.
j: HAWS
fnompageAl
Lawrence's reign began soon
J*, after theitAWS board of commis
S sioners voted to fire Marie Rose
J boro Oct. 12, 1998. Roseboio had
j served as executive director, or
?: interim executive director; since Jan
r uary 1997, when she replaced Art
'; MiNigan, who left the agency for a
job in the private sector.
When the board fired Roseboro,
3; it cited a lack of financial finesse on
her part as one of the reasons. In
J her administration, the most glar
_ ing example of financial problems
at the agency occurred when a
t $28,000 check was accidentally sent
! to a tenant.
In some cases, the audit points
to Roseboro specifically, though not
by name, questioning her on two
financial matters.
According to the audit, HAWS
did not property document the pur
pose for a $10,000 payment it made
to a local private school, which has
since become a public charter
school. The Chronicle reported in
October 1998 that an internal audit
at the agency had also questioned
the payment to LIFT Academy,
which serves at-risk students.
A document from the school
asking for funding listed 60 LIFT
students who lived in public hous
ing communities, but HAWS
staffers found that only 12 LIFT
students lived in public housing,
according to the audit.
The money given to LIFT was
charged to the agency's Public
Housing Drug Elimination Pro
gram budget, but the audit states
the payment to the school was not
in accordance with the Drug Elimi
nation program.
The payment also gave the
appearance of a conflict of interest
because Roseboro was a member of
the school's board of directors, the
audit states.
Rose
bora's phone
number was
no longer in
service Tues
day when The
Chronicle
tried to con
tact her for
comment.
But she told
a local televi
(inn ctatinn
Monday that she hoped the release
of the audit would bring some type
of closure.
The audit also claims that
HAWS reimbursed travel expenses
totaling $20,152 that were not prop
erly supported from January 1997
to November 1998.
"The travelers were paid for
expenses for which they did not
submit bills or invoices document
ing the nature of the expenses," the
audit states
The audit found that the execu
tive director during that 23-month
period, Roseboro, was reimbursed
S984 for costs that appeared unnec
essary. V
"The executive director rented
an automobile for two trips...These
costs appeared unnecessary because
the executive director was
assigned...(a HAWS) automobile,"
the audit states
To prevent such problems from
happening id the future, the audit
recommended that HAWS' admin
istrative staff receive training to
ensure that documenting proce
dures are followed in terms of trav
el and credit card use, among other
recommendations
*
Lawrence said he saw many of
' the problems coming and began to
make changes even before he got
wind of
hi inv r,nA.
? a m-r ti ? iiiu
ings. He said
he has already
made some
changes to
the travel pol
icy, and a
policy change
concerning
the agency's
procurement
policy was
made in Feb
? luu y.
The audit found that the agency
did not take steps to ensure "free
and open competition" for three of
the seven procurements that were
tested.The procurements included
contracts for lavt n services and con
sulting contracts that totaled nearly
- *? *
5200,000.
In some cases, the audit states,
the agency did not "advertise or
otherwise seek competition" for
contracts, bids and quotes for ser
vices,
Lawrence said strides have also
been made in installing the air and
heating units. The agency is
installing 60 to 67 a month now. he
said.
Lawrence freely admits that he's "?
glad the audit is over. Having audi
tors at the facility proved trying for
the agency's staff, he said. He added
that he doesn't believe the audit will
have a serious lasting effect on the
agency, although it comes on the
heels of what's been a tumultuous
year for HAWS.
"No agency or executive direc
tor wants any type of stigma...(but)
it's certainly not going to put a
damper on what we do here."
Andrews
Book
from page Al
August - guests did hover over a
table showcasing a few of the 250
photographs that will be featured
in the book.
Many of the photos that will be
, used in the book were provided by
local residents.
The late Joe Bradshaw was sin
gled out during the reception for
collecting and cataloging number
- of photos and memorabilia dur
ing his lifetime. After the well
respected, local African American
ri historian died, his family donated
many of his items to SSAAH.'
Some of the book's most stun
ning black and white photographs
were blown up and mounted on
easels throughout the reception
? hall. One such picture featured
. Larry Leon Hamlin - a local the
ater actor, director and producer -
and the cast of one of his earliest
plays.
Another picture showed a
group of female nurses on the
steps of the now defunct- but leg
endary- Kate Bitting Reynolds
Hospital. Though several decades
old, the picture is still sharp, cap
turing the stark contrast between
the women's spotless, white uni
forms and their beautiful black
skin.
Such nostalgic images will run
throughout the book's nine chap
ters, which will cover everything
from sports and athletics to busi
ness and entrepreneurs
But though it is being billed as
a picture book, it will not be with
out text. Three educators with ties
to Winston-Salem State University
teamed up to write the words that
will fill in the blanks that the pic
tures leave.
All of the authors are members
j of SSAAH's board of directors.
They say one would be hard
pressed to find anything like their
book in bookstores or libraries
today.
"There is not a lot of informa
tion on African Americans local
ly," said William Rice, a Wmston
Salem native atid retired WSSU
professor. "You would find very
little information about the pres
ence of African Americans."
The Moravian community has
been able to leave such a lasting
legacy here because they were very
emphatic about preserving their
history, Rice said. Because every
one's history is so important,
African Americans, as well as.
other racial groups, should follow
; the Moravian example, he said.
"If you look at the Moravians,
; they were very meticulous in terms
? of their record keeping. That has
not happened, to my knowledge,
with African Americans...," he
said.
i The book, though, is a more
I than adequate start. Starting with
; the misery of slavery and stretch-'
? ing to the triumphs of the civil
rights era, the book will take read
ers on a saga through a century
that is nearly extinct.
Rice. Lenwood Davis and
: James McLaughlin each wrote
; three chapters. During the latter
half of the reception - after a
handful of local notables called for
a greater focus on black history in
Winston-Salem - the men each
presented a short slide show,
briefly describing pictures from
their respective chapters.
The images were brand new to
the younger people in the room.
Many of them sat silent and
bewildered. But for the older set,
the slide show jogged memories of
places and faces they'd seen many
times before.
When a picture of the old
Lafayette movie theater was
shown, it drew a sequence of head
nods and hand claps from the
crowd. Long gone now, the
Lafayette, Dunbar and Lincoln
theaters used to be the only places
where blacks could take in a movie.
After the reception, one of the
book's authors said the disappear
ance of black businesses over the
years is a sad irony. In most cases
the mom, and pop grocery stores
couldn't compete with the super
markets and the forces of urban
renewal and integration left many
black companies in their wake,
said Davis, who wrote the chapter
on businesses.
"You'll really see a demise of
black business over the years....It
really is a shame," Davis said. "We
made strides but we weren't able to
continue because of factors we had
no control of."
Davis says he hopes the book
will serve as a motivational tool for
young people. He wants them to
see all the black entrepreneurs this
city produced.
Some stories may be so mind
blowing that they may seem like
fiction to young people, like the
creation in the early 1900s of the
Safe Bus Co., the largest black
owned transportation company in
the world at the time.
"We will see that we, at one
time, owned a variety of compa
nies, (some) that they would never
think of:...They'll see that they can
do other things besides the tradi
tional (jobs)," Davis said.
McLaughlin said he hopes the
book will help people see history
not in bits and pieces but as a
whole. r
Among the chapters he wrote is
one on entertainment. McLaugh
lin said even he was amazed to
learn that internationally known
performers, like Count Basie,
brought their acts to the Twin City.
They played in legendary concert
halls like the Pepper Warehouse,
and the performers brought out all
of black Winston-Salem.
During his portion of the slide
presentation, McLaughlin spot
lighted a number of Entertainers
who were born here, from actress
Jackee to Rolanda Watts, a former
talk show host and journalist.
He also spoke about a number
of not-so-well known local musi
cians, who in many cases sang,
played or danced their way around
the world.
"It will let young people know
that there were African American
performers before M.C. Hammer,"
McLaughlin said.
Understanding the music and
entertainers of bygone eras will be
deja vu for many young people, he
said.
"Everything that is going on
now comes from what happened
back then....It's all cyclical."
Members of SSAAH are anx
iously awaiting the first printing of
2,500 copies of the book from the
publishing company. Also eagerly
awaiting the books are the more
than 500 people who have already
placed orders for it in advance. A
table was set up at the reception to
take advance orders; it saw a
steady stream of visitors and cash
I
during the event.
The city/county school system
is snatching up 25 copies of the
book. A book will be placed in the
libraries of each of the systems
high schools and middle schools.
Pam Frazier, the coordinator for
the African American Infusion
Project, said at the event.
Lewis said SSAAH is negotiat
ing with several bookstores to
carry the book. Thus far, Special
Occasions is, the only bookstore
slated to carry it,. Lewis said.
Proceeds from the book will be
n - i
used by SSAAfi to help continue
its mission of encouraging and
stimulating interest in local black
history. To that end, the group will
mainly use the funds to help cata
log, restore, preserve and store the
many photographs, articles and
memorabilia it has collected over
the years.
The group is not shy about try
ing to sell the book. In a century
where history has often been one
sided and slanted, SSAAH
?
believes the book is a missing link.
"We are great people. We have
(always) been great. We have just
been left out," SSAAH member
Virginia Newell said. ?
'r; ' i
The price of a regular copy of
the book is $34.95. A limited edi
tion of embossed, leather-bound
books are available for $100. To
order an advance copy of "African
Americans in Winston-Salem/
Forsyth County: A Pictorial His
tory," call Mel White. 721-7364
'
Send
The Chronicle
your
Community News
617 N. Liberty St.
Winston-Salem, NC
? 27102
Fax: 723-9173
Deadline for stories is
5:OOpm Monday.
Fathecs I
so
Tbuttow] A
TmjTTOwj JI
TSStt5m\ M|
VESTED]
ffowi ?LT^B
rgoBTodfl
rfSr^yjfflWi
gjSBgfwigMia
YrheSeosoirtBestDes^^
^Cotors & Styles, Wholesale lb You!
WINSTON-SALEM
1455 T rademart Blvd
??fiffffiBBI t91?) 785-9810
RED DOT 1
additional
25% off ?
Reg Price
Framed & Matted Prints
Great Selection
| Mini Mirrors
M $12.99 - $59.99
FREE Mini Mirror with
each $100.00 Purchase
(Valued at $12.99)
1559 Hanes Mall Blvd.
Jonestown Exit ofT Hwy. 421
Winston-Salem, NC
(mavis road from Smper Wal-Mart)
336-794-1102 Mk
STORE HOURS: MumSmt KMX) a.m. - 6.-00 p.m
Smdiy 1:00 pA - 6.-00 pan. AW
craOf cawfc
V
I
? I
m I
i
? I
?
I i
iif
ii
l
I
? i
I i?
i
I"
I
i J
?TWF^^W^nPl^fMIPI^^^^^I f
BPPWPPllBWiii
!?