[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 5]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages 6977-6978]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




     IN CELEBRATION OF DABNEY N. MONTGOMERY'S 90TH BIRTHDAY ``OUR 
                          NONAGENARIAN HERO''

                                  _____
                                 

                         HON. CHARLES B. RANGEL

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, May 15, 2013

  Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor, recognize, and 
celebrate the 90th birthday of Mr. Dabney N. Montgomery, a member of 
the ground crew of the Tuskegee Airmen, who later served as a bodyguard 
for Martin Luther King during the historic 1965 march from Selma to 
Montgomery, Alabama.
  Dabney N. Montgomery was born in Selma, Alabama on April 18, 1923, to 
Dred and Lula Anderson Montgomery. Mr. Montgomery was drafted into the 
Army Air Corps (now the United States Air Force), during World War II 
and served in the 1051st Quartermaster Company of the 96th Air Service 
Group, attached to the 332nd Air Fighter Group, as a ground crewman 
with the Tuskegee Airmen in Southern Italy, from 1943 to 1945. He was 
awarded a Good Conduct Medal, the WWII Victory Medal, the European 
African Middle Eastern Service Medal with two Bronze Stars, a Service 
Award, the Honorable Service Medal, and a Basic Driver and Mechanic 
Medal. In 1946, he enrolled into Livingstone College, Salisbury, North 
Carolina, and received a B.A. degree in Religious Education, in May 
1949. He served as a Charter Member of the Sphinx Club and was one of 
the first to be admitted into the Gamma Mu Chapter of the Alpha Phi 
Alpha [AFA] Fraternity.
  In June 1955, he joined Mother African Methodist Episcopal Zion 
Church (the oldest Black Church in the State of New York, organized in 
1796), Harlem, New York. He immediately began to serve as Sunday School 
Teacher and, in early 1970, was appointed Director of Youth (serving 
until 1999). In July 1996, he authored a Resolution to the General 
Conference of the A.M.E. Zion Church Denomination, proposing that `The 
Day of Pentecost' be incorporated in their Book of Discipline. It now 
stands as a day of celebration throughout all A.M.E. Zion churches.
  He served and presently serves in many capacities such as General 
Chairperson of Mother Zion's Bicentennial Anniversary in October 1996, 
charter member of the past organization at 159 West 136th Street 
Parsonage Building Fund of Mother Zion, the W.H. & O.M.S where he 
served as member/chaplain, Class no. 4 member, Board of Stewards, Board 
of Directors of James Varick Community Center, and the Lay Council. He 
is Mother Zion's Church Historian and conducts church tours. In 1999, 
the Church was featured in a PBS documentary entitled, ``A Walk through 
Harlem,'' hosted by Barry Lewis and David Hartman in which Mr. 
Montgomery cites the history of Mother Zion Church.
  On Sunday, March 5, 2006, the men's committee bestowed upon him a 
double honor with the Paul Robeson Award of Excellence

[[Page 6978]]

and with architectural plans for the future structure of the Church 
archives and museum to be named the Dabney N. Montgomery Art Gallery 
and Exhibition Hall. Mr. Montgomery was an activist in the course of 
the Civil Rights Movement and marched with the late Reverend Dr. Martin 
Luther King, Jr. throughout the 50+ mile March from Selma to 
Montgomery, Alabama, March 21-25, 1965. He served as one of Dr. King's 
bodyguards. On April 11, 2006, President George W. Bush signed a bill 
into law to award all original Tuskegee Airmen the `United States 
Congressional Gold Medal of Honor;' it was awarded on Thursday, March 
29, 2007, under the Capitol Dome here in Washington, D.C.
  In December 2006, he was selected by the Livingstone College National 
Alumni Association to receive the prestigious Outstanding Alumni Award. 
It was presented on February 2, 2007 by the National Alumni Council of 
the United Negro College Fund in Nashville, Tennessee. On February 4, 
2010, he was inducted into the United Negro College Fund ``Share Your 
Love'' and Service in Celebration of Livingstone College Leaders Hall 
of Fame. These distinguished awards recognize Alumni who have made 
significant contributions to their alma mater, community, and the 
United Negro College Fund.
  On August 7, 2007, he was asked to serve as a member of The 
HistoryMakers, a Chicago-based organization that has the largest 
archival collection of both well-known and unsung African American 
HistoryMakers. Their purpose is to capture the stories of accomplished 
African Americans across all walks of life and to use video and new 
technologies to create an accessible digital collection to serve as a 
resource for students, teachers, scholars, documentary producers and 
the media. The HistoryMakers' stories are stories of success against 
the odds, of achievement in the face of adversity, and of inspiration. 
They are America's missing stories.
  On Saturday, June 27, 2009 the Livingstone College National Alumni 
Association, Brooklyn, Queens and Long Island Chapter presented to 
Dabney N. Montgomery the Joseph Charles Price Award, ``In Recognition 
of Outstanding Achievements That Serve as a Tribute to Our Beloved 
Founder.''
  Mr. Montgomery is involved in the Harlem community and is a member of 
Manhattan Community Board No. 10, where he serves on two sub-
committees: Parks and Recreation, and the Executive Committee. As a 
member of the Parks and Recreation Committee, he wrote a base letter to 
the Parks Department of the City of New York, as a proposal to 
recognize Central Park West (at 85th and 86th Streets) as the 
historical site of African American settlers in the early 1820s, which 
was then Seneca Village. Mother Zion was, for a short time, located 
there. The settlers were evicted in 1857 under the City's `eminent 
domain' project. A permanent sign now stands marking the site. He is 
chaplain of the West 136th Street Block Association.
  Words cannot express my gratitude to Dabney, whose devotion to our 
community is remarkable and his service and commitment to our Nation 
has known no bounds. Mr. Speaker, as we celebrate the 150th anniversary 
of the Emancipation Proclamation, the 150th anniversary of the Union 
League Club, the 100th anniversary of the founding of the 369th 
``Harlem Hellfighters Regiment'' and the 100th birthday of Rosa Parks, 
I ask my distinguished colleagues to join me in celebrating the 90th 
birthday of Dabney N. Montgomery, an outstanding veteran, hero, civil 
rights activist and public servant.

                          ____________________