Victoria Pilate, Ph.D.
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Ken Hechler, Ph.D.
Hechler graduated from Swarthmore College in1935 and received an A.M. from
Columbia University in 1936. He later earned a Ph.D. from Columbia University.
He served as a historian and researcher to the Truman White House from 1949
to 1953 being named special assistant to President Truman. Later he entered
politics serving in a variety of positions including the U.S. House of
Representatives.
In 1965, Hechler was the newly elected U.S. representative from WV. He was
moved by the news reports of Bloody Sunday, the voting rights march across
the Edmund Pettis Bridge in Selma, Alabama (destined for Montgomery) in which
the police attacked the marchers. A second attempt at the march was thwarted
by Alabama authorities. A third attempt scheduled for that March 22 was-- by
court order --under protection of national guardsmen under federalized orders
by then-President Lyndon Johnson. Moved by his conscience, Hechler flew to
Birmingham then drove to Selma to take part in the march. He was the only U.S.
official to participant in the march. Hechler later recalled as the march was
about to begin thinking that they were “about to undertake something that would
have great meaning.” The Selma march and the brutality surrounding it would
propelled the nation to the passage of the Voting Rights Act.
The demonstration's leader, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was so moved by
Hechler's bravery that King assigned four of his bodyguards to drive a car back
to Selma as Hechler lay on the floor of the car.
He lost a reelection bid and a later bid for WV's governorship. He taught at the
University of Charleston and Marshall University from 1981 to1984; in 1985,
Hechler was elected Secretary of State for West Virginia. (based on an
Associated Press article, the University of West Virginia website and the U.S.
House of Representatives website)
For more information, see Charles Moffat's book Ken Hechler: Maverick Public
Servant (Charleston, WV: Mountain State Press, 1987)
Edmund Arnold
He was born in Bay City, Michigan and began his journalism career at a local
paper at which he became co-owner and editor. He also worked as picture editor
of the Saginaw News and night state editor of the Lansing State Journal. He
served as a military journalist with the U.S. Army in France and Germany during
World War II and in later years was active in the 70th Division Association,
editing its quarterly magazine for more than 20 years.
He moved to New York City in 1954 to become editor of Linotype News. He used
this job to advocate change in newspaper design. He believed that the
newspapers with narrow columns and headlines in all capital letters were boring
and difficult to read. Arnold's ideas caught the attention of hundreds of
newspapers. He conducted workshops across the U.S., Canada, Latin America
and Europe on innovations in newspaper design. Eventually, he was dubbed
the "father of modern newspaper design." Arnold was awarded the George Polk
Memorial Award in 1957 for his contributions to typography.
He became a professor at Syracuse University in 1960 and later taught at
Virginia Commonwealth University. When he found a need for a textbook in
graphic design, he wrote one that became the standard introduction to graphic
art.
Arnold wrote 27 books on typography, graphic arts and organizational
publications. Arnold was named to the Journalism Halls of Fame in Michigan and
Virginia, and the Society for News Design gave him a Lifetime Achievement
Award in 2000. He died at 93 in early 2007. (based on an Associated Press
article)
Jeannie VanVelkinburgh: A Valiant Heart
On November 18, 1997, VanVelkinburgh acted as a good Samaritan after
witnessing two men attack another. As a result, she was shot in the back by
skinhead Nathan Thill who had first taunted then killed a black immigrant,
Doumar Dia, in a racist attack. The bullet left her paralyzed and in constant
pain. VanVelkinburgh had just gotten off work at a nursing home and took a bus
that she had never taken before. She then witnessed the attack. Not thinking of
her own safety, she rushed to help and was gunned down.
Learning, that Thill had openly boasted of killing Dia and shooting
VanVelkinburgh, VanVelkinburgh summoned all her strength and remaining
courage to speak at his sentencing. She pleaded with the court that hate crimes
must be stopped and to sentence the assailants to a term reflective of the
heinous nature of the hate crime and of cold-blooded murder. Thill was
sentenced to a life term Thill’s accomplice, Jeremiah Barnum was sentenced to
12 years in prison.
VanVelkinburgh never regretted her decision to intervene. Tragically, after
enduring years of chronic pain from Thill's bullet, she died in July 2002 of an
apparent suicide. (based on a Rocky Mountain News article)
Fred Haley
Fred Haley was the president of Brown & Haley, the makers of Almond Roca
chocolate tins. Though highly successful in business, Haley is also known for
his work in defending civil rights. As a member of the Tacoma, Washington,
School Board from 1954 to 1965, Haley encouraged hiring minority teachers
and pushed for desegregation of schools, advocating magnet schools to help
further that goal. While on the School Board, he and two other board members
voted to retain a school counselor who had been accused of being a communist
by the House Un-American Activities Committee. That act led to a boycott of
Brown & Haley for a time. He participated in the 1963 March on Washington and
was honored with the American Civil Liberties Union’s William O. Douglas
Award. He died in April 2005 at age 92. (based on an Associated Press article)
Myron T. Herrick
Herrick grew up in Huntington, Ohio. He worked as a teacher and newspaper
reporter to earn money to attend college. He then read law and was admitted to
the Ohio Bar in 1878. Herrick later opened a law office and became a business
leader, founding Quaker Oats and helping to form Union Carbide (now Praxair).
He later entered politics and rose to become governor.
Losing his reelection bid as governor, Herrick returned to his business affairs
and later accepted appointment by President William Howard Taft as
Ambassador to France. During his time in France, he founded in 1914 the
American Relief Clearing House and the War Relief Clearing House for France
and Her Allies to aid hungry French people during World War I. The
organizations raised the equivalent of 86 million francs and distributed aid to the
French during the dark days of the War. This accomplishment was achieved
despite the mixed feelings at the time to war and the push to isolationism.
He was reappointed Ambassador by President Warren Harding in 1921. As
Ambassador in 1927, he was among the delegation that greeted Charles A.
Lindbergh upon the completion of his successful solo flight from America to
France. Herrick remained Ambassador to France until his death in 1929.
Because of his war time service to France and his service to America and
France, Herrick was accorded a French state funeral.
Joseph Darby: A Soldier of Conscience and a Gentleman
Darby was a soldier stationed in Iraq and assigned to the 372nd Military Police
Company. The unit was responsible for running the military prison, Abu Ghraib.
By chance, he was given two CDs of images when he asked a fellow soldier for
photos of Iraq to send home. The CDs contained horrific images of torture of
Iraqi prisoners. Acting on his conscience and on his duty to the nation and
Constitution, Darby handed over the images to the Army's Criminal Investigation
Command. He would later tell a reporter, "I've always had a moral sense of right
and wrong. And I knew that you know, friends or not, it had to stop."
Tragically and bizarrely, after his identity was exposed in a press conference by
then-Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld, Darby's life entered a tailspin. He
eventually was placed in protective custody and received death threats. Even
more tragically, his family at home in Pennsylvania received death threats. They
continue to live in fear. (based on the MSNBC website)
"Dorm Rooms to
Boardrooms"
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Crandell & Rose
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Victoria Pilate "Dorm
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Boardrooms"
Victoria Pilate
Crandell & Rose
"Dorm Rooms to
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Crandell and Rose
Dorm Rooms to
Boardroom
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