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...
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