue higher education at West Virginia 
State College (now West Virginia State University). She took graduate 
courses at Atlanta University before returning to Pittsburgh to become 
a social worker. In 1939, she married the late Cheatham Alston, a 
Kanawha County educator, and briefly resided in Cabin Creek, until 
finally settling in Chesapeake, West Virginia.
  After moving back to the Kanawha Valley, Mrs. Alston chose a career 
in education and worked as a teacher at many segregated schools 
throughout Kanawha County. When the United States Supreme Court 
declared segregated schools as unconstitutional in 1954, Daisy was 
chosen as a test teacher in a two-part process to integrate Kanawha 
County Schools. In the years following school integration, Daisy 
continued to teach and later became a teaching principal at Institute 
Elementary. At the age of 68, Mrs. Daisy Alston was honored by Kanawha 
County Schools as ``Teacher of the Year.''
  Though Daisy officially retired as a teacher, she never stopped 
teaching and working throughout her community. She has been active in 
the Upper Kanawha Valley as a civic volunteer and organizer for 
numerous activities and events. She is a member of Simpson Memorial 
United Methodist Church; United Methodist Women; Alpha Kappa Alpha 
Sorority, Inc.; and the Charleston Women's Improvement League. Daisy 
served as a board member for various organizations, including the Cabin 
Creek Clinic, which grew into the Cabin Creek Health Systems, a non-
profit community health center with multiple locations. In 1998, she 
was recognized for her contributions by her hometown and named 
Chesapeake, West Virginia's ``Citizen of the Year.''
  Daisy Alston still lives in Chesapeake, she is a mother of two 
children: Marian Alston (W.I. ``Bill'' Hairston) and Cheatham Alston, 
Jr., and has one grandchild, Bill Hairston.
  Mr. Speaker, the state of West Virginia and indeed our nation owes 
Mrs. Daisy Alston our heartfelt congratulations on becoming a 
centenarian, as well as sincere gratitude for her many years of 
devotion to her community. It is people like Daisy who make serving 
West Virginia's Second Congressional District such a distinct honor.

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