[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 163 (Friday, October 14, 2022)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1047-E1048]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




        HONORING THE LIFE OF REVEREND GAMALIEL MANSFIELD COLLINS

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. KAREN BASS

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Friday, October 14, 2022

  Ms. BASS. Madam Speaker, today I celebrate the life and legacy of 
civil rights activist and Tuskegee Airman G. Mansfield Collins.
  Collins was a key figure in the civil rights movement on the west 
coast. Under his leadership as executive director, the Western 
Christian Leadership Conference (WCLC) raised more than $6 million in 
the struggle for civil rights, mostly through fundraisers at the homes 
of stars like Burt Lancaster, Charlton Heston, and Sammy Davis, Jr., 
and through events that attracted the likes of Frank Sinatra, Dean 
Martin, Dick Van Dyke and Mahalia Jackson.
  In 1963, Collins played a key role in organizing and coordinating the 
``Los Angeles Freedom Rally,'' which drew nearly 40,000 people 
including many celebrities to hear Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. In 1965, 
Collins personally chartered four airliners to the Selma-to-Montgomery 
marches. On one occasion, Dr. King asked him to organize a singing tour 
for his wife, Coretta Scott King. In August of 1965 during the Watts 
uprising, an LA Times account credited him with saving the life of a 
white man targeted by a group of rioters.
  Born 102 years ago to Reverend H. Mansfield Collins, a pastor in the 
African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church, and Amelia Davis Collins, a 
former schoolteacher, Gamaliel Mansfield Collins moved to Los Angeles, 
California at age 15 when his father was appointed to lead at what is 
now known as First AME Church. Collins attended high school with Tom 
Bradley, who would become Los Angeles' first Black mayor.
  During World War II, Collins was drafted, and assigned to the 2044th 
Quartermaster Unit. With recommendations from a Congressman and an army 
general, Collins tested for the segregated Air Force Flight School and 
became one of the renowned Tuskegee Airmen. Collins' lifelong fight 
against racism began when, in 1945, he and members of the 447th 
Bombardment Group attempted to integrate an all-white officers club. 
This action led to the arrest of 162 black officers.
  Honorably discharged, Collins returned to L.A. and his father's 
church, serving as assistant pastor and musical director, and singing 
with famed actor and composer Jester Hairston. This led to bit parts in 
the films Mighty Joe Young, Imitation of Life and Porgy and Bess. By 
1961 he had worked with Rev. Maurice Dawkins, Rev. Larry Odom, Bishop 
H. Hartford Brookins, Rev. John Doggett, Rev. E.V. Hill, and Rev. James 
Hargett to establish the WCLC.
  Some years later, Collins became an AME minister and served out his 
years with pastorates in Tacoma, Washington; Perris, California; St. 
Louis, Missouri; and Oakland, California. In 1995, he served as a 
founding board member and advisor to his daughter, Lisa Collins, in the 
establishment of L.A. Focus Newspaper, which has become a significant 
outlet serving the African-American community. I am proud to honor his 
memory and to share the story of his century of contributions.

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