2014 Reflector

Special Edition: Black History 2014 Celebrated The

e Fl e ctor r

Shirley, Althea, Chief & Ralph Rights Act Turns 50 Leadership Standouts Inside

America

Civil

in

The History Behind These Stamp Honorees

Hippest Trip

Mississippi Brothers Help Mold Wichita

T he

Hugh & Hollie Heavy Hitters

A Black History Supplement to The Community Voice In Partnership With The The Kansas African American Affairs Commission

The

Reflector

Contents

P.O. Box 20804 Wichita, KS 67208 316.681.1155 E-mail press releases: press@tcvpub.com online voiceitwichita.com

Editor In Chief Bonita Gooch

Black Heritage Stamp Honorees Shirley, Althea, Chief, & Ralph

3-4 Civil Rights Act Benchmark Legislation Turns 50

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Marketing

Cornell Hill & Bonita Gooch

Graphic Design Sarah Glenn

HISTORICAL CONSULTANTS

The Kansas African american museum family history project team -- members: jackie lugrand, jozel eckels, joseph bowen and mark criner.

Charles McAfee & Barbara Sims Coleman paul oberg, mccormick school museum john wright

The Reflector is a special supplement to The Community Voice Newspaper.

The Community Voice is published biweekly by TCV Publishing, Inc., 2918 E. Douglas, Wichita, KS 67208.

Hugh & Hollie Mississippi Brothers Help to Mold Wichita

10-11 The Hippest Trip in America: Remembering Soul Train and the 1970s

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Extra copies of this supplement can be purchased for $1 each plus postage, if mailing is required.

Editor’s Thoughts

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or an editor, choosing a favorite issue is like choosing a favorite child. You have to ponder if it’s fair to do so. I love our annual wedding issue and of course our love issue published around Valentine’s Day. Last year we added two new issues that are sure to be among my favorites, The Cost of Death and Dying and our Corporate Standouts.

I enjoy preparing them all, but there is a special place in my heart for The Reflector, our annual Black History Supplement. Even before we finish an edition, we’re already thinking about stories for the next. While you’re digging and researching four articles, we always come up with another interesting story that just has to be told. We thoroughly enjoy researching the stories and sharing them with our readers -- young and old.

As always, some of our readers may have lived the history covered in this issue. I’m sure there are a lot of you who remember gathering around the televi-

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sion on Saturday afternoon to watch Soul Train. Still there are other young readers who have absolutely no idea why those old folks want to do the “Soul Train Line” at all of the family gatherings.

For our younger and youngest readers, this information in these pages are far too often new and unfamiliar. We prepare this piece especially for them to draw inspiration for and about the great things they themselves can do.

We thank our sponsor the Kansas African American Affairs Commission for supporting this important publication.

They’ve never flinched in their support of this edition.

A little about KAAAC and their history.

The board serves as the official liaison for the governor to the community. The seven member board was created in 1997 by the passage of House Bill 2444.

Members are appointed by the governor and leaders of the Kansas House and Senate.

Bonita Gooch, Publisher

Bonita Gooch

The Community Voice is a bi-weekly publication of TCV Publishing, Inc. The Reflector is published annually as a special Black History supplement to the paper.

Each year, The Reflector features unique national, regional and local stories about deserving individuals and situations that typical fall below the radar.

We’re able to bring this issue to our readers thanks to our sponsors the Kansas African American Affairs Commission and our advertisers. We thank them for their support.

Stamps

The Reflector | 3

in 1946, she began her career as a teacher and went on to earn a master’s degree in elementary education from Columbia University.

Chisholm served as director of the HamiltonMadison Child Care Center from 1953 to 1959, and as an educational consultant for New York City’s Bureau of Child Welfare from 1959 to 1964.

In congress, she was initially assigned to the House Forestry Committee and shocked his year the 37th stamp, many by demanding reassignfeaturing Shirley Chisholm, ment. She was placed on the will be released. If you don’t Veterans’ Affairs Committee, know your history Chisholm eventually graduating to the My greatest political asset, was the first African American woman Education and Labor Comwhich professional politiever elected to Congress. After being mittee. In 1969, Chisholm elected to Congress, in 1972, she became one of the founding cians fear, is my mouth, out became the first African American to members of the Congresof which come all kinds of seek nomination for presidency with a sional Black Caucus. major political party. She later wrote of A champion of minority educathings one shouldn’t always her unsuccessful bid, “The next time tion and employment opportunidiscuss for reasons of politia woman runs, or a Black, or a Jew or ties throughout her tenure in cal expediency. anyone from a group that the country Congress, Chisholm was also a is ‘not ready’ to elect to its highest vocal opponent of the U.S. mili– Shirley Chisholm office, I believe that he or she will be tary draft. After leaving Congress in taken seriously from the start… I ran 1983, she taught at Mount Holyoke because somebody had to do it first.” of her childhood in Barbados with her grandCollege and was popular on the lecture Born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1924, Shirley mother. After graduating from Brooklyn College circuit.

Shirley Chisholm, First African-American Woman in Congress

Chisholm was the first African-American female to serve in Congress. Elected in 1968, she served seven terms as representative of her New York district. She is also known for her 1972 run for the Democratic nomination for the presidency, becoming the first major-party African-American candidate to do so.

Chisholm was born Shirley St. Hill on November 30, 1924, in a predominantly Black neighborhood in Brooklyn, New York and spent part

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Other 2014 Stamp Releases

Ralph Ellison, Author

T

he 29th stamp in the Literary Arts series honors author Ralph Ellison (1913 - 1994). The 91-cent stamp is designed for the First-Class Mail three-ounce rate. Ellison is best known for his 1952 novel Invisible Man. Ralph Ellison was born on March 1, 1914 in Oklahoma City, OK. In

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his future book of essays Shadow and Act, Ellison described himself and several of his friends growing up as young Renaissance Men, people who looked to culture and intellectualism as a source of identity. A budding instrumentalist, Ellison took up the cornet at 8-years-old and years later, as a trumpeter, attended Tuskegee Institute in Alabama, where he studied music with his eye on becoming a symphony composer.

In 1936, Ellison went to New York over the summer with the intent of earning enough money to pay for his college expenses, but ended up relocating. He started to work as a researcher and writer for the New York Federal Writers Program, and was befriended by writers Richard Wright, Langston Hughes and Alan Locke, who all mentored the fledgling scribe. During this period, Ellison

The stamp art of Ellison is based on a Black-and-White photograph by Gordon Parks. The background of the stamp art shows a Harlem street at twilight.

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The design shows a painting by Robert Shetterly. The portrait is one of a series of paintings by the artist titled “Americans Who Tell the Truth.”

Chisholm was married to Conrad Chisholm from 1949 to 1977. She wed Arthur Hardwick Jr. in 1986. Chisholm died on January 1, 2005, at age 80, in Ormond Beach (near Daytona Beach), Florida.  Primary Sources: usps.gov and biography.com

began to publish some of If the Negro, or any other his essays and short stories, writer, is going to do what and worked as managing editor for The Negro is expected of him, he’s lost Quarterly. the battle before he takes the The Invisible Man focused on an African-Amerfield. I suspect that all the ican civil rights worker from agony that goes into writing is the South who, upon his move to New York, becomes borne precisely because the increasingly alienated due writer longs for acceptance — to the racism he encounters.

Upon its release, Invisible but it must be acceptance on Man became a runaway his own terms.” hit, remaining on bestseller – Ralph Ellison lists for weeks and winning the National Book Award the following year. With millions College and New York University. He published of copies eventually printed, the novel would be regarded as a groundbreaking his second collection of essays, Going to the Territory, in 1986, yet was stalled over the demeditation on race and marginalized communicades from completing his second novel, which ties in America, influencing future generations of he envisioned as a great American saga. writers and thinkers.

Ellison died from pancreatic cancer in New Ellison traveled throughout Europe in the York City on April 16, 1994. The novel that had mid-1950s, and lived in Rome for two years been working on prior to his death was released after becoming an American Academy fellow. posthumously in 1999 and titled Juneteenth, He continued writing—publishing a collection of essays in 1964,Shadow and Act—and taught with final shaping done by his literary executor, John Callahan.  at colleges and universities, including Bard

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4 | The Reflector

Althea Gibson,

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Walker, who invited her to play tennis on local courts.

After winning several tournaments hosted by the local recreation department, Gibson was introduced to the Harlem River Tennis Courts in 1941.

Incredibly, just a year after picking up a racket for the first time, she won a local tournament sponsored by the American Tennis Association, an African-American organization established to promote and sponsor tournaments for Black play-

Tennis Champion

In August 2013, at the start of the U.S. Open Tennis Tournament, the United States Postal Service finally unveiled the 2013 Black Heritage Postage Stamp.

Historically, the stamps are issued around or near February, Black History Month, and we typically feature an article on the honoree. Because of the late date of the unveiling, we’re featured both the 2013 and 2014 honoree in this edition of The Reflector.

and Wimbledon (1951).

Making History Gibson’s success at those ATA tournaments paved the way for her to attend Florida A&M University on a sports scholarship. She graduated from the school in 1953, but it was a struggle for her to get by. At one point, she even thought of leaving sports all together to join the U.S. Army. A good deal of her frustration had People thought I was to do with the fact that so much of ruthless, which I was. the tennis world was closed off to her. The White-dominated, WhiteI didn’t give a darn who managed sport was segregated in ennis great Althea Gibson (1927was on the other side the United States, as was the world 2003) is featured on the 36th In the around it. stamp in the United States Postal stamp art, artist Kadir of the net. I’d knock you The breaking point came in Service’s Black Heritage series. The Nelson depicts Gibson at Wimbledon. down if you got in my way.

1950, when Alice Mable, a former first Black player to win one of the four major At a young age, Gibson moved with her tennis No. 1 herself, wrote a piece singles tennis tournaments, Gibson twice captured family to the Harlem borough of New York City. in American Lawn Tennis magazine Wimbledon and the U.S. Championships (now – Althea Gibson Gibson’s life at this time had its hardships. Her lambasting her sport for denying known as the U.S. Open) and became the topa player of Gibson’s caliber to ranked player in the world. She is the first African- family struggled to make ends meet, living on public assistance for a time, and Gibson struggled American female athlete featured in the series. ers. She picked up two more ATA titles in 1944 and compete in the world’s best tournaments. Mable’s in the classroom, often skipping school altogether. article caught notice, and by 1952—just one year Althea Neale Gibson was born on August 25, 1945. Then, after losing one title in 1946, Gibson However, Gibson loved to play sports—especially 1927, in Silver, South Carolina. Gibson blazed a won 10 straight championships from 1947 to 1956. after becoming the first Black player to compete at Wimbledon—Gibson was a Top 10 player in the new trail in the sport of tennis, winning some of the table tennis—and she soon made a name for Amidst this winning streak, she made history as sport’s biggest titles in the 1950s, and broke racial herself as a local table tennis champion. Her the first African-American tennis player to compete United States. She went on to climb even higher, skills were eventually noticed by musician Buddy to No. 7 by 1953.  barriers in professional golf as well. at both the U.S. National Championships (1950)

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Primary Sources: usps.gov and biography.com

Other 2014 Stamp Releases

C. Alfred “Chief” Anderson,

A The Chief Anderson stamp, the 15th in the Distinguished Americans series, is based on a photograph of Anderson in the 1942 yearbook of the Tuskegee Institute’s flight training school in Tuskegee, Alabama. The artist added headgear used by pilots in World War II.

70-cent First-Class Mail two-ounce rate stamp featuring C. Alfred “Chief” Anderson will be released by the United States Postal Service early next month. This pioneering African-American aviator played a crucial role during World War II in training the nation’s first black military pilots, the Tuskegee Airmen.

Anderson (1907-1996) was considered the father of Black aviation. He was enamored with airplanes and flying from the tender age of six. Since most flight instructors of the day would not take black students, he taught himself to fly at the age of 22 in a used plane purchased with his savings and other funds borrowed from friends and relatives.

He earned a private pilot’s license in 1929 and a commercial pilot’s license in 1932.

Dr. Albert Forsythe, a black physician, heard of Chief’s achievement and became Anderson’s partner and financial backer for a series of record setting flights. During the next two years, Ander-

Aviator

son and Forsythe made several history-making long-distance flights. Together they made the first round-trip transcontinental flight by black pilots, flying from Atlantic City, New Jersey, to Los Angeles and back without the aid of landing lights, parachutes, radios, or blind-flying instruments. Much of their navigation on the trip was accomplished by reading a simple roadmap.

The daring twosome also made a long-distance flight to Canada and later staged an elaborate Pan American Goodwill Tour of the Caribbean in their plane “The Spirit of Booker T. Washington.

The Anderson-Forsythe long-distance flights attracted worldwide attention and did much to popularize aviation in the black community.

During the late 1930s, Anderson began supporting himself by giving flight instruction and, in 1939, he was recruited to start the Civilian Pilot Training Program (CPTP) at the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama.In 1940 Anderson was hired by the Tuskegee Institute as its Chief Flight Instructor, with the assignment to develop a pilot train-

ing program for the school. Tuskegee was one of six black colleges participating in the Civilian Pilot Training Program, a system established by the Civil Aeronautics Authority in 1939 to provide a pool of civilian pilots for wartime emergency. At that time Anderson was the only black aviator in the United States who held a commercial pilot’s license.

The fledgling program received a tremendous publicity boost when Chief Anderson took Eleanor Roosevelt on an unscheduled airplane ride while the First Lady was visiting Tuskegee’s infantile paralysis research program. Anderson’s CPTP and its military follow-on, which he also directed, were responsible for training the pilots who became the famous Tuskegee Airmen of World War II. Anderson and his fellow Tuskegee instructors trained such famous military aviators as B. O. Davis, Jr., and Daniel “Chappie” James.

Following the war, Anderson continued as an aviation instructor at Tuskegee and managed an aircraft sales business. 

The Reflector | 5

Civil Rights Act of 1964

Benchmark Legislation Turns

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he Civil Rights Act of 1964 is considered the nation’s benchmark civil rights legislation, and it continues to resonate in America. Under the Civil Rights Act, segregation on the grounds of race, religion or national origin was banned at all places of public accommodation, including courthouses, parks, restaurants, theaters, sports arenas and hotels. No longer could blacks and other minorities be denied service simply based on the color of their skin. The act also barred race, religious, national origin and gender discrimination by employers and labor unions, and created an Equal Employment Opportunity Commission with the power to file lawsuits on behalf of aggrieved workers.

Additionally, the act forbade the use of federal funds for any discriminatory program, authorized the Office of Education (now the Department of Education) to assist with school desegregation, gave extra clout to the Commission on Civil Rights and prohibited the unequal application of voting requirements.

Kennedy Proposes the Bill In an June 11,1963 speech broadcast live on national television and radio, President John F. Kennedy unveiled plans to pursue a comprehensive civil rights bill in Congress, stating, ‘‘this nation, for all its hopes and all its boasts, will not be fully free until all its citizens are free.’’

President John F. Kennedy addresses the nation in a speech broadcast on national television and radio on June 11, 1963.

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An earlier Civil Rights billed passed in 1957, was the first law passed addressing the legal rights of African Americans since Reconstruction. That Bill, The Civil Rights Act of 1957, established the Civil Rights division of the Justice Department and the U.S. Civil Rights Commission to investigate claims of racial discrimination. However, before the 1957 bill passed Congress removed a provision that would have empowered the Justice Department to enforce the Brown v.

Board of Education decision.

Not happy with the 1957 bill, A. Philip Randolph and other civil rights leaders continued to press the major political parties and presidents Dwight D. Eisenhower and John F. Kennedy to enact a more comprehensive civil rights bill. The civil rights legislation that Kennedy introduced to Congress in June 1963 was much broader sweeping and Randolph and Martin Luther King, Jr. advocated for its passage.

In an article published after the 1963 March on Washington, King posed the question, ‘‘what next?’’ ‘Tthe hundreds of thousands who marched in Washington marched to level barriers. They summed up everything in a word—NOW. What is the content of NOW? Everything, not some things, in the President’s civil rights bill is part of NOW.’’ The Civil Rights Act Moves Through Congress Kennedy was assassinated that November in Dallas, after which new President Lyndon B. Johnson immediately took up the cause.

“Let this session of Congress be known as the session which did more for civil rights than the last hundred sessions combined,” Johnson said in his first State of the Union address.

During debate on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives, southerners argued, among other things, that the bill unconstitutionally usurped individual liberties and states’ rights. In a mischievous attempt to sabotage the bill, a Virginia segregationist introduced an amendment to ban employment discrimination against women. That amendment passed, whereas over 100 other hostile amendments were defeated. In the end, the House approved the bill with bipartisan support by a vote of 290-130.

The bill then moved to the Senate Because the Senate Judiciary Committee failed to act on proposed civil rights legislation presented seven years earlier, Senate Majority Leader Mike Mansfield filed a procedural motion to prevent the bill from being referred to the Committee. Despite opposition to the motion from Senators opposed to the Civil Rights Act, Mansfield successfully prevented the bill from being referred to the Committee.

The Senate began debate on the proposal on March 30, 1964. Senator Edward Kennedy, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, dedicated his first speech on the floor

See ACT, page 7

Features of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 Title I—Voting Rights Barred unequal application of voter registration requirements, but did not abolish literacy tests sometimes used to disqualify African Americans and poor white voters.

Title II—Public Accommodations Outlawed discrimination in hotels, motels, restaurants, theaters, and all other public accommodations engaged in interstate commerce; exempted private clubs without defining “private,” thereby allowing a loophole.

Title III—Desegregation of Public Facilities Permitted Justice Department suits to secure desegregation of certain public facilities.

Title IV—Desegregation of Public Education Encouraged the desegregation of public schools and authorized the U. S. Attorney General to file suits to force desegregation, but did not authorize busing as a means to overcome segregation based on residence.

Title V—Civil Rights Commission Addressed procedures for the Commission, broadened its duties, and extended its life through January 1968.

Title VI—Nondiscrimination in Federally Assisted Programs Authorized but did not require withdrawal of federal funds from programs which practiced discrimination.

Title VII—Equal Employment Opportunity Outlawed discrimination in employment in any business exceeding twenty five people and creates an Equal Employment Opportunities Commission to review complaints, although it lacked meaningful enforcement powers.

Title VIII—Registration and Voting Statistics Directed the Census Bureau to collect registration and voting statistics based on race, color and national origin but provided that individuals could not be compelled to disclose such information.

Title IX—Intervention and Removal of Cases Made reviewable in high federal courts the action of federal district courts in remanding a civil rights case to state court and authorized the Attorney General to intervene in certain private suits.

Title X—Community Relations Service Created the Service to aid communities in resolving disputes relating to discriminatory practices based on race, color, or national origin.

SOURCE: Congress and the Nation, 1945-64 (Congressional Quarterly Service, 1965): 1638-41.

6 | The Reflector

Leadership and the Slow Path to Civil Rights

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y the time the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Brown vs Board of Education, proclaiming separate but equal was no longer to be the doctrine of the land, Americans had lived four centuries with the concept of the “inferior” Negro and bigotry and racisms were embedded in many American institutions.

African Americans lived with segregated public facilities and discrimination in the area of housing, the armed forces and transportation. These patterns of discrimination coupled with the idea of the inferiority of the Negro were the main stumbling blocks that Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy and Johnson encountered when they tried to improve the civil rights of African Americans.

As part of our look at the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, here, we examine the role previous administrations played in improving the condition of Blacks in America.

cessful in his attempts.

Unable to affectuate a change by means of legislation. Truman used his power of executive order in 1948 to desegregate the armed forces.

This order dealt with segregation in the armed forces but did little to remedy the discriminatory practices which existed in off base housing facilities and in the local communities near the bases.

Truman, after taking over upon Franklin D. Roosevelt’s death, alienated the South with his civil rights actions. His election in 1948 proved that it wasn’t necessary to have the support of the South to win the Presidency. This served as a key for Kennedy and Johnson in their formulating a strategy to become president.

Civil Rights Act of 1964

President Franklin D. Roosevelt Even though there were no major concerted efforts by the President Dwight D. Eisenhower Roosevelt administration in the area of civil rights, the African Eisenhower had a laissez-faire attitude about Americans benefited from New Deal programs. The New Deal civil rights. He believed that the racial situation programs were directed at the low income groups of which African could be solved by local communities without President Lyndon B. Johnson signs the Civil RIghts Act into law on July 2, 1964.

Americans constituted a large part. However, local relief programs the federal government intervening. Because often operated on a segregated basis. For example, local bread of this, Eisenhower refused to throw the full lines and soup kitchens were segregated. power and moral support of his office behind the President John F. Kennedy Discrimination in housing, transportation, public accommoda1954 Brown Decision. However, in 1957, Eisenhower showed his With the start of the 1960’s the restlessness of African Ameritions and the armed services went virtually unchecked by the support of the 1954 ruling when he sent Federal Troops into Little cans started to become more evident. This was the condition in Roosevelt administration. Roosevelt was forced to issue an Rock, Arkansas to uphold the court’s desegregation order.

American when Kennedy entered the race for President. Kennedy executive order banning discrimination in employment in the Eisenhower followed through on Truman’s commitment to knew that it was possible to win in 1960 without the support of the defense industries in 1941. He did this Southern states, for Truman had done to avert a march on Washington, D. C. it in 1948. Kennedy also realized if he led by A. Philip Randolph of the Brothercould win the Negro vote in the big cities hood of Sleeping Car Porters. Roosevelt We preach freedom around the world, and we mean it. And we cherish of the key states of New York, Illinois, established the Fair Employment Practice Pennsylvania and Michigan, he would our freedom here at home. But are we to say to the world - and much more Commission (F. E. P. C.) to see that this win the election. importantly to each other - that this is the land of the free, except for the order was carried out.

In October 1960 when Dr. King was Negroes; that we have no second-class citizens, except Negroes; that we no class In 1939, Attorney General Frank MurJailed because of a sit-in in an Ator caste system, no ghettos, no master race, except with respect to Negroes. phy established a Civil Liberties Section lanta department store, Kennedy called in the Criminal Division of the Justice Coretta King with words of reassurance.

- John F. Kennedy, speech on television (June 11, 1963) Department. It was later known as the Later that day Robert Kennedy called Civil Rights Section. the judge presiding over the case and soon King was released. As a result, President Harry S. Truman Kennedy won a lot of support in the The Truman administration was marked with several attempts to desegregate the armed services. Two Civil Rights Acts were also African-American community. improve the conditions of African Americans. Truman established passed. The Civil Right Acts of 1957 and 1960 dealt primarily with After the 1960 election, President Kennedy realized that though the Committee on Government Contract Compliance (C.C.G.C.C.) voting rights. The bills: he didn’t need the support of the Southern states to get elected, he to replace the F.E.P.C. which Congress abolished shortly after 1. Created the U. S. Civil Rights Commission did need their support in order to get legislation passed in Congress.

World War II. These two committees had the same functions, stop 2. Created a new Assistant Attorney General to deal with civil This is why Kennedy didn’t immediately push for passage of civil discrimination in the defense industries. rights. rights legislations. Instead, the Kennedy administration began its It was also under the Truman administration that the President’s The two Eisenhower civil rights acts only added an extra 3% attack on discrimination from the Justice Department.

Commission on Civil Rights (P.C.C.R.) was created. Truman Black voters to the electoral roll for the 1960 election.

When violence broke out as a result of the freedom rides in the adopted some of the recommendations of the P.C.C.R. as his own Eisenhower appointed prominent African Americans to important Spring of 1961, the Attorney General petitioned the Interstate and tried to get them enacted into law. These proposals concerned high ranking government positions. Eisenhower was setting an lynching, the poll tax and fair employment, Truman was unsucexample for the rest of the nation to follow in fair employment.

See LEADERSHIP, page 7

Civil Rights Act of 1964

The Reflector | 7

LEADERSHIP,

from page 6

Test Your Knowledge & Win 1.Which President called for the bill in 1963?

A. Harry S. Truman B. Dwight D. Eisenhower C. John F. Kennedy D. Lyndon B. Johnson

nesses Does Title II Outlaw Discrimination?

A.Hotels B.Restuarants C.Theaters D.All of the Above

2.How many senators voted against it?

A.45 B.16 C.10 D.27

6.Which political party showed the most support for the Civil Rights Act of 1964?

A.Republicans B.Democrats

3.How many southern senators voted for it?

A.10 B.1 C.5 D.12

7.Was a Senate debate on the Civil Rights Act of 1964 the one and only time Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X ever met in person?

A.True B.False

4.Which title protects employees from employer discrimination?

A.Title1 B.Title VII C.Title III D.Title X 5.In What Kind Of Busi-

8. Which title of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 encouraged the desegregation of schools?

A. Title II B. Title IV C.Title V

Commerce Commission (ICC) to remedy segregation in interstate terminals. The ICC did this by issuing an order banning segregation in interstate terminals.

In the area of public housing, on November 20, 1962, President Kennedy issued an order which stated that it wasn’t proper to deny any American citizen the benefits of federally owned or federally financed housing.

Kennedy encouraged civil rights organizations to register Blacks to vote, but when civil rights workers reported physical abuses little or nothing was done in most cases. The Justice Department failed to prosecute in many cases, claiming a lack of evidence was due to the FBI who dragged their feet.

The President’s Commission on Civil Rights experienced similar difficulty when it tried to get the assistance of the FBI in civil rights matters.

When the cameras showed the police brutality that was used against young civil rights protectors in Birmingham, Alabama in 1963, President Kennedy concluded that a new approach to civil rights was needed. It was at this point he decided that civil rights legislation was needed. The Justice Department began work on a civil rights bill. Due to an assassin’s bullet, John Kennedy would not live to see the passage of this bill.

President Lyndon B. Johnson

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ACT,

from page 5 on the floor of the U.S. Senate to the consideration of the Civil Rights Act. Senator Kennedy would go on to become the longest serving member of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Southern and border state Democrats staged a 75-day filibuster –among the longest in U.S. history. On one occasion, Senator Robert Byrd of West Virginia, a former Ku Klux Klan member, spoke for over 14 consecutive hours. But with the help of behind-thescenes horse-trading, the bill’s supporters eventually obtained the two-thirds votes necessary to end debate. One of those votes came from California Senator Clair Engle, who, though too sick to speak, signaled “aye” by pointing to his own eye. Having broken

Passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 would be left up to the Johnson administration. It is important to note that President Johnson made a 360 degree turn in his civil rights position when he became President. From 1940 to 1960 Johnson voted with the South 78% on civil rights issues. Prior to 1957, Johnson voted with the South 100% on civil rights issues. He also voted against the Civil Rights Act of 1957 and 1960.

There are several reasons to explain Johnson’s sudden and dramatic change in his position on civil rights. The main reason was, Johnson wanted to run for President in 1964 and he didn’t want to do anything that would offend the Negro or liberal vote.

Other reasons for Johnson’s strong support of civil rights include his desire to become one of the greatest domestic Presidents in history and his belief that the U.S. could not be considered as the “Great Society” if it denied civil rights to American Negroes.

When Johnson addressed Congress and the nation on November 27, 1963 from the House of Representatives, he set the tone for civil rights under his administration. “Let us continue”, the most important phrase in his speech, followed by a plea to pass the civil rights legislation on the hill as a tribute to John Kennedy signaled to all Americans that Johnson wasn’t going to put civil rights on a back burner.

Johnson’s main contribution was the fact that he refused to compromise on the civil rights bill. 

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the filibuster, the Senate voted 73-27 in favor of the bill, on June 19, 1964.

On July 2, 1964, the House voted to adopt the Senate-passed legislation, rather than insisting on a conference of the bill. President Johnson signed the bill into law that very afternoon.

After the Civil Rights Act The Civil Rights Act was later expanded to bring disabled Americans, the elderly and women in collegiate athletics under its umbrella. It also paved the way for two major follow-up laws: the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which prohibited literacy tests and other discriminatory voting practices, and the Fair Housing Act of 1968, which banned discrimination in the sale, rental and financing of property. Though the struggle against racism would continue, legal segregation had been brought to its knees.

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8 | The Reflector

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10| The Reflector

Mississippi Brothers Help to Mold Wichita

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ississippi’s loss was Wichita’s gain when it came to the Sims Brothers.

Born in the late 1800’s to a freedslave, the brothers found their way to Wichita under completely different circumstance. Hollie fled to Wichita in fear of his life.

Hugh came to Wichita for a professional start.

Despite the different paths that bought them here, both men made immeasurable contributions to the community.

Hugh was the oldest of six children born to Reuben T. and Maggie Sims. Reuben was a freed slave, born in 1857, just six years before Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation.

Little is known about how the Sims settled in Canton, MS, but it was a great choice. In 1869, the American Missionary Association established Tugaloo Academy as a place to educate freed slaves. Just down the road from Canton, the school provided an excellent education for Reuben and his children. Not a typical academy, the school provided elementary education, offered boarding for out-of-areas residents, trained teachers and in 1873 added a Theological Department.

All of the Sims children received a quality education. Hollie T., the oldest, was born in 1884. Hugh N., the youngest, was born in 1899. In all there were six Sims siblings: three girls and three boys. One of the girls, Dorothy Sims, also relocated to Wichita. Dorothy was the mother of Gloria Winston McAfee. Until her death in 2010, Gloria was the last direct Sims descendent to reside in Wichita.

Hollie For 17 years, Reuben, served as pastor of Mt. Zion Baptist Church in Canton. He was heavily involved in the National Baptist Convention and was the editor of The Mississippi Baptist, the first Black newspaper in that state.

As editor, he hired young Virginia Burton as an apprentice printer. Virginia and Hollie had an eye for each other and eventually married.

One week after their wedding, the couple moved about 70 miles north to Greenwood, MS. They began publishing their own newspaper the Negro Star. The first issue of the publication was dated April 24, 1908.

An incident in 1919 with a county sheriff and a committee of “concerned” White citizens forced the Sims to leave Miss on a north bound train. In response to the end of World War I,

the Sims published a story praising America’s Black troops as instrumental in the defeat of Germany.

“The citizens of Mississippi told us, ‘You can’t run that kind of stuff in Mississippi,’” Virginia Sims shared with a reporter. “’Cotton can grow at the North Pole easier than the news you’re putting out could go in Mississippi.’ In Mississippi we couldn’t continue to publish our paper and live.”

In fear of their lives, the Sims loaded their printing press, along with their staff, families and possessions, onto a train bound for Wichita.

They decided to settle in Wichita after talking

said that kind of thing never happened in Wichita.

Virginia, who learned the printing trade while working for Reuben, was always an integral part of their newspaper business. She operated the linotype machine, setting the type for the couple’s usual 4-page publication. When they arrived in Wichita, they purchased a house at 1241 N. Wabash that had a detached garage.

For the next 44 years, that garage was the publishing home of the Negro Star.

Each issue of the Negro Star typically carried national, state and local news. National news covered politics and issues of national importance to Wichita’s Black community.

The paper didn’t include many photos. Local and regional news was often community-based. For example, the April 24, 1936 edition featured a “Dunbar News” column, written by Principal F.L. Barnett. Under a “Locals” column in the June 20, 1924 edition, there is a report that “Mr. and Mrs. King are now in their new home on the corner of 12th and Wabash,” that “Mrs. A. Pritchard has left on a trip to Colorado,” and that “Dr. Farmer and Mr. Lem Miller had a car accident recently but both seem in good spirit.”

Hollie Sims fled from Mississippi, to Wichita in 1919 after a group of “concerned” In addition to the newspaWhite citizens visited with him about an article he wrote in his newspaper The Negro Star. In Wichita, he continued to print the paper for more than 40 years. per, Hollie was very involved in the church. He was ordained in 1938 and served as associate paswith a Wichita preacher at a national church tor at Calvary Baptist Church. On the national convention. level, he was secretary of the National Sunday In Wichita, the Sims discovered the Greenwood post office had been throwing their papers School and Baptist Training Union Congress from 1916 to 1952. When he discontinued his away and burning them, along with any other service as secretary of the organization, the Black paper sent through the mail. The Sims

The Sims

group recognized his years of service by awarding him the title of secretary emeritus.

Hollie was active with the Y in both Greenwood and in Wichita and he founded the Wichita Chapter of the NAACP in 1919. The couple had two children Helene born in 1904 and Calvin born in 1912.

Hollie had a stroke in 1949. Virginia continued publishing the newspaper until his death in 1953. After his death, she moved back to Mississippi, but made frequent trips back to Wichita. She died in 1989 at age 109. They are both buried in Highland Cemetery in Wichita.

Hugh Hollie encouraged his younger brother to move to Wichita. Hugh, an intelligent young man, attended Tugaloo Academy, Fisk University and Meharry Medical School where he was trained as a dentist. He married Rossa Whitehead from Meridian, MS and moved to Wichita to begin his professional career.

According to the Negro Star, Hugh took his boards in June 1925 and an ad in a November 1925 edition of the publication advertises his dental practice located at 1013 ½ E. 13th St. Eventually the younger Sims bought a home at 1108 Ohio, and he moved his office into the family home. That was a common practice for African-American doctors during the time, with the offices typically having a separate entrance.

In 1929, Hugh made his first bid for a seat on the Wichita School Board. He received little more than 1000 votes in the primary election.

“There is a fairness in Wichita, for which we must be thankful. Last Monday, in spite of the fact that the Beacon would be certain that no citizen would mistake Dr. Hugh N. Sims for White, it specificially said

See SIMS, page 11

The Sims SIMS, from page 10 he was colored, he was given a nice number of votes in every ward.

This gave rise to the fact that there are persons in all districts, who care not for your color, but think of giving everyone a square deal. He received 1,146 votes, showing that a little more push would have put him on the ticket. So many people think a change on the board of education will help.” (March 29, 1929, The Negro Star).

It was 20 years before Hugh would make a step into politics again. It was 49, and the school board was turbulently divided. About half of the board wanted to terminate the contract of School Superintendent Wade Fowler; the other half supported him. Board members who opposed him said they wanted “a more progressive leader.”

Fowler had the support of the Wichita City Teachers Association.

Unable to break the deadlock over Fowler, the board agreed to leave the decision until after the upcoming school board election. Hugh Sims was the second candidate to file in the election. In the March 1949 primary Sims placed 12th with only the top 12 vote recipients moving forward to the general election.

In the April general election, six new school board members were selected. Five of them had pledged their support to a new contract for Fowler. The sixth new member was Hugh.

Historically, he was the board’s first Black member.

Hugh never pledged his support to Fowler, but his platform had a broad appeal.

“Dr. Sims believes that Wichita needs an honest, competent and capable Board of Education, who will provide for every child in the city; efficient leadership, and a wholesome opportunity for educa-

The Reflector |11 tion. He is in favor of increased retirement and wages for teachers.”

(March 11, 1949, The Negro Star).

In the General election, Hugh received more than 10,000 votes, leapfrogging from 12th place to a position as one of the top six vote recipients. Helping organize Huge’s campaign was a coalition of Wichita’s most well respected African-Americans. Atty. A. Price Woodard, Jr., was the committee chair. A partial list of his campaign committee included: Edwin Sexton, Jr., Mrs. Gertrude Johnson, Dr. H.T. Geeder, Capt. Sam Jones and Rev. H.L. Overton.

Hugh served 12 years on the school board.

In 1953-54 he was elected vice-president of the board. The typical order of succession would have seen him elected as president the following year, but that didn’t occur. He was elected vice-president of the board again in 1958-59. This time, the rules were followed and Hugh was elected president of the board for the 1959-60 school term.

The years Hugh spent on the board were years of rapid expansion. The war and Wichita’s aircraft industry had the city, and

subsequently the school district, growing rapidly. Much of the board’s time was spent keeping up with issues created by the rapid expansion. Even though the Supreme Court ruling on Brown vs. The Topeka BOE was handed down while Hugh was on the board, the Wichita board moved cautiously around the issue of integration.

“In 1950 and 1951, several persons asked the Board why their kindergarten children could not attend schools close to home. A special committee studied the issue, they

The Sims were very active in Calvary Baptist Church. (L-R) J.M. Clendon, George O. Vaughn, Alfred Terrell, Atty. A.P. Woodard, W.W. Kirk, Dr. H.N. (Hugh) Sims, Thomas Whitlow, R.F. Strother, Tom Turner, Dr. H.H. Wilson, and Leroy White.

recommended that pupils of school age be Church and was actively involved with the permitted to attend schools in the neighborHutcherson Branch Y. Despite his busy hood where they resided with the option schedule, according to his daughter Barbara that students in specific areas could choose Sims Coleman, he found time to serve as the between two designated schools. The Board family’s main cook. approved the change for the 1952-53 school “Apparently when he was in college at Fisk, year. It was a good idea, but with Wichita’s he had three other roommates and he was segregated neighborhoods, the change did the cook for them.,” said Coleman. He didn’t little to help integrameasure things, but tion. everything came out In 1954, Little well.”

Elementary’s enrollHugh a tall, lean, ment was about 65% good looking man, Black and 35% White. was also a good Within three years, as athlete. more and more Blacks “He was about moved into the neigh6 ‘4; one heck of a borhood and Whites tennis player. One moved out, Little beof the four top tennis come 90% Black. The players in town,” said same thing happened Charles McAfee, who throughout Northeast was married to Hugh’s Wichita. Mathewson niece Gloria.

Junior High, comIn the 1960s, the pleted in 1951 in a Sims built a new predominantly White home at 1902 E. 17th area, was almost St. The beautiful completely Black by 4-bedroom home, Hugh Sims, the younger brother, was athletic, funthe late 1950s. at the corner of 13th loving and charming, said his daughter Barbara.

That was the state and Minneapolis, still of integration in the stands as a gem in school district when Hugh stepped down in Northeast Wichita.

1960-61 school year.

Hugh and Rossa had two children: Barbara Beyond his dental practice and the school and Hugh, Jr. Dr. Sims died in 1965 at age 66. board, Hugh was still a busy man. He served Rosa died in 1968 at age 66. They are both on the board of trustees of Calvary Baptist buried in Old Mission Cemetery. 

12| The Reflector

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The Reflector |13

The 1970s

The

Once Upon a Time...

Hippest Trip

B

in America

lack folks didn’t see much of themselves Black acts were on it. Even seeing Motown were Black, the on television. Those were the early days acts on The Ed Sullivan Show, while powerful dances they of television, 1960s and before. When a and uplifting, didn’t carry the same weight. were dancing Black person was on television, you called your Soul Train was different in that it was Black were Black. Even friends and relatives to make sure they from top to bottom. It was produced by Black the commercials didn’t miss it. people. Its creator were Black – “Lord knows, we weren’t going to learn Johnson Products how to be colored by watching televiCompany, a leader sion. Seeing somebody colored was an in Black hair care event…,” Henry Louis Gates, Jr. recalls products, sponsored about those days in his memoir Colored the Chicago verPeople. sion, and continued By the 1970s things had started to when the show went change. It was even less of a novelty national. Soul Train was . ntil 1993 e show u th to see Black folks on TV, as stars an oasis of unabashed d te s o dh 1971, an and hosts of their own shows. Bill Blackness within, an ul Train in o wise S d te a Cosby had a sitcom, Flip Wilson had essentially White cultural elius cre rap and Don Corn a variety show, and Diahann Carroll mainstream. “peace, love, and soul” sign-off starred in a light-hearted drama Soul Train’s role in would become iconic. about a single mother. pushing Black culture into the main“He had a rapport with the artist beyond a Then came Soul Train. It arrived stream cannot be underestimated, says Mark typical host or interviewer,” says Ericka Blount on the scene in 1970 starting as a Anthony Neal, professor of Black popular Danois, author of Love, Peace and Soul: Belocal Chicago area program. Within culture at Duke University. hind the Scenes of America’s Favorite Dance a year, the show “blew-up,” began syndication and “Motown had laid down the sonic groundShow. “His clothes, the Afro – he was relatand relocated to Hollywood. With the shows huge and host, Don Corne work, but Don Cornelius let you visualize it,” able. He dressed in the style the kids wore in success, it was obvious the show filled a great lius, was a smooth-talking, dapper Black he says. “Black power was visible on Soul the clubs and on the street. The force of his void that still existed. man who embodied Black cool. The music it Train. It’s what led to the love affair between personality was what made Soul Train.”

Soul Train was more than entertainment. It was featured was Black, the people dancing to it Black and White culture, and why eventually Cornelius’ real genius was in providing a foeducation, putting faces you started seeing White musirum for African-American acts and tapping into to the names spinning cians like Boz Scaggs on Don’s an urban audience and marketplace that had on the family turntable. It show. That show filled a gap.” all but been ignored by the networks. “People was culture, introducing From 1970-2006 the weekly were able to see a variety of artists, from midIt was one of the few times that we Blacks to the sounds and show offered a window into the tier acts to one-hit wonders to superstars, on had the opportunity to see ourselves styles of the moment. history of Black music, and its this same platform,” says Danois.

It was inspiration, givcharismatic host, Don Cornelius on television in a manner where it liftAs “Soul train” grew, so did its power to ing Blacks the rush of was The Man responsible for a make stars and reinvigorate careers. ed our pride and increased our self-esimagining themselves new era in Black expression. A “Musically, the artists that appeared on decked out like that. And trained journalist, Don, who was the show, from rock and rollers like Chuck teem… It represented uncompromised it was validation, showing smart enough to set himself up Berry to rappers like Kurtis Blow, it helped or authenticity. When you saw us on Soul Blacks a world in which as owner of the show, created a elevated their careers,” says Danois. “When Train, we weren’t trying to be anything people who looked like media empire.

I interviewed Kurtis Blow, he said at the time them could be stars.

“He was the host with the other than us. When you went to any he’d done some touring and was somewhat Soul Train filled a most,” says Jermaine Hall, known, but that after appearing on Soul Train, of the other shows, you were in someniche that the other mueditor of Vibe magazine. “He he was instantly a celebrity.” sic shows of its kind did was the representation of cool. body else’s house; when you went to The shows format had guest artists perform not. American BandHe put across to the culture at two songs. In between the songs, Cornelius Soul Train, stand (like Soul Train, large what was going on in the interviewed them. He would not only ask you went home.” a local phenomenon African-American community, questions about their music, he would ask that blew up big time much the way later on hip-hop - Excerpted from the foreword to about sensitive social issues. An example of when it went national) would do the same.”

“Love, Peace and Soul: Behind the seemed to belong to Cornelius’ hip persona – See SOUL TRAIN, page 15 Scenes of America’s Favorite Dance Show” another era, even when his rolling bass voice, street-

“

”

14 | The Reflector

Ahhhh, the ’70s John Wright, a child of the ’70s, recalls the good old days of platform shoes, Soul Train, popping and locking, and disco.

E

ach year we ask an individual from our community to share a personal reflection of history. This year, John Wright, 57, shares his recollections of the fun side of the ’70s.

John Wright admits he was influenced by Soul Train. He was enamored by the fashions, the music and the dances. An impressionable teenager when the show hit the air in 1970, like most African American teens across America, John watched the show consistently and patterned his movements and style accordingly. However, John took his love for all-things Soul Train one-step further becoming a popular local DJ. In his high school years, he was the trend follower, but by college he was the trendsetter. Where he and his DJ friends showed, there was bound to be a party.

Daddy Kool, they called him, and at 6’3” tall, plus a 2” afro and 3” platform shoes, he wasn’t one you would miss. It was the 70s, he was young and single with a few dollars in his pockets. What a great time to be alive.

“I grew up around music and learned to love it early. My aunts and uncles, they had music all in the house. We listened to Tina Turner, Nat King Cole, doo-wop groups, the Manhattans and the Spinners. The house was full of music. Of course we watched American Bandstand.”

High School, 1973-75 John moved in and out of Wichita as he was growing up. For periods of time, he attended Ingalls (now Spaght) Elementary, and Jardine and Truesdell Junior High. He returned to Wichita from Massachusetts in 1973 and attended Heights High School until he graduated in 1975.

“I was new to

town and I was just trying to figure out how I fit in,” says John, who was an athlete.

In addition to sports, John found he fit in around dancing. He had skills.

“It (dancing) was one of my favorite things to do. It was a release,” says John. “It was flamboyant. It was creative. You had to have a little flair about yourself.”

Wright says, he wasn’t involved with a dance troop and there weren’t any battles like those glorified in cult films from the time, but when you took to the floor, there was a sense of competition.

“We would take over the floor, myself and some others. They know who they are. There were some girls who could really dance. One of my favorite dance partners was Eva, she could do the robot real good. It was better dancing as a couple than going solo.

“You were trying to be better than the next guy.

There wasn’t any money on the line, but there were girls on the line. The guy who moved the best, you called attention to yourself.They knew you were at the party.

“I wouldn’t say I was the best. There was some cool guys, who you looked up to the way they dressed and the way they handled themselves.”

During high school, there were a lot of house parties and other popular party spots were the Armory at Central and Edgemoor and the Y on Cleveland. Some of the favorite dances were the robot and of course they were popping and locking, all dance trends made popular by Soul Train.

“You watched all of that on Soul Train, the dance and the dress. I had the Apple hat. I remember one shirt I had had these puffy purple sleeves. I think I looked like a perversion of Prince. I had this rainbow outfit. It was a white shirt with a rainbow stripe that started at the shoulder and went down your chest to the bottom of the shirt and the stripe matched up with the pants and went all the way down the pants leg to the floor. I had my 2” platforms. I’m 6”3” with a big afro.

You couldn’t tell me I wasn’t slick.”

Some of his favorite dance songs and groups of the time were Jungle Boogie, Michael Jackson’s PYT, Dazz Band, Brick, Parliament and the Funkadelics.

That’s when Heights became known as Hollywood Heights. The class of 1973-74

The 1970s of music; a moving closer together of Rock and R&B. This disco music had a whole new group of artists: Donna Summers, Thelma Houston, K.C. and the Sunshine Band, Barry White, Hall and Oats and the Bee Gees, just to name a few. Racially, the discos reflected the diversity of the music; there were Blacks, Whites and Latinos. Disco dancing included the swinging couple dances and Hustle, a line dance made popular by a similarly named song. What didn’t work well at the disco was one of John’s favorite dance style, locking.

“There was a breakdown in locking that you couldn’t do to disco music,” John says.

By the time John finished Butler, his disco phase was over. om r a pass fr Kool) waits fo ol. Ah, to be “I wouldn’t say it was a flash in the dy ad D e m Scho ( DJ na John Wright er at Wichita Heights Highce, said John. He pans; it was an evolution.” ay en ri a fellow pl as a great expe .

70s w young in the his memories with us here e m so es shar

got got that going, with the Kool and the Gang song “Hollywood Swinging” Another Kool and the Gang song, Can’t Get Enough of That Funky Stuff, started another trend.

“It was all about the whistle. Everybody had a whistle. During the party you had your whistle and you blew it.”

WSU, 1977-79 At Wichita State University John picked back up a skill he had started in high school, being a disc jockey. At Heights, he’d spun records during the early mornings over the school intercom. At WSU, he teamed up with buddies Rochelle Wright and Albert Hayes “Rochelle and I went to high school together and we had similar interest. At college, we thought about how we could make some money.

We decided to buy some equipment and see if we could have some parties.

“At

Community College, 197577 After high school John attended Butler Community College on a football scholarship. With his new friends, many from the east and west coast, he discovered disco.

“They were used to and wanted the big The Lockers club experiRobot, popu were a famous dance gro lar dances in ence and Elthe mid to laup in the 70s. They wo uld te 70s. John did them all Pop, Lock and do the dorado didn’t , and well, h e said. have much to offer,” says John.

The guys would drive to Wichita to party.

WSU, we were “Pogos in the Twin Lakes areas was a popular able to talk to Dean Rhatigan, who I spot. It had the colored floors, the flashy light, the have to say was a very understanding gentleman. disco balls. That was just one club, there were He saw the need for young people to burn off others in town. The disco nights were late. They energy. We got his approval to have parties on were interesting. campus. We had to make sure there was no John notes the period as a beginning period for the merging See WRIGHT, page 15

The Reflector |15

The 1970s SOUL TRAIN,

from page 13

reflected in a episode featuring “The God Father of Soul,” James Brown. During the interview, Brown explained his desire to improve the education at historically Black colleges and ended the show with the strong lyrics of his song “Say it Loud I’m Black and I’m Proud.” When that show ended with Don Cornelius raising his unity fist, the world now knew that this was not just a show about dance steps and clothes, but a show of purpose and substance.

The real stars of the show, however, were not Cornelius or the musicians, but the dancers who provided some of the program’s most memorable moves and moments.

“Among the fans, everyone would choose: ‘Oh, well, so-and-so is my favorite dancer.’ They were a huge part of the

WRIGHT,

from page 14

drinking on campus, we had to have security and we had to be out of by 1 a.m. We charged $3 to $5 at the most and the parties attracted campus and offcampus students.

“We held the parties in Henrion Gym. My parents had a station wagon at the time, and we’d pile the amplifiers and speakers in their car and haul them to the parties.

“Then

program, and they were just these regular kids themselves,” says Danois, who details the stories of future stars like Fred “Rerun” Berry and Adolfo “Shabba Doo” Quinones, who got their showbiz starts on “Soul Train.” Movie star Rosie Perez was a regular Soul Train dancer. Dancers Jody Whatley and Jeffrey Daniels were handpicked by Cornelius to become members of the trio Shalamar.

While some of the dancers were selected, many were chosen from park auditions. Potential dancers Gladys Knig of Soul Tra ht and The Pips were participated in long soul train line Train” and in on October 2, 1971 the first act on the style tryouts and were selected by “I Don’t Wa p . nna Do Wro They performed the remiere episode the show’s talent coordinator Pam songs “Frie ng.” ndship Brown. ered The Soul Train “line” that ended each show numerous changes was a highlight of the program. “The Line” has in musical trends – from funk to disco to become an African-American tradition, hip-hop – and attempts by copycat shows to typically making an appearance steal its audience. Still, the program managed at the best parties and family to thrive, and even expand, creating the annual gatherings where music is Soul Train Music Awards in 1987. By the ‘90s, involved. even with Soul Train still producing new episodes, Through the ‘70s younger audiences were beginning to consider and into the ’80s, the show as something embraced mostly by an Soul Train weathyou could go out and not so much worry about trouble. It was a different time back then. If you had a disagreement, you would knuckle up and the next day, you would see the person and most of the time it was through. People knew who was bad and who not to mess with.

“That was when 12-inch disco versions of songs became popular. They took a three minute song and stretched to 15 or 20 minutes. That was a big thing for folks at the time. I would have milk crate cartons full of music.

Daddy Kool is Born John was becoming a hot commodity around Wichita. He and his DJ buddies were not only holding parties on campus, they were spinning records at parties all over town. In addition, they had a regular Sunday show on KMUW, the WSU campus radio station. It was the radio gig that gave birth to Daddy Kool.

“We had our Soul Time Sundays at KMUW. We had to prove we could be responsible. When we were starting at the station, I knew I had to come up with a name. I was going through the hael albums and saw a Money M album, ur times. Mic t fo n ai he was a disco artist. There was Tr ul p on So times, bu med as a grourformer three of these or rf a song on there, Daddy Kool, he’s pe 5 n The Jackso featured as a solo pe hers. ot as br w crazy like a fool. I took that as my n is h so t ck ou Ja ly once with radio name and the name followed me to roller disco. appeared on

elder crowd; it wasn’t where they themselves turned to stay hip and cool. Still, the program survived into the new millennium despite increasing competition from cable music channels and the general demise of the dance program format.

Cornelius stepped down as host in 1993 – feeling he didn’t want to grow old on the show – though he remained a force behind the scenes. The program would survive another 13 years with various hosts in his place. Guest hosts were used from 1993 to 1997, when comedian Mystro Clark began a two-year stint as host. Clark was replaced by actor Shemar Moore in 1999. In 2003, Moore was succeeded by actor Dorian Gregory, who hosted through 2006 after which the show aired in reruns as The Best of Soul Train for its final two seasons.

“He said himself, the show lasted so long because the music was great,” says Danois, “But by the end, the music industry had started to go in a different direction.” The program ceased production in 2006, leaving the air after 35 years and more than 1,000 episodes. The show still holds the record as the “longest-running, first-run, nationally-syndicated program in television history.

It definitely was the “hippest trip in America.” 

In fact, some folks still call me Daddy Kool to this day.”

Sunday night roller disco was a big event in Wichita’s African-American community.

On Sundays, you went to Riverside Park to see all your friends and that evening, you went to Skate North. Louis “Chunk” Stevenson, was the regular DJ for the Sunday night skate and John would occasionally fill in for him and when Chunk was ready to give it up, John took over the spot.

John remembers the ’70s fondly. He made good money throwing parties and John Wright, w familiar voice ho worked at KFDI radio fo DJing and times were good for a young r during severe weather season35 years, was a man who could keep a party going and . for a young man with money in his pockets. was “We made money, but it went out the window. We maturing. I couldn’t see spent it on late night dinners at Dennys, and reinvest- myself talking the way those kids talk. The world ing in the music and clothes. The first car I bought on they were describing, I wasn’t living that. I was just my own, and 280Z, the DJing and clubs paid for that. passing their message on more than listening to the It was pretty fresh at the time. message. My mind was not there. Eventually I got “Rochelle and I, we partied. We thought we were out.” going to evolve into these big time disc jockeys. No John married Karen Woods in 1981 and traded one who knew us at the time would believe we were in that cool 280Z for a more family-friendly Mustang. going to have the careers we have now. Rochelle is After completing an internship at KFDI, he worked a vice-principal with USD and I went from disc jockey briefly at Channel 12, but spent the last 35 years to news. working at KFDI. During severe storm weather, you As the 70’s drew to a close, John, who had met could expect to hear John reporting back to the the love of his life, decided it was time to give up his station as he roamed the countryside looking for dancing, DJing and partying ways. tornadoes. Late last year, he left KFDI and currently “I enjoyed the creativity of it. It was a deal where I works at Channel 12 as a news producer. 

 

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American Legion Health and Life Insurance Discount Prescription Drug Program Legislation Affecting Veterans Veterans Discounts at Participating Businesses Temporary Financial Assistance

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