[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 60 (Tuesday, April 5, 2022)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E357]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    IN RECOGNITION OF WILHELMINA HENRY'S LIFETIME OF SERVICE AND IN 
                   CELEBRATION OF HER 100TH BIRTHDAY

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                          HON. JERRY McNERNEY

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, April 5, 2022

  Mr. McNERNEY. Madam Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in 
recognizing Wilhelmina Henry for a lifetime of service and to honor her 
on the 100th anniversary of her birth.
  Born in Columbia, South Carolina on January 20, 1920, Mrs. Henry 
earned a degree from the Tuskegee Institute and began her teaching 
career after World War II in segregated schools in South Carolina, 
Georgia, and Alabama. In 1947, she moved to Stockton, California and 
was appointed to a teaching position in the Stockton Unified School 
District--becoming Stockton's first teacher of color.
  Mrs. Henry has made invaluable contributions to our local education 
system. She taught within the Stockton Unified School District until 
her retirement in 1994, ending her 52-year teaching career. In 
recognition of her role as a pioneer in education and a civil rights 
activist who broke the color barrier for teachers, the Wilhelmina Henry 
Elementary School in Stockton, California was named in her honor in 
2006.
  In addition to her invaluable contributions in education, Mrs. Henry 
and her husband, Revered Edwin Henry, Sr., formed the Church of All 
Nations and the Henry Affordable Housing Program in Stockton. She 
remains an active member in the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, the Black 
Employees Association of Stockton Unified School District, the Ebenezer 
AME Church, the NAACP, and the Stockton Teachers Association.
  Mrs. Henry is a trailblazer and role model, paving the way for many 
others who have followed in her footsteps. In celebration of her 100th 
birthday and lifetime of service, I ask my colleagues to join me in 
recognizing Wilhelmina Henry.

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