Overview

"Below are a few of the people who have earned a place within these pages. The primary emphasis concentrates on African Americans who led the way and set an example worthy of following. White celebrities will also have a place throughout the book, but only in abbreviated biographical sketches. Their full stories will be published in future volumes of Humor, History, and Heroes. African American Stories From the same small town A young woman, Ruth Whitehead Whaley, graduated at the top of her law class from New York's Fordham University. She was the first black female attorney to practice in that state. She has been enshrined in Fordham's Hall of Honor. Dorothy Foreman Cotton, a 1948 graduate of Dillard High, would eventually become the highest-ranking woman in Dr. MLK's entourage. She spent a lifetime advocating for civil rights. Lt. Colonel Marshall Bass Jr. served during three military conflicts. After retirement, he rose to a top-management position with R. J. Reynolds. His sister, Wilveria, was a highly educated college professor. The Science building at Winston-Salem State is named in her honor. Another sister, Geneva Bass Hamilton, was also a vocal civil rights activist and has been enshrined on the local museum's Wall of Fame. I have dedicated this book to another soldier, Eddie Lee Moses. Why? He's the oldest living graduate of Dillard. How old? He recently celebrated his 107th year on earth. There are stories of the Barbeque King, Adam Scott, who has been inducted into the National Barbeque Hall of Fame. Scott's famous BBQ sauce is a standard in numerous supermarkets. Included is the tale of a retired Lt. Colonel Minnie Williams Beverly, Air Force flight nurse who aided in bringing home former Vietnam prisoners of War. There's the Black principal, Rev. Clarence Dillard, who is credited with being a shining example and founder of the local ""colored"" school system. He came to town 130 years ago, but his legacy is celebrated with an annual parade. Thousands come home for the event. He was followed by another, H. V. Brown, who espoused the same high-level standards. Each encouraged their pupils to be more than book scholars, but also students of Godly principles. One man, William Gavin, fathered eight children and on his janitor's salary, seven of the eight graduated from college. His son Ray is a retired Brooklyn college professor. Nearing the end of the Civil War, more than one hundred thousand Union troops were encamped in Goldsboro. A Yankee soldier befriended a young slave boy and took him to Canton, Ohio. The lad's self-written story is a moving one. Flowers on grave mounds will fade and die, but the glow of departed stars will remain upon thousands whose souls their light has penetrated. Brief sketches on white stars with Goldsboro ties include General Anthony Wayne; (Wayne County), Matthew T. Goldsborough (Goldsboro's namesake), William T. Dortch, (Confederate Senator), Gertrude Weil; (a friend to the Black community), Kenneth C. Royall; (Secretary of the Army under President Truman), Seymour Anderson Johnson; (Navy Test Pilot and namesake for the local AFB), Ava Gardner; (proclaimed the World's most beautiful woman), Anne Jeffreys; (Hollywood and television star), Johnny Grant; (Honorary Mayor of Hollywood for 30-plus years), Clyde King; (Executive in New York Yankees organization), and Andy Griffith; (Goldsboro HS teacher. Later starred with a buddy named Barney before becoming defense attorney, Matlock)."

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"Sherwood Williford was born into a sharecropper family near Bentonville, Johnston County, North Carolina. Williford served 2 years in the Army National Guard, followed by 8 years active duty with the Air Force. Upon discharge, he received the Air Force Commendation Medal, highest peacetime award offered by the U. S. Military. With studies at both the University of Georgia and Brigham Young University, he earned a B. S. degree in Communications. For more than seven years, he was a featured columnist for his hometown newspaper, The Goldsboro News Argus, written under the byline ""From my Perch"" by Sherwood Owl Williford. He has published three books, including, Two To The Grave, Three To The Gallows, a true murder story which details a shocking ""local"" crime that garnered national interest. He has written two screenplays, Phoebe of the Neuse, an incredible yet heartwarming story of the Neuse Island's ""witch woman."" Leona's Boy is a fictionalized story based on life's uncertainties that faced Leona's illegitimate son. His latest work, Shining Stars from a Segregated South, has its setting around one of the south's premier Black schools of the twentieth century, Dillard High. Its founder, Rev. Clarence Dillard and his successor Hugh Victor Brown are credited with molding numerous scholars whose influence resonates far beyond its southern borders. Intermingled with their stories are brief biographical sketches of their white neighbors who would become celebrated stars in their own right. Williford is an active member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He is a member of the Golden K. Kiwanis Club and serves as Chaplain of his local Grantham Grange. He and his wife, Jane, have been blessed with four children and ten grandchildren. He lives in the Rosewood community west of Goldsboro, North Carolina."

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