[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 158 (2012), Part 11]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 15961]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




  IN CELEBRATION OF THE 100TH BIRTHDAY OF MRS. ONIE BELL NORWOOD, AN 
                         ADMIRABLE CENTENARIAN

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. CHARLES B. RANGEL

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, November 29, 2012

  Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor, recognize, and 
celebrate the 100th Birthday of New York City's own Mrs. Onie Bell 
Norwood, a true Harlem Legend.
  Mrs. Onie Belle Norwood has lived a century in the United States of 
America and in that time has been privileged to witness its magnificent 
transformation. ``Old age'' is a term she's heard but not yet 
experienced as she is able to navigate the city streets better than 
individuals half her age and has a memory capable of challenging any 
young mind. ``Elegant'' and ``witty'' are just two of the words that 
come to mind when friends are asked to describe Mrs. Norwood and she is 
known to freely share from her wealth of ``experience driven'' 
information.
  In 1912, William Taft was president of the United States, Emmet 
O'Neal was governor of Alabama, segregation was a way of life, and, on 
November 16, Onie Belle Carter was born in the ``Heart of Dixie,'' 
known as Union Springs, Alabama. She was the eldest daughter of the 
eight children born to the late Mr. & Mrs. Willie Carter. They were a 
hardworking family that pulled together to make ends meet. While many 
things seemed impossible, Onie Belle would soon discover that ``all 
things are possible.''
  While the 19th Amendment giving women the right to vote (1919) was 
ratified and the Ku Klux Klan boasted a membership of over 4.5 million 
members, Onie accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as her personal Savior at 
First Baptist Church in Alabama. She worked hard and served as 
secretary for the Sunday school and the BYPU. After the death of her 
father as a young girl, Onie was forced to leave school and take on the 
responsibility of helping her mother provide for her sisters and 
brothers. It was the Red Summer of 1919 where race riots broke out 
across the country including in Chicago, Illinois, Washington, D.C. and 
Knoxville, Indianapolis. In 1920, less than 400 miles away, a Black-run 
town called Rosewood was being attacked and burned to the ground. 
Understanding the importance of an education, Onie traveled to 
Montgomery, Alabama to attend the H. A. Loveless Middle School.
  In 1938, Fiorello LaGuardia was mayor of a bustling city called New 
York, where, just four years earlier, the now famous Apollo Theatre 
held its first live show, and Onie Belle, a twenty-six year old country 
girl from Alabama accepted an invitation for ``live-in'' work in Kew 
Gardens, Queens, New York so she could send money back to her mother. 
Onie and her mother prayed that God would protect her in this huge 
city.
  Onie was a warm, friendly person who kept her business to herself. 
She was drawn to the Thursday ``socials'' that were a ``meeting time'' 
for many day workers, porters and laborers. That same year she met and 
married Clarence Norwood.
  The sounds of Harlem echoed in Onie's ear and she enjoyed visiting 
the Apollo Theatre every week where the place was ``jumpin'' with the 
sounds of Count Basie, Louis Armstrong, Dizzy Gillespie, Ella 
Fitzgerald, Duke Ellington and Nat King Cole. In 1939, Billie Holiday 
first performed a song entitled ``Strange Fruit'' in New York City 
which protested the horrid act of lynching. Some of the more popular 
cabarets and clubs in Harlem such as the Cotton Club, Connie's Inn, and 
Smalls Paradise were frequented by Whites and did not allow Blacks. 
Onie found herself in the midst of a changing nation. Onie sought to 
survive through hard work, diligence and determination.
  On March 19, 1941, the 99th Pursuit Squadron became the first 
African-American active combat unit and Onie joined the war effort 
working for the Department of Defense making duffle bags and suspender 
belts for soldiers. After the war, she secured employment in factories 
making belts. On June 25th, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt issued 
Executive Order 8802, the ``Fair Employment Act'', to require equal 
treatment and training of all employees by defense contractors. In that 
same year, Mitchell v US, the Interstate Commerce Clause is used to 
successfully desegregate seating on trains. The country was changing 
and thirty something year old Onie was changing with it. The Civil 
Rights movement was in full swing and forcing America to deal with 
life-changing decisions.
  Feeling her soul was not satisfied, Onie joined St. John's Baptist 
Church on West 152nd Street in Harlem under the pastorate of Rev. Dr. 
Wilson Major Morris in 1950. She has been an active member ever since 
serving under the second pastor, Rev. Walter C. T. Willoughby and the 
present pastor, Rev. Dr. John Luster Scott. She is often heard saying 
how she ``loves her Pastor and her Church family.'' Onie's magnetic 
personality attracts many young and old. Her favorite ``suitors'' are 
Christopher Williams, William ``Sonny'' Gamble and Ernest DeVerger. 
Presently retired from the Chimera Belt Factory, she still enjoys going 
to Church, taking pictures, shopping and listening to music.
  A long time Harlemite, she has seen a century of great changes take 
place in her life, the Church, the Nation and African-American people, 
including the granting of the right to vote to women and the great 
Civil Rights Movement. She has seen the Ku Klux Klan membership dwindle 
to less than 8,000; 81 African-American mayors including John McGowan 
(1984) of her hometown of Union Springs, Alabama and David Dinkins 
(1988) of New York City; 3 ``first'' African-American governors; nearly 
100 Members of the House of Representatives; 4 African-American 
Senators and one African-American President, her favorite, President 
Barack Obama. She has lived through 19 US presidents, 3 pastors and a 
multitude of African-American leaders and innovators. She keeps her 
favorite Bible verse close, Psalm 121, which begins, ``I will lift up 
mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help.'' On November 16, 
2012 Onie Belle Norwood will be 100 years old. Blessed indeed, she has 
seen her prayers answered--a God who kept her safe in New York City.
  I ask my colleagues and our Nation to join me in this special 
Congressional Recognition of the 100th Birthday of a true patriot and 
Harlem legend Mrs. Onie Bell Norwood.

                          ____________________