[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 151 (Tuesday, September 19, 2023)]
[House]
[Page H4386]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            CELEBRATING 150TH ANNIVERSARY OF BENNETT COLLEGE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from 
North Carolina (Ms. Manning) for 5 minutes.
  Ms. MANNING. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to celebrate the 150th 
anniversary of Bennett College, which I have the privilege of 
representing in Congress.
  In 1873, Bennett got its start as a school for elementary and 
secondary students in the basement of Warnersville Methodist Episcopal 
Church.
  Now, Bennett College, located in Greensboro, North Carolina, stands 
as one of only two all-women's HBCUs in the Nation.
  In the 150 years since its founding, Bennett College and its alumni 
have made history. Bennett played a pivotal role in the civil rights 
movement in North Carolina. Before Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., gave 
his famous March on Washington speech, he traveled to Greensboro, North 
Carolina, in February 1958. There, he was met with an overflowing crowd 
of young women, the Bennett Belles, at the Annie Merner Pfeiffer Chapel 
on Bennett's campus.
  This speech, Martin Luther King, Jr.'s first speech ever given in 
Greensboro, had a lasting impact on the entire Triad community.

  Mr. Speaker, 2 years after his speech on Bennett's campus, Bennett 
Belles participated in the famous Woolworth counter sit-in, the 
demonstration that ignited a movement of sit-ins for racial equality 
across the South and across the country and changed the entire course 
of American history.
  In the years since then, Bennett's alumni have continued to make 
history.
  Bennett had the first Black woman president of a 4-year college in 
the United States, Dr. Willa B. Player.
  Former Bennett College President Johnnetta Cole went on to lead the 
Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of African Art.
  Maidie Ruth Gamble Norman was an early Hollywood film star in the 
1930s.
  Dr. Dorothy Brown was the first woman to practice general surgery in 
the South in the 1940s.
  Carolyn Robertson Payton led the Peace Corps under President Jimmy 
Carter.
  Marian Tasco was Pennsylvania's first Black county commissioner.
  Many more Bennett Belles have broken down barriers and have been the 
first to accomplish amazing feats. Today, Bennett continues to educate 
young minds and produce changemakers.
  Bennett has been an influential institution in our Nation's history, 
as well as a pillar of outstanding education in Greensboro, North 
Carolina.
  Congratulations to the Bennett Belles on 150 years of excellence.

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