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Page 6 Portland Observer February 16, 1989
News Around Town
The Abuse Continues
Links will Present Debutants
in Starlight Cotillion
The above photograph is an indication
of what little regard som e businesses
have for the impoverished and the elderly.
A.G.G. Enterprises, Inc., a drop box
service in North Portland dumped the
debris on the lawn o f the residence of
Mr. asnd Mrs. W illie Harris, 4746 North
Mississippi. ASccording too Mrs. Harris,
the driver o f the drop box truck staled the
dum pster was overloaded and rclused io
accept a check for the extra debris. Upon
being contacted by the Portland Observer,
a spokesperson for the business conceded
that the trash was dumped but refused to
discuss the matter any further. The
incident was reported to liter City Nuisance
Bureau whiuch requested a photograph
o f the trash and promised to inv estigate
The Portland Chapter o f the LINKS,
a service oriented group o f African-
American women will sponsor their 12lh
annual debutante ball to be held Sunday,
February 19th at 7 p.m. This gala event
will take place in the Chiles Center of
the University of Portland which is located
at 5000 W illamette Boulevard. The
University is accessed via Portland
Avenue.
Last Sunday the press and special
invited guests had an opportunilv to chat
with these 19 young women and their
escorts just before thev went into final
rehearsal for die ' Starlight C otillion."
All of die debutantes are graduating seniors
and plan to pursue further studies alter
their graduation from high school
Paula Jordan already has been accepted
at Oregon State University, while Shanda
Watts and Ursula Madden-Williams have
not yet made up their munis where to
study next year.
BAN
Valeric Peterson is interested in studying
nursing while Robin Beavers is looking
forward to studying at the University o f
Arizona. Levan Pierce, one of the escorts,
is anticipating an exciting college career
at G ram bling University in Louisiana.
He also hopes to make their famous
football team in that historically African-
American institution.
According to Mrs. Kaye Toran,
publicity director, attendance at the
cotillion is by invitation only. The major
fund raiser for the LINKS will be a
fashion show to be held the last Friday in
April. All o f the proceeds from the latter
endeavor will provide at least six college
scholarships for local area young women.
In greeting the guests, Mrs. Freddie
Prophet, president of the local chapter
said.
‘‘Thank you for letting us have your
children. They have been a joy to all of
us just as they must have been a joy to
you. We expect much from them in the
future because they represent the hopes
o f our destiny.”
Underscoring the words o f their
president were Jeanne Hertzog, Sandy
Jackson, Phyliss G ainer and Marlene
Fuller.
Mrs. H ertzo g ’s d aughter
participated in such a cotillion more
than 10 years ago. She now lives in
California and looks forward to having
their 16 month old daughter follow the
same pathway laid down by their elders.
The Portland LINKS represent a tradition
that has endured a great number
o f challenges in their 32 year history.
For the last 12 years they have presented
some of the bright aspirants o f the
com m unity to the general public. In the
years that followed, each o f these young
African-American women has assumed
a responsible place in our society. The
Portland Observer salutes this tremendous
success story
APARTHEID!
Electrical genius
GRANVILLE T, WOODS
A*
(1856-1910
Granville T. Vi nods
BLACK
Many of his sixty inventions were bought
and used by G eneral E lectric,
Westinghouse and Bell Telephone
Among them are: the alternating current
telephone; “ telcgraphony” (conversion
of an ordinary telegraph key into a
telephone); railway telegraphy, which
made use of the telegraph wires along
train tracks to transmit messages to other
trains and stations;
a theater light dimmer that reduced wasted electricity by 40%; overhead electric
power sources for electric trains; the “ third rail’’ used in New York’s subway
trains; the automatic air brake, the electric chicken egg hatcher. Woods was called
the “ Black Edison.’’
Isaac Myers
Freedom and the the new unions :On December 6 ,1869 at the union league
hall in Washington a delegation o f more than 200 delegates met to form the
colored national labor union union. Issac Myers was part o f that
organization.W orking on the premises that until the necessity for seperate
organigation shall be deemed unnessary in our organization W e make no
discrimnation as to nationality,sex or color.
GEORGE WASHINGTON
CARVER
(1 8 8 4 -1 9 4 3 )
K
Daniel H. Williams (1856-1931)
“ Sewed Up His H eart” was the Chicago paper’s headline in 1893 when Dr.
W illiams performed the w orld’s first successful heart surgery on a man who had
been critically stabbed in a brawl. Doomed to die, the fortunate man recovered and
lived fifty years after the operation.Dr.
W illiams founded Providence Hospital in Chicago, the first
interracial hospital in America.
George Washington Carver
Carver is known as the “ Savior of
Southern Agriculture’ ’ for developing
over 300 different products from the
peanut and 100 different products from
the sweet potato, which grow on the
mineral-depleted soils of the south and
return the nitrates needed for next
season’s tobacco crop. Amoung his
products were: cream .buttermilk,
butter, shampoo,
bleach, ink, plastics, instant and dry coffee, face powder, wood stains, mucilage,
flour, starch, tapioca, and synthetic rubber. He extracted 75 products from the
pecan and hundreds more from cotton and com wastes. His clay dyes were superior
to G erm any’s aniline dyes. Carver refused to patent most of his inventions.
THE STATE OF OREGON DEPARTMENT OF GENERAL SERVICES SALUTES BLACK AMERICANS WHO
HAVE CONTRIBUTED TO SCIENCE, MEDICINE, INDUSTRY, AGRICULTURE, LITERATURE AND MORE. WE
ARE PROUD TO JOIN OTHERS IN THE OBSERVATION OF BLACK HISTORY MONTH.
DEPARTMENT OF GENERAL SERVICES, PURCHASING DIVISION
KAY THORAN, ADMINISTRATOR
(503) 378 4642
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