[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 54 (Wednesday, April 15, 2015)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E505]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      HONORING JUDGE JOHN WILCHIE

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. BENNIE G. THOMPSON

                             of mississippi

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, April 15, 2015

  Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor Judge 
John Wilchie from Tallahatchie County, MS.
  Judge Wilchie was born in Glendora, Mississippi. Glendora is a small 
rural town in the Second Congressional District. The town is most 
notable for the Emmett Till Murder in 1955. Black history month is a 
month of recognition of African Americans who have made some type of 
historical contribution, big or small, in this country.
  Judge Wilchie made black history in 1979 in Tallahatchie County when 
he was appointed as judge to finish the term of Judge JB Ray. The 
following year in 1980, however, he was elected as the first African-
American Justice Court Judge in the county. He retired from the bench 
in 1984. Judge Wilchie received his education from Mississippi Valley 
State University as well as the University of Mississippi Judicial 
College in 2004. He helped to start the Sharkey-Hampton Lake Volunteer 
Fire Department where he served as Fire Captain and Chief. Currently, 
Judge Wilchie serves as the Co-chairman of the Tallahatchie County 
Emmett Till Memorial Commission, a member of the West Tallahatchie 
County P-16 Educational Board and the Chairman of the Tallahatchie 
County Branch of the NAACP.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me today in recognizing the 
historical contribution of Judge John Wilchie for being elected as the 
first African-American Justice Court Judge in Tallahatchie County, MS 
in the Second Congressional District of Mississippi.

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