IN THE COUNTY LEGISLATURE OF JACKSON COUNTY, MISSOURI
Title
A RESOLUTION expressing the sympathy of the Legislature to the family and friends of Lucile H. Bluford, editor and publisher of THE KANSAS CITY CALL, upon the occasion of her untimely death.
Intro
RESOLUTION # 14646, June 23, 2003
INTRODUCED BY Dan Tarwater, Fred Arbanas, Robert A. Stringfield, Henry C. Rizzo, Rhonda Shoemaker, Dennis Waits, Bob Spence, Scott Burnett and Ronald E. Finley, County Legislators
Body
WHEREAS, the members of the Legislature have been deeply saddened to learn that, after more than 70 years of journalism, Lucile H. Bluford, editor and publisher of THE KANSAS CITY CALL, passed away on Friday, June 13, 2003, at the age of 91; and,
WHEREAS, Lucile Harris Bluford was born on July 1, 1911, in Salisbury, North Carolina to John Henry Bluford, Sr., an educator at North Carolina A & T University, and Viola Harris Bluford; and,
WHEREAS, in 1921, John Henry Bluford accepted a job in Kansas City as a science teacher at Lincoln High School and moved his family to the Kansas City area, where Lucile attended Wendell Phillips Elementary School and, at the age of 13, became an active student at Lincoln High School; and,
WHEREAS, she graduated from Lincoln High School with top honors as valedictorian in 1928. Under the tutelage of English teacher Trussie Smothers, Lucile developed her skills as a budding journalist on the staff of the school newspaper, “The Lincolnite;” and, went on to college to earn a Bachelor’s degree in Journalism from the University of Kansas at Lawrence in 1932. She was the only black journalism student during her four years at KU; and,
WHEREAS, she worked for the student newspaper, “the Daily Kansan,” as night editor, telegraph editor, and in several other capacities. She also worked at THE CALL under Roy Wilkins, then editor of the newspaper, during summers while attending KU. After graduating from KU, she moved to Atlanta, Georgia, and worked for a summer at “the Atlanta Daily World.” She became homesick and moved back to Kansas City and began working for Dr. William J. Thompkins, then publisher of “The American” a black-owned local newspaper; and,
WHEREAS, a telephone call from Chester A. Franklin, founder of THE CALL, changed her life for the next 70 years, when he offered her a position with the thriving and growing newspaper. She accepted the position and by 1938, worked her way up to become the managing editor of THE CALL; and,
WHEREAS, in January of 1939, Lucile was accepted into the University of Missouri’s graduate of School of Journalism, but, while standing in line to register for classes she was asked to leave, because the University did not know it had accepted a qualified student who was black; and,
WHEREAS, Lucile filed a lawsuit against the University and, in 1942, the Missouri Supreme Court ruled in Bluford vs. Missouri that the State of Missouri had to provide “separate but equal” facilities of higher education for Negro students. In May 1989, fifty years after Bluford v. Missouri, Lucile received an honorary Doctorate of Humanities degree during a University of Missouri commencement ceremony; and,
WHEREAS, Lucile H. Bluford received countless awards and honors throughout her career including: Curator’s Award in Journalism and honorary doctorate degree from Lincoln University, Distinguished Service Award from the NAACP, Sesquicentennial Award from the National Newspaper Publishers Association, and Matrix Table Honoree of Women in Communications, Inc. She was the honoree at a city-wide ceremony sponsored by the Black Archives of Mid-America; and,
WHEREAS, she joined the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority, was a member and secretary of the Missouri Commission on Human Rights, a 1973 Pulitzer Prize (journalism) juror and served on the National Board and Crisis Board of the NAACP: and,
WHEREAS, she also served on numerous other boards and commissions including: Niles Home for Children, Kansas City Cancer Society, Legal Aid and Defender Society, Heart of America United Way, Missouri Association for Social Welfare, Kansas City Council on Crime Prevention, and many, many other organizations; and,
WHEREAS, Lucile will be greatly missed by all who knew and loved her; now therefore,
BE IT RESOLVED by the County Legislature of Jackson County, Missouri, that the Legislature hereby extends its deepest sympathy to family and friends of Lucile H. Bluford, editor and publisher of THE KANSAS CITY CALL.
Enacted and Approved
Effective Date: This Resolution shall be effective immediately upon its passage by a majority of the Legislature.
APPROVED AS TO FORM:
_________________________________ _______________________________
Acting County Counselor
Certificate of Passage
I hereby certify that the attached resolution, Resolution # 14646 of June 23, 2003, was duly passed on June 23, 2003, by the Jackson County Legislature. The votes thereon were as follows:
Yeas 8 Nays 0
Abstaining 0 Absent 1
______________________________ ________________________________
Date Mary Jo Spino, Clerk of Legislature