Firsts
from pane A1
Carolyn Woods, who sits on the
Forsyth County Public Library
Black History Committee, moder
ated the discussion, which was
held in the library's auditorium
before a crowd of dozens.
"We too break glass ceilings,"
said Woods. "It takes a lot of hard
work, a sense of determination and
understanding who you are as a
person."
Forsyth County native
Sprinkle-Hamlin grew up poor, but
said she was rich when it came to
strong female role models.
"We were poor but we didn't
know we were poor ... so 1 was
always taught I could be whatever
1 wanted to be," said Sprinkle
Hamlin, who is also the driving
force behind the National Black
Theatre Festival and N.C. Black
Repertory Company, both of which
were founded by her late husband,
Larry Leon Hamlin.
Sprinkle-Hamlin, who earned
an education degree from Winston
Salem State University, discovered
her love for libraries when she
worked in WSSU's media center.
She studied library science at
Clark Atlanta University before
landing a job as a children's librar
ian in Philadelphia. She opened a
new branch in a Philly community
that was equal parts black,
Hispanic and Ukrainian and
became a one-woman marketing
machine in order to attract kids to
the library.
"1 would walk the streets of
Philadelphia ... trying to get chil
dren to come to the library," said
Sprinkle-Hamlin. "I realize now
it's not the safest thing to do, but I
was young and I wanted people to
use the library, so that's what 1
did."
She eventually returned to
Winston-Salem and was offered a
job as children's outreach director
at the Forsyth County Library. She
said it was one of the few manage
ment positions black librarians
could get at the time. She worked
her way through the ranks until she
was promoted to library director in
2000. Although most librarians are
female, library directors tend to be
white men, but Hamlin said she
never let being a black woman
hamper her.
"That was sort of hinderance,
but not really," she said. " I came
here and I showed everybody that I
had the right stuff, and you can see
that I'm the director now,"
Evans, who grew up on a farm
in Martin County, said she aspired
to become the "female Walter
Cronkite." She earned a degree in
broadcast journalism from Wake
Forest University. She eventually
realized that the notoriety of being
television news reporter wasn't to
her liking. Radio was better suited
for hef. She took an internship at
WAAA. The biack-owned AM
radio station signed on in 19S0 and
played gospel, jazz and R&B
music and aired news, sports and
local programing. Evans climbed
her way up the station's ranks and
was eventually offered the chance
to own WAAA. She asked her par
ents for advice and got a mixed
reaction.
"My mother's initial reaction
was 'Oh baby, no! You'll be in debt
for the rest of your life,'" said
Evans. "...My father on the other
hand, listened very quietly and his
initial response was two things ...
'I don't know anybody who has
anything worth anything that they
didn't go in debt for,' and his sec
ond comment was, 'I don't know
anything about radio but if you
need anybody to come help move
some boxes, help clean it up, call
me and Daddy will be there.'"
With the support of both her
parents and a lot of personal
courage and determination, Evans
accepted the offer. In 1979, at the
age of 26, she became the owner of
WAAA. She broke lots of new
ground with the station, including
starting the city's first large scale
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. birthday
celebration, years before the feder
al MLK Holiday was adopted.
The station went silent in 2001
as a result of financial problems.
WAAA returned with limited staff
and broadcast until Evans sold it in
2005.
Several audience members told
Evans ho\y much they miss the sta
tion. Evans
said none of
today's profit
driven radio
stations offer
what WAAA
did for the
community.
"There were
things we pro
vided that were
not moneymak
ers, but they
benefited the
community,"
said Evans.
About 50
people attended
the event to lis
ten to both
women, includ- I
ing Natalie L
Sheppard, 26.
Sheppard,
who holds a degree in mass com
munications, is currently looking
for work in her field of study. She
said she came to the forum to learn
from the women and draw inspira
tion.
"It was great, there was so
much insightful information," said
Sheppard, a 2008 graduate of Lee
University^ in Cleveland, Tenn.
"...It encouraged me a lot."
??
Woods
Sheppard
?EflE?? JELI? J^E]
i* PlKXM by Todd Luck
The crowd listens to the discussion.
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