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THE BETTER WE KNOW US ..
HIGH POINT - Once upon a time, there
was a man who was one of High Point’s
most prominent police officers. He was
known by many as the friendly “cop” on
the beat; to others he was known as a
narcotics investigator; and still by others
he was known as the Black “Mannix” of
High Point. But, by most, he is known as
MR. LAWRENCE GRAVES.
Mr. Graves has made himself a legend
in his own time through his valuable
services to his community on the High
Point Police Department. Unlike many
officers, Mr. Graves has been through
quite a few levels of the police
department, starting from patrolman in
the Patrol and Traffic Division (cop on the
beat) to detective in Narcotics and all
other investigative areas (Mannix) and
still upward to Detective Sargeant.
The thrilling story of such a remarkable
man goes on and on as a Special
Investigator for the District Attorney,
18th Judicial District, Greensboro, for
two years and a host of other law
enforcement positions.
Mr. Graves was born and reared in
High Point where he attended public
schools and was a graduate of the former
William Penn High School. He later
attended A&T State University. While at
A&T, Mr. Graves spent one year in
R.O.TC. followed by his entrance into the
U.S. Army. Stationed at Forst Jackson,
South Carolina, he graduated from Army
Leadership School. Setting high goals for
himself, he later became Chief of Section
Director for 90MM Anti-Aircraft
Artillery, Fort Stewart, Georgia.
Following his discharge (Honorable) in
1952, Mr. Graves took an interest in law
enforcement and went on to become a
part of the High Point Police Department.
He has had additional education at the
University of Georgia, Guilford Technical
Institute (G.T.I.), Northwestern Univer
sity, High Point Police Academy and
Winston-Salem State University; receiv
ing training in supervision and
management, traffic control, supervision
of police personnel, drug abuse and law
enforcement, radiological monitoring,
advance criminal investigation and
fundamentals of fingerprinting.
Mr. Graves is physically large and very
capable of handling himself but does not
believe in brutality. He remarks that he
doesn’t believe in going out and “busting
heads’’ when, many times, talking will do
the job. Even when physical force is
needed there should only be enough to
keep one’s self from being hurt - but no
excessive beating.
Now, after 19 years with the High Point
Police, Mr. Graves is President and
Treasurer of Security Consultants of
North Carolina, Inc. The one-year,
Continuea on Page 4
THE TRIBUNAL AID
A VIABLE, VALID REQUIREMENT
RESPONDING TO
BLACK NORTH CAROLINA
VOLUME m, NO. 35
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 21,1976
$5.00 PER YEAR
20 CENTS
PRESS RUN 8,500
MEMBER: North Carolina Black Publishers Association — North Carolina Press Association, Inc.
BICENTENNIAL
BLACK HISTORY
“Lost-Strayed-Or Stolen ”
Extracted From
THE NEGRO ALMANAC
by Fay Ashe
iOBQPOOOOOOOOBOPOOCSP
The 1976 Editions of THE TRJBUNAL AID
will be dedicated to America’s bicentennial
Celebration, with emphasis on contributions
our Race has made in the making of America,
from birth to the present.
In 1976 there should not be a need to lift
these contributions from isolated sources. Our
past should be interwoven into the fabric of
our civilization, because we are, except for the
Indian, America’s oldest ethnic minority.
We have helped make America what it was,
and what it is, since the founding of Virginia.
We have been a factor in many major issues in
our history. There have been many misdeeds
against us, yet we have been able to live
through them and fight back. This is living
proof of our history.
Our role in the making of America is neither
well known or correctly known. Many positive
contributions have escaped historians and
have not found their way into the pages of
many history books.
We will strive to give readers, Black and
white, many little-known facts about our past
and it is hoped that a proper perspective of our
history will be of value to persons who may
believe that as Black People we have an
unworthy past; and hence, no strong claims to
all rights of other Americans.
The Black Contribution InThe American Revolution
li
Black history in the Western Hemlfiphere, joxwt
probably begins with the discovery of the New World
by Christopher Colnmbiis in 1942. Blacks are known to
have participated meaningfnlfy in a nomber of later
explorations made by Europeans in various parts of the
United States and Spanish America. Facts such as
these at once fMhlon a new dimension for Black hlstoi7
wEthin the mainstream of AmeHcaii history. IiRsntach
as one of the primary purposes of this feature is to
record some historical achievements of the Black, It
becomes most important to offer the reader
chronological accounts through which he can
conveniently familiarize himself with the broad sweep
of American Black history. The years covered here are
1492-1954.
Charleston, South Carolina
1767
Birth of Denmark Vesey,
a sailor and carpenter so
opposed to slavery that he
made elaborate prepara
tions for a slave uprising
which was betrayed and
thus led to Vesey’s capture,
trial and hanging on July 3,
1822.
Boston, Massachusetts
1770
Crispus Attucks is shot
and killed during the
Boston Massacre.
Savannah, Georgia
1773
George Lisle and Andrew
Bryan organize the first
Negro Baptist church in the
state.
PhQadelphla
1775
Organization of the first
abolitionist society of the
United States.
The first man killed in
the American Revolution
was black. Monuments
recall the death of Crispus
Attucks in the Boston
Massacre, this episode in a
chain of events leads to
American Independence.
The Boston Massacre was
the first battle of the
American Revolution, and
before the War oi Indepen
dence ended 5,000 more
Black Americans would
fight to help build the New
Nation.
When the British ad
vanced on Lexington and
Concord, Lemuel Haynes
was among those who
answered Paul Revere and
William Dawes’ call to
arms. Haynes was one of
many Negro Minutemen:
who at Concord Bridge, on
April 19, 1775, fired some
of those shots “heard
around the World”. Later
Haynes, Primas Black and
Epheram Blackman joined
Ethan Allen and his Green
Mountain Boys in the
capture of Fort Ticonder-
oga.
At Bunker Hill, the next
Battle of the War, a Black
soldier, Peter Salem
stepped forward at a critical
moment and aimed his
musket directly at the
British Major’s bosom and
shot him. Another Patriot,
Salem Poor, was singled
out for special commenda
tion.
Blacks were in every
battle of importance. They
served with Francis Mar
ion, the Swamp Fox in the
Carolinas, and in the
United States Navy with
John Paul .iones. James
Forten sailed with Stephen
Decatur aboard the ROYAL
LOUISE as a powerboy
fourteen years of age.
When he was captured and
offered a chance to go the
England, he answered “I
AM HERE A PRISONER
FOR THE LIBERTIES OF
MY COUNTRY, I NEVER,
NEVER, SHALL PROVE
TRAITOR TO HER INTER
EST”. Other Blacks served
as spies and were some
times granted liberty for
repeatedly going behind
enemy lines for military
information.
In 1779, when the
warfare shifted from the
North to the South, Virginia j^ul Matthews entered a
began to accept free Blacks British garrison in 1781 on
and even slaves into the g ^py mission and not only
Patriot Army. There had brought back valuable
been steps to keep Blacks information, but lead a raid
out of the army. Slavehold- t^e British troops that
ers in the Continental ^anie night.
Congress had George j^^^ny of the slaves
Washington to halt enlist- enlisted in the army when
ments of Blacks, but steps (},ey were promised their
keep their word, but others
did and many former slave
soldiers enjoyed the free
dom he helped establish.
THE STRUGGLE FOR
LIBERTY.”
Before America’s first
year of Independence came
The death of Crispus Attucks at the Boston Massacre, March 5, 1770.
NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY, SCHOMBURG COLLECTION
Historical Landmarks
Of Black America
Extracted From
THE NEGRO ALMANAC
by Fay Ashe
I ———____________________
No more substantial testimony to the roie of the Black
In the growth and development of America can be
found than the numerous historical landmarks in
various regions of the country which are associated with
Black Americana. Many of these—like the Alamo and
Bunker Hill-are not conventionally known as sites
involving chapters of Negro history.
ALABAMA, Mobile during the Civil War. One
“Fort Gaines” (on Dauphin of the key battles of the day
Island) was the engagement be-
Site of the Battle of tween Admiral David
Mobile Bay (August 1864) Farragut’s flagship, the
...s.* “Hartford”, and the Con-
BIBLIOGRAPHY federate ironclad, ‘‘Ten-
Drotning, Phillip T. A nessee”. During the battle,
Guide to Negro History in Black naval hero John
America New York: Dou- Lawson manned his duty
bleday and Company, 1968 station despite serious
Katz, William Loren injury; his role in keeping
Eyewitness: The Negro in Union guns operative may
America New York: Pitt- well have saved the ship
man Publishing Corpora- from destruction. For his
Black College For Women
tion 1967
Ploski, Harry A
Kaiser, Ernest The Negro
Alamanac New York: Bel-
luether Company
valor, the Pennsylvania
Phe Black was awarded the
Medal of Honor. Black
infantry units also partici-
(Continued on Page 2)
Fifty years ago, Bennett
College became a college
for women under some
unique circumstances. Ha
ving been founded in 1873
as a coeducational normal
school, it underwent a
period of grave financial
instability which threat
ened to close its doors.
Under the joint-sponsor-
ship of the Board of
Education and the Wo
man’s Home Missionary
Society of the Methodist
Episcopal Church, it was
reorganized into a model
institution for young black
women.
The man selected to
undertake this develop
ment was David Dallas
Jones who virtually had no
experience in the field of
education. When the for
mer YMCA Secretary
assumed the presidency of
Bennett, it consisted of four
ugly buildings, a corn-and-
turnip patch campus, ten
high school students and
$000 in the bank.
The first few years were
very difficult ones. Then in
1932 things changed for the
Greensboro college. Presi
dent Jones persuaded the
General Education Board to
give $250,000 which was
matched by Mrs. Henry
Pfeiffer, a chemical heir
ess. Twenty years later,
Bennett had 31 American
colonial-style buildings on a
42-acre campus known
throughout the nation for
its well-planned landscap
ing. Much of this was due
to the $1,885,000 contribu
ted to Bennett by the
Pfeiffers and the Church.
Bennett College begins
the celebration of its 50th
years as a woman’s college
under the leadership of Dr.
Isaac H. Miller, who unlike
Jones had much experience
in the field of higher
education when he as
sumed the presidency ten
years ago. Continuing its
centennial year theme,
“Opening New Doors in
Women’s Education,” the
celebration kicks off with
the traditional Service of
Remembrance, a vesper
held in honor of David
Dallas Jones.
Continued on Page 2
Two months after the to a close, several Massa-
words of the Declaration of chusetts towns voted to end
Independence had sounded Slavery. For the first time
in the colonies, the in the history of the human
Massachusett’s legislature race, governments voted to
issued a proclamation end human bondage. THIS
taken by the British soon freedom, but some Ameri- calling slavery “UTTERLY WAS AN IMPORTANT
led to a chance in this can slaveholders refused to INCONSISTENT with BEGINNING,
policy, because the British
Governor of Virginia of
fered freedom to any slaves
reaching his lines and many 1
attempted. This prompted
the Continental Army to I
accept Blacks rather than I
see them used by the |
enemy.
The Black soldiers be
came a part of the regular I
combat units where they I
ate and fought along with
white soldiers. Many I
served on the sea, and
some as ship pilots. Caesar ■
Tarrant served four years a
pilot of the PATRIOT and j
his ship captured a British 1
vessel while under his i
command. Others served
aboard the LIBERTY dur
ing twenty battles with the
enemy.
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SOUL CITY, N. C
Building A Firm Foundation
One of the most dramatic undertaking ever by a
Black American is under way now in rural Warren
County, North Carolina. Soul City, a project established
under the New Communities Act of 1969, is being
developed by Floyd B. McKissick, a former Civil Rights
Attorney and President of The Soul City Company. His
is the only “free standing” community; meaning there
is no existing population concentration or industrial
base in the area.
The New Communities Legislation as amended in
1970, came out of the realization that the problems of
our nation’s over crowded cities and underdeveloped
rural areas must somehow be given serious
consideration. Under the law, developers could apply
for a federal laon guarantee up to 50 million dollars.
Floyd McKissick knew that if ever he would realize his
dream of a stable and independent black economy, he
must seize this opportunity immediately. It was in
January of 1969 that the Soul City project was first
announced. In April of the same year the first
pre-application was submitted to the Department of
Housing and Urban Development. The Soul City
Company was faced with a seemingly insurmontable
task in composing a set of plans for a 30 year project
which had to be based on sound urban planning and
economic feasibility.
Final application was submitted after two years of
study on the development; and it was not until after
another two years of review that the Project Agreement
between HUD and Soul City was signed, in February,
1974. The dream could now become a reality and Floyd
McKissick labored with the task of selling bonds to
raise the initial funds to be administered by The Soul
City Company in developing the land.
In recent articles, the uninformed public hasl^e?. !ed
to believe that Soul City has been developing for over
six years and still has no permanent structures an site.
The fact is for all practical purposes, the project has
been off the drawing board for less than two years. It
was not until the Project Agreement was signed that
HUD would allow any permanent buildings except an
industrial complex to be constructed. Meanwhile, that
beautiful tract of gently flo>ving farm land has been lain
with miles of water pipes and strategically placed fire
hydrants. Slim lights line the main street. Soul City
Boulevard; other roads have been cut and paved; a ten
acre lake has been excavated and an industrial fire
protection system has been constructed to serve the
new building temporarily.
Admidst all skepticism, this well planned new
community continues to grow at a steady, progressive
pace. Warren County has already begun to benefit
from the new town’s existence through a curbed
out-migration rate, economic growth and a larger tax
base. Soul City now has a firm foundation to support
the tremendous amount of growth it will experience in
the years to come.
1776 Honoring America's Bicentennial 1976