Winston
ON.
-Salem, Nu " ?
THURSDAY, July 14, 2011
Track
athletes
headed to
Olympics
-See Page B8
Mother
Land
exposure
for kids
?See Page A5
Fun times
had at
Happy
Hill event
North Carotin
Forl^
ciM West Fifl
6 Crazy
Lady'
Chronicles
Professor's book reveals battle
with mental illness
BY LAYLA FARMER
THE CHRONICLE
Most people with mental illness wouldn't rel
ish the idea of calling themselves crazy, but Dr.
Myrtle Boykin Sampson has embraced the
mtfniker as a positive way of identifying her
unique attributes.
Sampson. 82, explores her mental illness, and
her many triumphs in spite of it, in her new book
"Crazy Lady:
Achievement Against
the Odds," which she
penned with journal
ist Joya Wesley.
Sampson, a
native of
Parkersburg, suffers
from bi-polar mixed
with paranoid symp
toms. She has been
hospitalized eight
times for mental ill
ness over the course
of her lifetime, but
that didn't stop
Or. Sampson Sampson, a licensed
clinical psychologist
and former college professor, from reaching the
heights of her dreams for academic, personal a/fllT
professional success.
Sampson and her identical twin sister. Bertha,
graduated as the valedictorian and salutatorian,
respectively, of their high school at age 16. The
two were inseparable growing up, Sampson says,
though she often felt that her family and the world
regarded her as the lesser of the pair. It was that
experience that first sparked her interest in psy
chology, Sampson said.
"I wanted to find out more about twins because
of the dynamic between my sister and me," she
related. "1 wanted to know (more about) how peo
ple interacted."
Sampson studied biology and general science
at North Carolina College for Negroes (now
NCCU), where she and Bertha received their bach
elor of science degrees in 1951. Sampson went
on to receive her master's of Library Science from
the University of Michigan, the first of five grad
uate degrees - three Master's and two doctorates -
she would eventually earn.
In 1957, she met Robert Russell Sampson, a
FayetteviLle State University alumnus and owner
of Sampson's Pharmacy in her hometown. The
two married the following year. In 1965, after
years of trying unsuccessfully to conceive,
Sampson and her husband adopted a baby boy they
named Frank Ricardo "Ricky" Sampson. Though
he appeared healthy early on, the Sampsons would
soon learn that Ricky suffered from autism. The
diagnosis of the disease, which Sampson says was
Sec Sampson on A6
Photo by Layla Farmer
Leo Ru'cker paints an environmentally -conscious theme on
a pillar at the Transportation Center Monday.
Colorful
changes for
WSTA hub
BY LAYLA PARMER
THE CHRONICLE -
The downtown Clark Campbell Transportation Center is
getting a new look.
The Center, which sees about 10,000 people pass through
it each day. has undergone a series of improvements and
repairs since January 2010. Since that time, the Center has
received new carpets, renovated restrooms, repairs to the
rafters and a fresh coat of paint. More
than a decade, ago, (Jeneral Manager Art
Barnes commissioned Leo Rucker. a
well known local artist, and a band of
youth from the now-defunct Artiva pro
gram to bring new life to the Center
through art. The group painted bright
ly colored murals that depicted the his
tory of Winston-Salem Transit
Authority and its predecessor, the Safe
Bus Company, on the pillars in the
exterior loading and unloading area.
"I wanted to use the Transportation names
Center as a place to provide culture and
artwork because there's so many people that come down
there, it just seemed like a perfect venue," Barnes explained.
"The intention was to provide a place where you could not
only see artwork, but see things that were historical to the
city."
The original murals were a casualty of the improvements
that took place at the Center, as the aging paint was in need
of refreshing, and Barnes has again turned to Rucker. 48. to
put his touch on the pillars. The new murals will cover
three main themes: the history of transportation in Winston
SaJem. the history of Safe Bus Company, and "going green."
Barnes said.
"I wanted it to be a more holistic piece of artwork in total,
to represent the entire city, but also have an emphasis on the
See Rucker on A9
Family Affair
Photo by Jacson Pitt
Atlanta's John Robertson Trio performs Saturday at a benefit honoring the
legacy of late local artist Earnestine Rainey Huff. Here, father John
Robertson III and John Roberston IV look on as James Robertson is assist
ed by his mother, Rosemary Rainey Robertson, the sister of the Mrs. Huff.
Campers get unorthodox crash course in ballet
BY TODD LUCK
THE CHRONICLE _
Children in Camp High Hopes became the world's newest ballet fans
last week.
Campers in the YMCA-sponsored summer camp
were invited to a special pertormance by TerpsiCorps
Theatre of Dance last Friday at the new Hanesbrands
Theatre.
Asheville-based Terpsicorps is a contemporary bal
let company that was established to to provide summer
work for professional dancers. The company performed
the original ballet "Vampyre" in Winston-Salem over
the weekend.
TerpsiCorps Outreach Director Joe Curry found
time to visit Camp High Hopes, held at Diggs-Latham
Photos by Todd Luck
Joe Curry high fives a young camper.
blementary School, three days last week to walk the ,. ,
kids through some ballet movements. He made the les
sons fun for the campers by incorporating games like
"body twister" and having them spell their names using body movements.
Curry said it meant a lot to him to expose kids to dance.
"The majority of these kids won't have very many opportunities to see
See Dunce on Ah
YEHS
They
Can!
Teens exposed to
opportunities in health field
BY LAYLA FARMER
THE CHRONICLE
Fourteen year-old Rayven Hairston
of Midway dreams of a career as a
forensic pathologist, just like the
heroes that populate many of network
television's top crime dramas. But as
a young woman of color, Rayven is
distinctly in the minority - the world
of health sciences remains predomi
nantly white.
Organizers of I
Winston-Salem
State
University's
Camp YEHS
(Youth Exploring
Health Sciences)
are hoping to
change that sta
tistic. by offering
opportunities to Skinner
underrepresented
youth to explore the health sciences
field through the free, two-week long
camp, which is now in its third year.
"Studies have" shown that if you
reach young people in middle school,
you have a larger impact on helping
them to actually make the decision to
go to college and to direct what career
path they might take," said Camp
YEHS Program Director Marina
Skinner. "This program is specifical
ly designed to bridge the gap for
See YF.HS on A2
Spend it here.
Keep it here.
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