Great People I have Known

1. There were people in my life growing up in Tuskegee who left an eternal-
ly positive influence on me. This is a tribute to those individuals to whom
I am enormously grateful.
DR. GOMILLION WAS ONE OF TUSKEGEE'S GIANTS THAT I WAS BLESSED TO
HAVE KNOWN
Dr. Charles G. Gomillion One of the most significant US Supreme Court
decisions of the 20th century was the decree in Gomillion vs. Lightfoot
in 1960. At the vanguard of this decree was South Carolina native
Charles G. Gomillion. The decision outlawed gerrymandering as a
mechanism for altering boundaries in order to minimize voting
strength, thus, disfranchising many people. The case in point was
Tuskegee, Alabama, where African-Americans were systematically
stripped of voting power. Gomillion resolved to fight this unfair practice
and he won!
Charles G. Gomillion, a native of Johnston (Edgefield County), South
Carolina overcame many obstacles. He observed that he "had a total
of 26 months of elementary school education." His early schooling con-
sisted of three months per year. He worked and persevered, eventually
completing high school education at the academy at Paine College. His
first jobs as a hotel cook and local farm hand earned him $4 and $7
per week, respectively. Working his way through school and saving as
much as he could, he graduated BA cum laude, from Paine College

2. when he was 28 years old. He subsequently earned his Ph.D. form the
Ohio State University.
From 1928-1971, Dr. Gomillion worked at the world famous Tuskegee
Institute in Alabama. He served as professor of Sociology, chairman of
the Division of Social Sciences, Dean of Students and Dean of the Col-
lege of Arts and Sciences. A world renowned scholar, his research and
writings have sparked discussions in academic and lay environments.
Among his numerous writings are: 1. "Citizenship! A Challenge to
Scholarship or the Challenging South:" 2. "The Influence of the Negro
on the Culture of the South;" and 3. "The Challenging Civic Role of the
Private Citizen in the Contemporary South." As a youngster, Dr. Gomil-
lion's parents admonished him never to disgrace himself and never to
ignore his responsibilities. They instilled in him that everyone may not
like him, but live so that people must respect him. This legacy was
passed to others. He has always been a good listener and a thorough
researcher. His sociological theories and advice on race relations have
been utilized nationwide.
Dr. Gomillion's indelible imprint on political, civic and educational enti-
ties will long be remembered. He has been an active member of many
organizations, including the NAACP, the Alabama Council, the Southern
Regional Council and the Southern Council Educational Fund. Among
his honors are: the first Charles S. Johnson Race Relations Award, the
Lyndon B. Johnson Political Freedom Award, the Sociological Practice
Association Distinguished Career Award and the national Omega Psi
Phi Fraternity Man of the Year Award. This outstanding scholar, public
servant and civil rights advocate has honorary degrees form Howard
University, Ohio State University, Tuskegee Institute and Paine College.
ANOTHER OF TUSKEGEE'S GIANTS THAT I GOT TO KNOW WAS WILLIAM L.
DAWSON

3. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-tBHRB6-0DM
William Levi Dawson was born in Anniston, and at the age of thirteen
ran away from home to enter Tuskegee Institute. Supporting himself
by manual labor, he completed his education there in 1921.
He holds degrees in theory and composition from Horner Institute of
Fine Arts in Kansas City, MO, and the American Conservatory of Music.
He holds honorary doctorates from Tuskegee Institute, Lincoln Univer-
sity and Ithaca College.
In 1931, he organized the School of Music at Tuskegee, and for twen-
ty-five years conducted the one hundred voice Tuskegee Choir. In
1932-33, this choir was a main attraction at the grand opening of the
Radio City Music Hall in New York.
The Tuskegee Choir, under the direction of Dr. Dawson, performed for
Presidents Herbert Hoover and Franklin D. Roosevelt. Dr. Dawson has
made guest appearances throughout the United States and abroad.
He is a recognized authority on the religious folk music of the Ameri-
can Negro, and his choral and orchestral arrangements are extensively
performed. He composed the "Negro Folk Symphony" which premiered

4. in 1934 by the Philadelphia Orchestra under the direction of Leopold
Stokowski.
OH HOW I REMEMBER MR. P.H. POLK - GIANT!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nQfhrGeey3A
25 November 1898: Born Herman Polk in Bessemer, Alabama, the
youngest of four children (including daughters Mayme, Freddie, and
Georgia) and only son of Jacob Prentice Polk and Christine Romelia
Ward.
1909: Jacob Prentice Polk dies of black lung disease and Christine
must support the Polk family through her job as a seamstress. She
started Polk's formal education in the public Hard School in Bessemer
shortly after his father's death.

5. 1911: Sent to the Tuggle Institute, a subsidized boarding school in
Birmingham, Alabama, to further his education.
1913-1914: Returned home to help Christine financially by working in
the tailoring shop of William A. Freeman.
1916-1920: Enrolled first as a night student, and then as a full-time
day student at Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute where he
studied photography under C.M.Battey (1873-1927) and became prin-
cipal musician in the Institute Band. Upon enrollment, Polk took his fa-
ther's middle name Prentice and was usually referred to by friends and
colleagues simply as "P.H."
1920: Moved to Mobile and then Chickasaw, Alabama to work in the
shipyards to raise money to move to Chicago to reunite with his moth-
er and sisters.
1921: Began correspondence course in photography.
1922: Moved to Chicago where he worked as a painter for the Pullman
Company (1922-1926).
1926: Started a twenty-month apprenticeship with Fred Jensen, a
prominent white photographer in Chicago at the time. Learned re-
touching techniques.
1927: Moved in October with his wife and his son, Prentice, back to
Tuskegee, Alabama to open a private portrait studio (Polk's Studio).
Polk would father nine children in all.The Spinning Wheel was commis-
sioned by Prince's Magazine. Began photographing the "Old Charac-
ters."
1928: Became a faculty member in the Photography

6. Division of Tuskegee Institute as well as the
assistant to the Division Head and Official University Photographer,
Leonard G. Hyman (born 1895).
1933: Named the third head of the Photography Division at Tuskegee
Institute.
1938: Left Tuskegee Institute to open a portrait studio in Atlanta,
Georgia. His work is selected for the Southeastern Photographers Con-
vention (Atlanta) and won three awards.
1939-1984: He accepted and retained the position as Official Photog-
rapher of Tuskegee Institute (now University).
1930s-1950s: Completed the George Washington Carver series. Polk's
interest in rural Alabama and its inhabitants can be seen through his
work during this time. Polk photographed all dignitaries visiting
Tuskegee Institute, such as President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Vice-Presi-
dent Henry Wallace, Eleanor Roosevelt, W. C. Handy, Paul Robeson,
Martin Luther King, Jr. and many others.
1941-1945: Polk photographed the progress of the Tuskegee Airmen, a
famous group of young African-American pilots who trained at the
Tuskegee campus and formed the 99th and 100th Pursuit Squadrons
during World War II.
1945: Purchased his home on Washington Avenue and set up his pri-
vate studio at that address.
1947: Completed a seven-week course at the Professional Photogra-
pher's School in Winona, Indiana.

7. 1960s: Polk documented life at Tuskegee including 1965 student
protests, visiting civil rights leaders, and the March from Selma to
Montgomery.
1974: Exhibited at the Museum of Natural History, New York City.
1975: Received the Alpha XI Chapter, Zeta Phi Beta Award. Exhibited
at the George Washington Carver Museum, Tuskegee, Alabama.
1976: Exhibited at the Washington Gallery of Photography, Washing-
ton, D.C., and the Studio Museum of Harlem, New York City.
1977: Exhibited in group showing of black American photographers at
the House of Friendship, Soviet Union and for FESTAC '77 in Lagos,
Nigeria.
1978: Exhibited at the Nexus Gallery, Atlanta, Georgia.
1979: Honored with the National Conference of Artists' Award.
1980: Won the Black Photographers' Annual Testimonial Award. Nexus
Press in Atlanta published the portfolio edition, P.H. Polk Photographs ,
to wide acclaim. Exhibited at the Pyramid Gallery of Art, Detroit, Michi-
gan. Received Tuskegee Institute's Alumni Merit Award and Black Pho-
tographers' Association Award.
1981: Received the National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship in
photography. Major exhibition of his work shown at the Corcoran Mu-
seum of Art in Washington, D.C. And Douglas Elliot Gallery in San
Francisco. Presented lecture on his work at the International Center of
Photography, New York City.
1982: Exhibited at the California Museum of Afro-American History,
Los Angeles, and the Ledel Gallery, New York City.

8. 1983: Honored guest at the launching of the Space Shuttle Challenger
with first African-American astronaut, Guion (Guy) Bluford on board.
Polk's photograph of Eleanor Roosevelt and Chief Anderson was dis-
played at the Kennedy Space Center, Cape Canaveral, FL during the-
launch. Exhibited at the Birmingham Museum of Art, Birmingham, Al-
abama.
29 December 1984: Prentice Herman Polk died in Tallassee, Alabama
and was buried in the Tuskegee University Campus Cemetery.
MR. WILLIAM CHILDS
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kGE7BLM4Qso&feature=related
Mr. Childs - a Tuskegee Airmen, America’s black fighter-pilot unit in
WW II, was honored at the White House for their service. President
George Bush awarded a Congressional Gold Medal—the highest and
most distinguished award the Congress has for civilians.
Over the course of the war, there were 994 pilots trained at the army
air field in Tuskegee, Ala., Today, there are only a few hundred of the
airmen left, and several of them live in the Triangle.
“They are the greatest fliers this nation has ever seen. Mr. Childs was
known as "Wild Bill"
I WILL NEVER FORGET CHIEF ALFRED ANDERSON

9. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HMXbodjsUpg&feature=related
C. Alfred “Chief” Anderson spent at least six decades training and
mentoring countless African American aviators. Interested in flying
from a young age, he saved enough money by the time he was 20 to
take flying lessons, but he could not find a school that would accept a
black student. With his savings and some borrowed money, he bought
his own plane and begged for lessons from any pilot who would listen.
He finally found an instructor in Ernest Buehl, a German World War I
pilot who had emigrated to the United States. Anderson earned his Pri-
vate Pilot Certificate in 1929, and in 1932 he became the first black to
receive his Transport License. He became friends with Dr. Albert E.
Forsythe and taught Forsythe to fly. Together, in 1934, they were the
first black pilots to make a round-trip transcontinental flight.
In 1939 Anderson initiated the Civilian Pilot Training Program (CPT) at
Howard University. Soon he was hired to be the first African American
pilot instructor at Tuskegee Institute in Alabama, which had the largest
CPT program for blacks.
He was an inspiring instructor. Although many thought it couldn’t be
done, “Chief” created expert pilots at Tuskegee. As the chief civilian

10. flight instructor at Tuskegee, Anderson was known and loved by the
thousands of pilots he trained during his 53 years as an instructor.
The most famous photograph of “Chief” Anderson shows him smiling
from the cockpit of his plane, as a beaming Eleanor Roosevelt sits be-
hind him. The photograph was taken in 1941 during Mrs. Roosevelt’s
fact-finding trip to Tuskegee. As First Lady, Mrs. Roosevelt did much to
promote the cause of equal opportunity for black Americans. Over the
Secret Service’s objections, she flew with Anderson to show her sup-
port for the Tuskegee program. According to Anderson, the Army Air
Corps began training blacks several days after Mrs. Roosevelt’s flight.
PRESIDENT LUTHER H. FOSTER - GIANT

12. Luther H. Foster is recognized as one of the outstanding educators in
America. Beginning in 1941 he served at Tuskegee Institute as busi-
ness manager and as president. In addition he was a member of the
visiting committee for the Department and Graduate School of Educa-
tion, University of Chicago; the Southern Regional Education Board;
the National Commission for Cooperative Education; and the Overseas
Development Committee.
Dr. Foster's activities in the field of education extended beyond the
United States; he served on the Consultive Committee on Education in
Africa, the Committee to Study Rural Education in Africa, the Presiden-
t's Advisory Commission on International Educational and Cultural Ex-
change, and the President's General Advisory Committee on Foreign
Assistance Programs. He was also decorated by the Liberian govern-
ment.
In addition to earning degrees from Virginia State College, Hampton
Institute, Harvard University, and the University of Chicago, he re-
ceived honorary degrees from Adams State College, the University of
Liberia, the University of Michigan, Colley College, and Loyola Universi-
ty of Chicago.
DR. ALBERT MURRAY - GIANT
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIlB_R9eftk

13. Murray, Albert (b. 1916), essayist, novelist, and cultural critic. Albert
Murray’s contribution to African-American literature has established the
value and importance of the "blues idiom as the basis for approaching
life as an African American.
Born in Nokomis, Alabama, on May 12, 1916, Murray received his BS
from Tuskegee Institute in 1939. He joined the Air Force in 1943 and
retired with the rank of major in 1962. During his period in the service,
Murray earned his MA from New York, University (1948) and taught lit-
erature and composition to civilians and soldiers both in the United
States and abroad.
The Omni-Americans (1970), Murray’s first book, contains reviews, es-
says, and commentaries that engage and challenge the predominant
frameworks within which matters of "race and culture were then being
discussed. Critiquing what he called "the folklore of white supremacy
and the fake lore of black pathology," the book argues that all Ameri-
cans are multicolored and that social scientific attempts to explain

14. black life in America are fundamentally mistaken. His next book, South
to a Very Old Place (1971), extends that argument with a series of
memoirs, interviews, and reports that document the positive nurturing
aspects of the African-American community in the South.
In 1972, Albert Murray was invited to give the Paul Anthony Brick Lec-
tures on Ethics at the University of Missouri. These lecturers were pub-
lished as The Hero and the Blues (1973). Here Murray develops his
concept of literature in the blues idiom, a theory he eloquently prac-
ticed in the novel "Train Whistle Guitar (1974)," which won the Lillian
Smith Award for Southern Fiction. The hero of this novel received from
his family and neighbors in the segregated South the cultural equip-
ment necessary for leading a successful life-a sense of fundamental in-
dividual worth combined with community responsibility akin to the re-
lationship between the improvising jazz soloist and the supporting
band.
In 1976, Murray turned the concept of the blues idiom back on itself,
writing perhaps the best book ever published on jazz aesthetics,
Stomping the Blues, Murray collaborated with Court Basie on his auto-
biography, Good Morning, Blues (1985), and in 1991 published The
Spyglass Tree, the long-awaited sequel to his first novel. A catalog es-
say on the paintings of Romare Bearden (Romare Bearden, Finding the
Rhythm, 1991) extends Murray’s concepts of improvisation, rhythm,
and synthesis even to the realm of the visual arts.
MRS. CATHERINE MOTON PATTERSON - CLASSY GIANT

15. Catherine Elizabeth Moton, daughter of Tuskegee University's second
president, Dr. Robert R. Moton and wife of Dr. Frederick Douglass Pat-
terson.
In 1891, her father Robert Moton was appointed commandant of the
male student cadet corps at Hampton Institute. In 1915, after the
death of Dr. Booker T. Washington, he succeeded Washington as the
principal of the Tuskegee Institute, a position he held until retirement
in 1935. Moton Field, the initial training base for the Tuskegee Airmen
was named after him.
Dr. Patterson, Catherine's husband studied at Iowa State College,
where he received a doctorate in veterinary medicine in 1923 and a
master of science degree in 1927. He was awarded a second doctorate
degree from Cornell University.
Patterson taught veterinary science for four years at Virginia State Col-
lege, where he was also Director of Agriculture. His tenure at Tuskegee
University started in 1928 and spanned almost 25 years: first as Head
of the veterinary division, director of the School of Agriculture and fi-
nally as Tuskegee's third president.
Patterson founded the School of Veterinary Medicine at Tuskegee in
1944, the year he also founded the United Negro College Fund.
MR. CHARLIE POLLARD - BIGGEST OF THEM ALL

16. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3TqrHiO5GwU
Survivor of the The Tuskegee syphilis experiment. Conducted between
1932 and 1972 in Tuskegee, Alabama, by the U.S. Public Health Ser-
vice. Investigators recruited 399 impoverished African-American
sharecroppers with syphilis for research related to the natural progres-
sion of the untreated disease, in hopes of justifying treatment pro-
grams for blacks.
The 40-year study was controversial for reasons related to ethical
standards, primarily because researchers failed to treat patients ap-
propriately after the 1940s validation of penicillin as an effective cure
for the disease. Revelation of study failures led to major changes in
U.S. law and regulation on the protection of participants in clinical
studies, including the necessity for informed consent, communication
of diagnosis, and accurate reporting of test results.
When the study began in 1932, standard medical treatments for
syphilis were toxic, dangerous, and of questionable effectiveness. Part
of the study goal was to determine if patients were better off not being
treated with such toxic remedies. Additionally, researchers wanted to
understand each stage of the disease in hopes of developing suitable
treatments for each.

17. By 1947 penicillin had become the standard treatment for syphilis.
Rather than treat all syphilitic subjects and close the study, or split off
a control group for testing penicillin, the Tuskegee scientists continued
the study, withholding penicillin and information about it. Participants
were prevented from accessing syphilis treatment programs available
to others in the area. The study continued until 1972, when a leak to
the press resulted in its termination. Victims included numerous men
who died of syphilis, wives who contracted the disease from them, and
children born with congenital syphilis.
The Tuskegee Syphilis Study, cited as "arguably the most infamous
biomedical research study in U.S. history, led to the 1979 Belmont Re-
port and the establishment of the Office for Human Research Protec-
tions. It also led to federal regulation requiring Institutional Review
Boards for protection of human subjects in studies involving human
subjects. The Office for Human Research Protections manages this re-
sponsibility within the US Department of Health and Human Services.
Charlie Pollard died in 2000.
COL. HERBERT E. CARTER - ANOTHER GIANT
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQHeiJobsUk&feature=related

18. Herbert E. Carter, Lieutenant Colonel, United States Air Force, retired
is a veteran fighter pilot and was a member of the original cadre of the
99th Fighter Squadron (Tuskegee's Airmen). He flew combat missions
during the North African, Sicilian, Italian and European campaigns of
World War II. During an 18 months' combat tour, he flew 77 opera-
tional missions against the German and Italian Air Forces. His unit, the
99th Fighter Squadron and other squadrons of the 332nd Fighter
Group compiled an outstanding record of performance in tactical air
and ground support of Allied Armies, including destroying 17 German

19. aircraft over Anzio Beach during the Allied Forces invasion of Northern
Italy.
During his military career Col. Carter flew five different types of fighter
aircraft, including the Mach II F-106 Fighter Interceptor. His assign-
ments Includes: Fighter Pilot, European theater 1943-45, Group Main-
tenance Officer 332nd Fighter-Bomber Group, Lockbourne AFB Ohio
1945-48, Flight Test Maintenance Officer, Wright-Patterson AFB Ohio
1948-50, Professor Air Science and Commander, AFROTC Detachment
15, Tuskegee Institute 1950-55, Deputy Director Military Advisory
Group to German Air Force 1955-59, Chief of Maintenance 27th Fighter
Interceptor Squadron, Loring AFB Maine 1963-65 and Professor,
Aerospace Studies AFROTC Detachment 15 Tuskegee Institute
1965-69.
His military decoration include the Air Medal with four clusters, Air
Force Commendation Medal, Distinguished Unit Citation, European
Theater Medal with five Bronze Stars, National Defense Medal and the
Air Force Longevity Medal.
Lt. Col. Carter earned his Bachelor of Science degree from Tuskegee
Institute 1955 and a Master Degree in Education In 1969.
After his Air Force retirement, Col Carter served at Tuskegee Institute
as Associate Dean for Student Services, Associate Dean for Admission
and Recruiting, Financial Aid Counselor, and is presently President of
the Tuskegee Chapter of TAI.
MR. EDWARD A. GIBBS - BIG!!
http://www.blackwingsonline.com

21. In his short life, Edward A. Gibbs played an important role in increas-
ing opportunities for African Americans in aviation. In the 1940's, he
taught those who became Tuskegee Airmen. In 1967 he founded, and
served as the first president of the Negro Airmen International (NAI).
From a handful of black flyers, the organization has now grown to in-
clude 31 chapters and hundreds of members.
MR. MILAN WILLIAMS
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rbEIzD4Ip_A
Milan B. Williams came from Mississippi and began playing the piano
after watching his older brother Earl, who was a multi-instrumentalist.
Prior to joining The Commodores, Milan did his keyboard-wizardry in a
rivaling band called The Jays. When The Jays disbanded, Milan was re-
cruited. He was in the very first edition of The Commodores and in
1969 traveled with the group to New York, where they recorded a sin-
gle called "Keep On Dancing" on Atlantic Records.
Among the tracks Milan wrote are The Commodores' first hit record
"Machine Gun", "The Bump", "Rapid Fire", "I'm Ready", "Better Never
Than Forever", "Mary Mary", "Quick Draw", "Patch It Up", "X-Rated
Movie", "Wonderland", "Old-Fashion Love" and "Only You" (a track Mi-
lan also produced, taken from The Commodores first Richie-less LP
"13" in 1983).

22. In addition, Milan penned "You Don't Know That I Know", "Let's Get
Started", "Brick House", "Too Hot Ta Trot" (with the group), "I Feel
Sanctified" (with the group and Jeffrey Bowen), "Gonna Blow Your
Mind" (with Walter Orange) and "Lay Back" (with Dennis Lambert,
Franne Gold and Martin Page). Milan, together with James Anthony
Carmichael, produced "I Wanna Rock You" (co-written by Milan with K.
Cover) and "Ain't Givin' Up" with Hawk Wolinski, a track written by Mi-
lan, Tyron Stanton and Paula E. Smith.
Milan left the Commodores in 1989, allegedly after refusing to perform
with them in South Africa.
Judge Theodore R. Newman
Judge Theodore R. Newman, Jr. was appointed to the District of
Columbia Court of Appeals in 1976 by President Gerald R. Ford. He
was designated to serve two four- year terms as Chief Judge of the
Court of Appeals from 1976 to 1984 and assumed Senior Judge status
in 1991 after serving as an Associate Judge from 1984 to 1991.

23. Judge Newman was born in Birmingham and raised in Tuskegee, Al-
abama. He graduated from Mount Hermon School in Massachusetts in
1951. He then graduated from Brown University in 1955, with a Bach-
elor of Arts degree in philosophy and received his J.D.degree from Har-
vard Law School in 1958, with a concentration in constitutional law and
jurisprudence.
Following law school, Judge Newman served a three-year tour of duty
with the U.S. Air Force as a Judge Advocate stationed in France. He
then served as an attorney with the Civil Rights Division of the Depart-
ment of Justice from September 1961 to August 1962 before entering
the private practice of law as an associate with the firm of Houston,
Bryant & Gardner in the District of Columbia. In 1968, Judge Newman
left Houston, Bryant & Gardner to become a partner in the firm of
Pratt, Bowers & Newman, also in the District of Columbia, a position
that concluded with his appointment to the Superior Court of the Dis-
trict of Columbia in 1970. Judge Newman served as an Associate Judge
on the Superior Court until his appointment to the Court of Appeals in
October 1976.
Judge Newman is a fellow of the American Bar Foundation of the
American Bar Association. He formerly held the following positions:
Trustee of Brown University; President of the National Center for State
Courts; and Chairman of the Judicial Council of the National Bar Asso-
ciation. Judge Newman served as a visiting lecturer, Harvard Law
School, Adjunct Professor, Howard University School of Law, and Ad-
junct Professor, Georgetown Law Center. He was awarded an honorary
Doctor of Laws (LL.D.) by Brown University in June 1980. In 1984, he
received the highest award of the National Bar Association, the C.
Francis Stradford Award, for his outstanding service in the struggle for
equal justice. In 1988, he was awarded the highest award of the Judi-
cial Council of the National Bar Association, the William H. Hastie
Award, for his contribution to insuring justice for all people.

24. Sheriff Lucius Amerson
http://www.sheriffamerson.com/background.html
As First Black Sheriff In the South Since Reconstruction, Amerson’s
election in the spring of 1966 was as a result of: the newly passed
Voter’s Right Act of 1965, overwhelming support from student activists
at Tuskegee University, and residents of rural Macon County.

25. Sheriff “Amos”, as citizens of the rural communities called him, was a
Korean war veteran who became known for his “no-nonsense” and “up
in your face” style of law enforcement. He won the respect of black
and white citizens for his commitment to enforce the law fairly and
equally regardless of color.
During Amerson’s first term in office, he was immediately challenged
by Jim Crow loyalists when he arrested a white Police Chief and a
white Alabama State Trooper for beating an unarmed Negro man. Both
white officers were subsequently brought to trial.
Sheriff Amerson’s election drew local and national interest. Numerous
media outlets covered his election as well as his first three terms in of-
fice. He was featured on the cover of Jet Magazine’s March 30, 1967
edition as well as the Alabama Sheriffs Star Magazine’s summer 1983
edition.
Sheriff Amerson served five four-year terms. The late Hattie Simmons
West Kelly, Retired Dean of Women [Tuskegee Institute] summed up
the sentiments of many Negroes during his first term in office by say-
ing “ We are proud of our sheriff because he’s not afraid of anything or
anybody”. Sheriff Amerson died of natural causes in 1994 at his home
in Tuskegee, Alabama.
Before his death, Sheriff Amerson penned several chapters to his
eventual autobiography. His son Anthony E. has picked up where his
father left off and completed the book in December 2003. When
younger Amerson is asked about his motivation for documenting his
father’s story, his response is “Who else is going to tell our stories if
we don’t? It is my hope that my dad’s story will bring more balance to
our recorded history and that it will inspire our youth to maintain the
pursuit for equality.”

26. Sheriff Amerson was a founding member of The National Organization
Of Black Law Enforcement Executives (N.O.B.L.E).