Arkansas' first Black Hall of Fame names six renowned achievers as first inductees

Jet, Jan 10, 1994

Six native sons and daughters of Arkansas, who excelled in their chosen fields and serve as shining examples to young people everywhere, were recently inducted into the state's first Black Hall of Fame during a black-tie affair in Little Rock.

An estimated 500 guests packed Robinson Center for the special ceremony. The gala was sponsored by the Arkansas Regional Minority Supplier Development Council, a non-profit agency that tries to foster a relationship between minority entrepreneurs and corporate operations.

Proceeds from the $100-a-plate benefit will go to scholarships for Arkansas high school seniors who envision entrepreneurial careers.

Cited for their achievements and contributions to Black heritage and culture, the honorees were:

* John H. Johnson, whose publishing career began in November 1942, continues to flourish with JET, EBONY and EBONY MAN Magazines and other ventures that include Fashion Fair cosmetics and broadcasting concerns.

* Maya Angelou, poet, educator, best-selling author, actress, historian and civil rights activist, is heralded as one of the great voices of contemporary literature.

* Lottie Shackelford, who made history as the first woman elected mayor of Little Rock, is now vice chair of the Democratic National Committee.

* Daisy Bates, civil rights activist who is credited with helping to integrate Central High School in Little Rock in 1957, is publisher of the Arkansas State Press, which later ceased publication and was revitalized in 1984 as the State Press.

* Ernest Green, the first Black to graduate from Central High School in Little Rock, is a managing director at Washington, DC-based Lehman Brothers.

* Dr. G.W. Stanley Ish Sr., was honored posthumously as a renowned physician and humanitarian and one of the first Blacks to graduate from Harvard and Yale universities.

Gov. Jim Guy Tucker served as honorary co-chair of the event, along with Michael W. Joshua, president of J.M. Products, Inc. A reception at the Governor's Mansion preceded the induction ceremony.

Publisher Johnson, whose autobiography, Succeeding Against The Odds, chronicles his climb from a tinroofed house near the river levees in Arkansas City to a Lake Shore Drive condominium on the banks of Lake Michigan and an 11-story, marble front building in downtown Chicago, observed:

"Arkansas is a different place now ... It's almost like another world."

Johnson said he left racially-segregated Arkansas City at the age of 15 because, at that time, there were no high schools for Blacks. His mother Mrs. Gertrude Johnson Williams moved to Chicago, where he graduated from DuSable High School and began a pursuit of excellence.

Now with a view overlooking Lake Michigan from the 11th floor of Johnson Publishing Co., first Black-owned office building in downtown Chicago, Johnson had a message for young Blacks. He said that while passage of civil rights legislation and outlawing segregation in public schools have created more opportunities for young Blacks, there are still obstacles which they will face.

Patricia Goodwin, president of the Arkansas Regional Minority Supplier Development Council, Inc., said the Hall of Fame project was a success. "An event like this allows visibility to our efforts ... Corporate America needs to realize that a great deal of their revenues come from minority patrons," she stated and then emphasized: "We are not looking for handouts, we just want the opportunities to be utilized!"

Henry Warren, board chairman of Supplier Development Council (SDC), said the inductees "have been our messengers of hope... Their lives have proven to be the true measure of success ... They examined their fullest potential and shared it with the world."