"Pioneers in education, professions, business"

The year 1954 will always remain on the pages of history, for it was one of the first

introductions to the integration of schools, especially in the southern United States.

Topeka, Kansas was the site of the court case which went down in history as Brown vs

Board of Education.

Arguments, confrontations, bloodshed continued, but the end results produced the Civil

Rights Acts of 1964 under the leadership of President Lyndon B. Johnson.

In compliance with the law of the land, schools in this vicinity began integrating in

1964-65, with final merging occurring in 1967-68.

This article focuses on the success of some of the young ladies who graduated from the

Rockdale public schools since integration.

During the beginning years of integration, these were the first instructors who played an

integral part of early integration:

Laura E. Petty, high school science; Mildred W. Lovelady, music; Lucy B. Battle,

first grade; Flora J. Mack, sixth grade English. Frankie M. McDonald and Ardie M.

Williams, special education; Susie Sansom Piper, junior high subjects.

Annie R. Ellison, minister and speech teacher in West Columbia; Darlene Douglas,

computer technologist, trouble shooter with Texas Department of Human Resources; Janice

Marie Douglas, engineering document designer in Houston.

Lynn Locklin Whiteside, licensed beautician, teacher in Rockdale ISD; Barbara A.

Wesley Grayson, first black on Rockdale ISD School Board, loan officer, Rockdale Federal

Credit Union.

Angela White, former coach, current counselor, Rockdale Junior High School; Theresa

White, basketball coach, Houston ISD; Wanda White, Teacher/coach, Cameron ISD.

Carolyn Quigley Cooper, director, Rockdale Senior Citizens Center; Elizabeth Galloway

McQuitter, former professional basketball player, current basketball coach,

Rockdale High School.

Deborah Boney Gadison, teacher of adult education/literacy, Houston; Peggy R. Boney

Culberson, clinical psychologist, computer science and health care works.

Lisa Walton-Benford, former bank vice-president, founder of Lisa’s Hope Chest, restorer

of Bessie’s Cottage, responsible for many new housing projects “on the other side of the

tracks.”

Avis Jackson Norwood, LVN in Temple; Etta J. Pollard Brown, culinary arts expert,

former food service specialist with National Guard; Kimberly Tindle Williams, former

investigator for Child Protective Services in child placement.

Vanessa Pollard Roberson, certified in office skill, Seattle Postal Services; Lovie

Pollard, IRS human resource clerk; Felicia Harris Wesley and Melanie Harris McBride,

teachers in Round Rock ISD.

Yolanda Phillips, licensed beautician, Temple; Angela Phillips, supervisor (25 years),

Texas Criminal Justice System, Austin; LaShun Phillips, specialist (20 years), Texas

Criminal Justice System, Austin; Tamara S. Norris-Powell, IRS analyst MA, acupuncture

and oriental medicine, Austin; Barbra Clark Kelley, media para-professional with

Farmers Branch ISD.

Tommie J. Cashaw-Austin, (PhD), nursing education supervisor of 2,500 nurses under

auspices of ?ve hospitals of Baptist Health System, San Antonio; Myrtle Washington

Brown, operator of day care center, Hutto.

Sandra Lewis Brown, Helen Phillipps, the late Tanya Baggerly, registered nurses,

Renae Moultrie Wesley, teacher and counselor, Corsicana ISD the late Dawn Jackson

Bradfield, former evangelist in North Dakota, forensic scientist.

The list will continue.

Please send your accomplishment to the author, so that you can be included in the

forthcoming book “On The Other Side Of The Tracks.”

missuep@aol.com

ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE TRACKS, SERIES 5, PART 5

Pioneers in education, professions, business

by Susie Sansom-Piper

Rockdale Reporter - March 1, 2012

Index