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JAMES B. DUKE MEMORIAL
Johnson C. Smith University
Malcolm X*s
Daughter On , f
Her Dad 8A
Another Look
At Wilson
Concert IB
CIAA Basketball
Toumameiit
Preview 8B
Charlotte,
NC 28216
Red Cross Seeks
Stronger Ties To
Community 2C
Clje Cfiarlotte
Volume 19, No. 27
THUKSDAY FEBRUARY 18,1993
50 Cents
I '. - -A
Stroud
News And Notes From Charlotte
And The Rest Of The World.
Brotherhood
Program
The Char
lotte Chapter
of the Na
tional Coun
cil of Negro
Women will
sponsor a
community-
wide broth
erhood din
ner and fel
lowship
Saturday at
7 p.m. at
McDonald's Cafeteria.
Charlotte native Barron Le-
Grant Stroud, director of the
Division of Quality Integrat
ed Education In Montgom
ery County, Md., will be the
guest speaker. A dance will
follow the dinner, which will
recognize the contributions
of sponsors and affiliate or
ganizations.
Donations are $15 per per
son. Sponsoring organiza
tions, churches and groups
are asked to contribute $50.
For more Information, call
376-9955.
Prom Promise
Keeping young people sober
and safe during the high
school prom season Is the fo
cus of a program tonight In
Charlotte.
More than 180 people from
over three dozen area high
schools will participate tn a
Prom Promise orientation
today at 6 p.m. at the Hilton
at University Place.
Prom Promise Is a positive
peer-pressure program that
allows schools to compete
for cash and prizes while de
livering an anti-drug and al
cohol message. More than 1
million students are expect
ed to sign the Prom Promise
this year.
For more information, call
T. Keith DuBols at (919) 834-
4757.
Sigma Shootout
■ The Beta Rho Sigma Alum
ni Chapter of Phi Beta Sigma
Fraternity will sponsor the
Phi Beta Sigma Basketball
Shootout Feb. 26-27. Teams
from the four black Greek
fraternities In Charlotte --
Kappa Alpha Psi, Alpha Phi
Alpha, Omega Psl Phi and
the Sigmas — will play. Pro
ceeds will benefit the Sigma
Beta Club, a youth organiza
tion for young men between
the ages of 13 to 18.
For more Information, call
Mark Colston at 563-5834.
Summer Job
Opportunities
The City of Charlotte and
the Charlotte Chamber have
joined forces to help young
people find private sector
Jobs.
The Charlotte Works pro
gram Is designed to help
young people age 16-21 find
work and job opportunities
through local companies.
The goal of the Mayor's
1993 Summer Youth Pro
gram Is the employment of
1,200 youths. Last year, 942
youngsters who qualified for
the program were placed In
Jobs.
For more Information, call
336-3101.
FRANK McCAIN
Pioneer Of
The Sit-In
Charlotteans Made Difference In A Number Of Ways
By Winfred B. Cross
THE CHARLOTTE POST
■
If*
F rank McCain
has been an
gry at society
all his life.
"Not at any
body. but at
systems and
how things op
erate In this
city, state and country," he
said. "1 suppose I'll go to my
grave angry because all the
changes that I've hoped for
will not be made in my life
time. We're not committed to
fairness. It's like a double en
try level — you meet one crite
ria and you have to scuffle
like hell to meet the next set
of criteria."
See SIT-INS On Page 2A
.^,,4
■
I
4^
k
I
^ ^ Pheco/ORENSBOilO DAILT NEWS
Frank MoOnin (to glaases) was one of four N.C. A&T students who started the sit-in phase of the civil rlgiits movement In
1960 when they demand^ service at a segregated Greensboro hmch counter. McCain now lives in Charlotte.-.,.^_4.gj»-._ —
" 5'’^ PAULINE HOOVER C»FFEY
Busing Had Different
Meaning In Late '40s
Pboto/CALVIN FERGUSON
Pauline Hoover Coffey is believed to be the first Uack female to drive a school bus in Mecklen
burg County. She drove students 20 miles to Pineville Colored High School.
By Cassandra Wynn
THE CHARLOTTE POST
Crosstown busing is some
thing Pauline Hoover Coffey
learned a whole lot about 45
years ago. Then, busing was
used to perpetuate segrega
tion.
"We passed the white
schools to get to Pineville
Colored High School," Coffey
recalled.
It was a time when blacks
persevered to get educated
riding long distances, driv
ing secondhand buses and
passing white schools to get
to black schools.
Coffey's husband, Charles,
drove a bus too. "It was a cir
cuitous route, taking me 18
or 20 miles. We passed two
white schools, Oakhurst and
Hickory Grove to get to Clear
Creek."
Pauline Coffey, oiie of the
first African American
women In Mecklenburg
County to drive a public
school bus, says the sight of
buses today conjures many
memories. Some of them are
endearing. "E>ven today when
I see students who rode my
bus, they still give me that
respect," she said.
It was In 1947 that she was
approached about driving a
school bus. Her brother, Ben
jamin Hoover, was a bus
driver. His bus picked up stu
dents from the old Steele
Creek community and parts
of Pineville, traveling some
20 miles altogether to get to
Pineville Colored High
School. About 40 students
See FIRST On Page 3A
Charlotte's First Black Radio Star Set The Pace For CMhers To Trace'
By Arlicla Greene
SPECIAL TO THE POST
E
ugene
"Genial
Gene" Potts
drove
around
Charlotte's
old Brook
lyn neigh
borhood
selling commercial time for
his popular radio shows
most afternoons from the
late 1940s into the 1970s.
"He sold so many commer
cials that people were calling
him Gene Spots Instead of
Gene Potts," former disc
jockey John Surratt once
said.
Potts was Charlotte's first
black disc jockey, appearing
on
the
WGIV-AM,
first sta
tion to target a
black audi
ence.
Potts sold commercial time
to numerous black-owned
businesses that thrived in
Brooklyn, just south of up
town, and the largest concen
trated area of black residents
from the 19th century until
It was displaced by urban re
newal tn the 1960s.
Disc jockeys received little
pay before the payola scan
dals, but sold commercial
time on their shows. Potts
made little at the start and
went on the air for pleasure,
but soon he had a large and
lucrative stable of sponsors.
Potts smarted In entertain
ment as an emcee at the Ex
celsior Club, a popular nlght-
•GENIAL GENE’
POTTS
spot since
Jimmie McKee
opened It In
1944. The club
often hosted
meetings and social events
for professional groups, as
well as political meetings.
Francis M. Fitzgerald, one
of the
owners
casts
then
of WGIV,
heard
Potts at
the Ex
celsior
and
asked
him to
go on the
air. First
Potts did
55-
mlnute
broad-
Potts
from the Excelsior,
15-mlnute early-
momlng shows, which soon
grew longer, and still later,
gospel and soul programs.
WGIV was losing money
when Potts went on the air,
but his instant popularity
convinced the owners they
could Increase earnings by
cultivating black listeners
and advertisers. The station
became one of the first all-
black-oriented stations, a
few years after WDIA In
Memphis became the first.
Fitzgerald. Tom Brandon
and S.K. Lange started WGIV
In 1947 and chose the call
letters to stand for 'We're GI
Veterans." Initially, the sta
tion broadcast from sunrise
to sunset using a low-power
transmitter from a small
building at Fairmont and
Toomey streets.
In the late 1950s, WGIV
started to broadcast 24 hours
a day, Increased the trans
mitter power and built a
large modern facility with
room for a live audience in
the studio. The station was
one of Charlotte's most popu
lar, and the most popular
black-oriented station, until
the popularity of FM sta
tions displaced it. WPEG,
now owned by the same com
pany that owns WGIV, over
took Its older, more esta
blished rival in the '60s.
Celebrities like Brook Ben
ton, James Brown, Sam
Cooke and Otis ^ddlng vis
ited WCrv regularly. The sta
tion featured dally soul mu
sic programs and on Sunday
varied religious programs
See 'CaBNIAL' On Page 2A
BVSroE