BIRTHDAY GIRL
100 Years and Counting
In March of 1919 Woodrow Wilson negotiated peace at The Treaty of Versailles, World War I ground to a close, and the tenth child of Mamie Barrett and Edward Price was born. She was named Roberta and unknown to her young parents, she would live to see 18 Presidents; one who would die in office and one would be assassinated. She would see a second World War, and her children would live through not only Viet Nam but huge unrest in our own country as protesters took to the streets to demand civil rights and equality for all Americans.
She would raise her own family and indeed, would be accompanied by a son Melvin and daughter Alverna, and two grandchildren as she accepted her medal signifying her entry into Texas City’s Centenarian Club. Mrs. Roberta Price Lyons, wife of Mr. Richard Jackson and later on to Mr. Albert Lyons, worked as a housekeeper at Galveston County Memorial Hospital from which she would eventually retire.
There are not many members of Texas City’s Centenarian Club and not often is there an opportunity to visit with one who has seen so much of our country’s history with her own eyes. It might do us all well to reflect on all the changes this one person has witnessed in her time and perhaps gain some insight into the role each of us plays in history and the opportunities we are all afforded to plant a seed – of kindness, acceptance, courage, compassion.
Happy Birthday Mrs. Roberta Price Lyons. It was an honor to be in your presence.
Words of Wisdom
Since we just finished celebrating Black History Month and March is the month we honor the achievements of women, here are a few words from women who made history during the life and times of Mrs. Roberta Price Lyons.
Rosa Parks (Feb. 4, 1913–Oct. 24, 2005)
Rosa Parks became active in the Alabama civil rights movement after marrying activist Raymond Parks in 1932. She joined the Montgomery, Ala., chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) in 1943 and was involved in much of the planning that went into the famous bus boycott that began the following decade. Parks is best known for her Dec. 1, 1955, arrest for refusing to give up her bus seat to a white rider. That incident sparked the 381-day Montgomery Bus Boycott, which eventually desegregated that city’s public transit. Parks and her family moved to Detroit in 1957, and she remained active in civil rights until her death.
Marian Anderson (Feb. 27, 1897–April 8, 1993)
Contralto Marian Anderson is considered one of the most important singers of the 20th century. Known for her impressive three-octave vocal range, she performed widely in the U.S. and Europe, beginning in the 1920s. In 1936, she was invited to perform at the White House for President Franklin Roosevelt and first lady Eleanor Roosevelt, the first African-American so honored. Three years later, after the Daughters of the American Revolution refused to allow Anderson to sing at a Washington D.C. gathering, the Roosevelts invited her to perform on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.
Anderson continued to sing professionally until the 1960s when she became involved in politics and civil rights issues. Among her many honors, Anderson received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1963 and a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1991.
Shirley Chisholm (Nov. 30, 1924–Jan. 1, 2005)
Shirley Chisholm is best known for her 1972 bid to win the Democratic presidential nomination; she was the first black woman to make this attempt in a major political party. However, she had been active in state and national politics for more than a decade and had represented parts of Brooklyn in the New York State Assembly from 1965 to 1968. She became the first black woman to serve in Congress in 1968. During her tenure, she co-founded the Congressional Black Caucus. Chisholm left Washington in 1983 and devoted the rest of her life to civil rights and women’s issues.
Mary McLeod Bethune (July 10, 1875–May 18, 1955)
Mary McLeod Bethune was an African American educator and civil rights leader best known for her work co-founding the Bethune-Cookman University in Florida. Born into a sharecropping family in South Carolina, the young Bethune had a zest for learning from her earliest days. After stints teaching in Georgia, she and her husband moved to Florida and eventually settled in Jacksonville. There, she founded the Daytona Normal and Industrial Institute in 1904 to provide education for black girls. It merged with the Cookman Institute for Men in 1923, and Bethune served as president until 1943.
A passionate philanthropist, Bethune also led civil rights organizations and advised Presidents Calvin Coolidge, Herbert Hoover, and Franklin Roosevelt on African-American issues. In addition, President Harry Truman invited her to attend the founding convention of the United Nations; she was the only African-American delegate to attend.
