black history 2012

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BY F.M. WIGGINS

STAFF WRITER

PETERSBURG — A new moviein theaters, “Red Tails,” highlightsthe World War II exploits of agroup of African-American fighterpilots who broke racial barrierswhile amassing an impressivecombat record.

One of those pilots — part of thefamed Tuskegee Airmen — hailedfrom Petersburg.

Howard Baugh Sr., who died in2008, flew 135 combat air missionsand logged 250 combat flight hourswith the Tuskegee Airmen overthe skies of World War II Europe.In total, he amassed 6,000 pilothours in 15 different types of air-craft as a Tuskegee Airman. Heretired from the military as a lieu-tenant colonel.

His son, Howard Baugh Jr., saidhis father would be proud to seethe theatrical movie “Red Tails,”which opened Jan. 20.

“When my brother told me thatanother one was coming out andGeorge Lucas was involved, I wasvery excited,” the younger Baughsaid.

He also noted that while hisfather would be proud to see themajor theatrical release ofthe film — coincidentallyon what would have beenhis 92nd birthday — hewould likely have somecriticism as well.

“After the 1995 HBO mov-ie, he said that they had putmore drama in it than wasreally there,” the youngerBaugh said. “He also saidthat they got some thingswrong, like the fact that allbut one of the instructorswas white and that every-body really wanted to seethem succeed.”

Howard Baugh Jr.doesn’t doubt that the latestfilm will have dramaticlicense, but considers it animportant story for peopleto know. He feels that themovie is an important mov-ie, not just to African-American history, but all of Amer-ican history.

“What they accomplishedshould be a source of pride for usall,” he said.

Ironically, the younger Baughdidn’t fully know about his dad’srole, not only as a fighter pilot buta civil rights pioneer, until he wasolder.

“Dad, was just dad,” said theyounger Baugh. “He didn’t reallytalk about it a whole lot, so I didn’tknow he was a hero — other thanthat he was my hero — until I wasin flight school.”

The younger Baugh said that he

was in flight school talking abouthow he was inspired to fly by his

father, who was a fighter pilot dur-ing World War II. That’s when theinstructor asked him if his fatherwas a Tuskegee Airman.

“That was the first time I heardthe term,” he said.

The elder Baugh was born andraised in Petersburg and attendedVirginia State College — now Vir-ginia State University. After gradu-ating from college in 1941, hedecided he wanted to get involvedin the war effort. He didn’t want tobe in the infantry, so he signed upfor the Army Air Corps, the pre-cursor to the modern U.S. AirForce.

Baugh was one of the nearly1,000 black pilots to graduate fromTuskegee Army Air Field between1940 and 1946. He was commis-sioned as a second lieutenant inNovember 1942. He was laterassigned to the 99th Fighter Squad-ron in Sicily.

“It was scary,” Howard BaughSr. said of the combat flying expe-

rience during a 2004 interview

with The Progress-Index. “It all

depended on what we were doing

as to how scary it was, but it was

really scary when we were getting

shot at.”

For his service, the elder Baugh

was awarded the Distinguished

Flying Cross, Air Medal with three

Oak Leaf clusters, Air Force Com-

mendation Medal, and the Air

Force Outstanding Unit award.

Retired Army Col. Porcher Tay-

lor of Petersburg is a member of

the Tuskegee Airmen Inc., an

organization dedicated to preserv-

ing the history of the Tuskegee

Airmen.

According to the organization’s

website, “Tuskegee Airmen”

refers to all who were involved in

the so-called “Tuskegee Experi-

ment,” the Army Air Corps pro-

gram to train African-Americans

to fly and maintain combat air-

craft. The Tuskegee Airmen

included pilots, navigators, bom-

bardiers, maintenance and sup-port staff, instructors, and all thepersonnel who kept the planes inthe air.

“Segregation was rampant inthose days,” Taylor said.

Taylor was part of the “Tuskeg-ee Experiment”, attending the Ala-bama institute and participatingin the Reserve Officer TrainingCorps program. Tuskegee reacheduniversity status in 1985.

“Blacks had to prove them-selves,” Taylor said. He explainedthat is how the “Tuskegee Experi-ment” came about.

Taylor recounted that HowardBaugh Sr. is credited with shootingdown one and a half enemy planes.

“You got a half a plane if youhelped a buddy shoot one down,”Taylor explained. He added thatBaugh’s friends suspect he mayhave shot down more than oneFocke Wulf 190, one of the most

‘Red Tails’ tells the story of first black fighter squadron

CONTRIBUTED PHOTOS/BAUGH FAMILY COLLECTION

In this photo from the Baugh family album, retired U.S Army Corps Lt. Col. Howard Baugh Sr. sits in

the cockpit of a P-40 Warhawk.

Howard Baugh Sr., one of the

Army Air Corps’ famed Tuskegee

Airmen who fought during World

War II, is shown as a young sec-

ond lieutenant, left, and as a

major, right, in the Army Air Corps.

He retired from the military as a

lieutenant colonel.

“Dad was just dad. Hedidn’t really talk

about it a whole lot,so I didn’t know hewas a hero — otherthan that he was myhero — until I was in

flight school.”

— Howard Baugh Jr., son of Tuskegee

Airman Howard Baugh Sr.

Please see RED TAILS, Page 3

T2 Sunday, February 5, 2012 The Progress-Index, Petersburg, VA


infamous World War II German fighter air-craft.

Pressure from black media outlets ofthe time and first lady Eleanor Rooseveltled to the pilot training program. WhileTuskegee wasn’t the only location to offerthe program, according to Taylor, withother universities, including HamptonUniversity, participating, it was “themain one.”

Eventually, 992 cadets would earn theirwings through the program and anotherseveral thousand young men would receivethe necessary training to serve as groundcrew for the planes.

The black pilots flew aircraft includingthe P-51 Mustang, P-47 Thunderbolt, P-39Airacobra and P-38 Lightning.

To be more easily identified as friendlyfighters, the tails of the unit’s planes werepainted red.

“They earned the nickname the redtails,” Taylor said. That unique identifiercarries over into the organization dedicat-ed to the history of the history-making avi-ators. Members of the Tuskegee Airmen

Inc. wear red blazers at events.

The younger Baugh said that after he

retired from United Airlines as a pilot in

2001, he started going with his father to var-

ious events where the elder Baugh would

speak.

“He really was all about education and

fighting discrimination,” the younger

Baugh said. That included discrimination

against all minorities, including women

and homosexuals, he noted.

David Baugh, another of the elder

Baugh’s sons, said that his father told him

one time that if he could get up, put his

gear on and make it to the plane without

throwing up, “He’d be OK.”

REDTAILSContinued from Page 2

LUCASFILM/MCT

Above from left: Leslie Odom Jr., Michael B. Jordan, Nate Parker, Kevin Phillips, David

Oyelowo and Elijah Kelley portray some of the heroic Tuskegee Airmen in a scene from

the Lucasfilm action film ‘Red Tails,’ which debuted in theaters Jan. 20.

PATRICK KANE/PROGRESS-INDEX PHOTO

Howard Baugh Jr., front, and David Baugh talk about their father, one of the famed

Tuskegee Airmen, Howard Baugh Sr. Members of Petersburg-based Howard Baugh

Chapter of the Tuskegee Airmen Inc. are excited about the release of ‘Red Tails,’

a movie about the African-American World War II pilots.

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Email: [email protected] Progress-Index, Petersburg, VA Sunday, February 5, 2012 T3


‘I was Martin’s alter ego’

BY MARKUS SCHMIDT

STAFF WRITER

PETERSBURG — The Rev.Wyatt Tee Walker has spent mostof his life in the shadow of CivilRights icon Dr. Martin LutherKing Jr. But Walker’s influence onthe movement can not be underes-timated. Throughout the 1960s,Walker served as King’s chief ofstaff — and used Petersburg as ablueprint for a movement thatwould take the nation by storm.America would never be the sameagain.

“So much of his wisdom hasmade us a better nation and a bet-ter people and a better world,”Walker said last month at a Mar-tin Luther King Day celebration atFirst Baptist Church on HarrisonStreet.

Walker, a Massachusetts native,came to Petersburg in the mid-1950s to accept the ministry atGillfield Baptist Church — the sec-ond oldest black congregation inthe city and one of the oldest inthe country.

Light-skinned, 6-feet tall, with

horn-framed glasses and a thick

mustache, Walker was a man who

was an aggressive debater and

even a bit egocentric, according to

friends. He had a degree in chem-

istry and a divinity degree from

Virginia Union University in

Richmond, where he had first met

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in 1952.

The two aspiring preachers stayed

in touch.“Both of us were the sons of

preachers, and both of us wantedto become preachers,” Walkersaid in a previous interview with

The Progress-Index.From Atlanta, King followed

Walker’s efforts to desegregatepublic schools here. Impressedwith the success and effi-ciency of the local civilrights movement, Kingrecruited its key membersfor his personal staff. Hetook them with him toAtlanta and around theworld so they would applywhat they had accom-plished in Petersburg on amuch bigger level.Walker eventually becameKing’s chief of staff andexecutive director of theSouthern Christian Lead-ership Conference, whichKing had founded. “Thefact that Dr. King selectedme to lead the SCLC isproof that Petersburg played a bigrole in the civil rights movement,”Walker said. “The SCLC used thelocal model of the movement thatwe had in Petersburg and appliedit to the entire South. That was acritical strategy.”King first came to the city in 1956,

when he was invited by Walker tospeak at the 21st Annual Conven-tion of the Virginia State NAACP.At Mt. Olivet Baptist Church, King

addressed an audience so big, thatmany listeners had to assemble inother churches, to which thesound of King’s speech was broad-cast.

Following the meeting, Kingwent over to Walker’s house on 312Dunlop St. in the city’s Fifth Ward.

The Walker residence was a mod-ern home, with prints of Chineseand Indian figures on the walls inthe living room.“We had dinner together,” Walkersaid. “I think we sent out for bar-becue ribs. Joseph Owens, whoowned a dry cleaners in the city,

picked them up. Dr. King lovedspare ribs.”Walker’s wife, Theresa Ann Walk-er, had asked members of the localparish club to join them thatnight. “We were just a group of

Rev. Dr. Wyatt TeeWalker followsRev. Dr. MartinLuther King Jr. toAtlanta in 1960 toserve on King’sexecutive staff

CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

In this photo from the collection of the Rev. Dr. Wyatt Tee Walker

and Theresa Walker, the young Walker, right, meets with the Rev.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Walker served as chief of staff and

executive director of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference

throughout the 1960s.

PATRICK KANE/PROGRESS-INDEX PHOTO

The Rev. Dr. Wyatt Tee Walker speaks about his close associate,

the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. during a MLK Jr. memorial pro-

gram Jan. 16, at First Baptist Church Harrison Street, Petersburg.

In 1960, Walker left the pulpit of Gillfield Baptist Church in

Petersburg to serve as chief of staff and executive director of the

Southern Christian Leadership Conference.

“So much of hiswisdom has made usa better nation and abetter people and a

better world.”

— Rev. Dr. Wyatt Tee Walker, key

player in civil rights movement

Please see WALKER, Page 5



young ladies,” Ann Walker said.“My husband told me that weshould host the dinner for Dr.King and other local members ofthe movement who were there.We took a picture with him thatday, right in our living room.”Ann Walker has to think abouther thoughts about her first meet-ing with King. “Well, he reallywas just an ordinary person,” shesaid. “He had a great sense ofhumor.” Yet she said that she hadalways much respect for him. “Iwas always in awe, because hehad the aura of a minister,” shesaid. “My husband called himMike, but I never did

that. I always called him Dr. King.That’s just the way it was.”In 1960, King returned to Peters-burg to recruit members for hisexecutive staff. The local civilrights movement was in fullmotion — the Rev. Milton Reid,Walker and the Rev. R.G. Williamshad started their efforts to deseg-regate the city’s public library.But Walker wouldn’t even get tosee the fruits of his success forhimself — King announced inJuly at Gillfield Baptist Churchthat the pastor would follow himto Atlanta.

Walker didn’t have to thinkmuch about going with King. “Dr.King had asked me if I was inter-ested in joining his staff,” Walkersaid. “I told him, ‘Whatever you

want me to do, I’lldo.’” But Walkerpresented Kingwith some con-ditions,demanding totake two otherlocal activists— DorothyCotton andJim Wood —

with them to Atlanta. King

agreed.

On May 29, 1960, Walker officially

resigned as pastor of Gillfield

Baptist Church. Leaving Peters-

burg was surprisingly easy for

Walker. “I was excited, there were

no sad feelings at all,” he said.

“Dr. King was very impressed

with how I ran the Petersburg

Improvement Organization that I

had founded. He wanted me to

take the same idea on a national

level. Petersburg was the center

of the civil rights movement in

Virginia. We had about 200 active

members, many were students

from Virginia State College and

Peabody High School. I left at the

height of the movement in Peters-

burg.”

The Walker family departed

Petersburg on Tuesday, Aug. 3,

1960. “I think we left around mid-

night,” Walker said. “We had

engaged a moving van, and my

wife and children — one girl,

three boys — drove to Atlanta in

our station wagon.”

Walker quickly settled in as the

permanent executive director of

SCLC. King soon found that he

couldn’t work without the pastor

from Petersburg.

Walker called King “the leader,”

but drove his own subordinates as

hard as he drove himself. He

launched the SCLC’s fundraisingcampaign and set up SCLC out-posts in numerous northern cities.

WALKERContinued from Page 4


Left: A letter to the

Rev. Dr. Wyatt Tee

Walker from Mrs.

Coretta Scott King,

dated Aug. 27, 1968,

is on display at the

Chester home of the

Rev. Dr. Wyatt Tee

and Theresa Ann

Walker.

Right: The Rev. Dr.

Wyatt Tee Walker

and his wife

Theresa Ann Walker

have many historic

photos from the

civil rights move-

ment at their

Chester home.

PATRICK KANE/PROGRESS-INDEX PHOTOS

CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

In this 1960 photo, the Rev. Dr. Wyatt Tee Walker, right, is arrested by

Petersburg Police Chief W.E. Traylor during the second Petersburg

Public Library sit-in on March 7, 1960 in Petersburg. Virginia State

College student Lillian Pride watches from the back.

The Progress-Index, Petersburg, VA Sunday, February 5, 2012 T5


By 1963, the SCLC’s annualbudget had risen “fromzero” to $900,000. “I wasMartin’s alter ego,” Walkersaid.

In the meantime, Walk-er’s wife Ann stayed athome with their four chil-dren. King was a regularguest at the Walker resi-dence in an Atlanta suburb.“He would visit us often andtake our kids to the YMCAto go swimming with hisown kids,” she said.

King returned to Peters-burg several times after hehad recruited Walker, forthe last time on June 2, 1967when he spoke at Jones Hallat Virginia State College.In early 1968, King and hisstaff began preparing a 131-mile march from Peters-burg to Washington, as partof the Poor People’s Cam-paign. It was another effort

to create awareness — Kinghad accused Congress ofshowing “hostility to thepoor” by spending militaryfunds “with alacrity andgenerosity” and called onthe governmentto rebuildAmerica’s cit-ies.

On April 3,he delivered hisfamous “I’veBeen to theMountaintop”address atMason Templein Memphis.The speechturned out to betragically pro-phetic.

“And then Igot to Mem-phis. And somebegan to say the threats, ortalk about the threats thatwere out,” he said. “Whatwould happen to me fromsome of our sick whitebrothers? Well, I don’t knowwhat will happen now.

We’ve got some difficultdays ahead. But it doesn’tmatter with me now.Because I’ve been to themountaintop.”

The next day, on April 4,

1968 — the same day Kingwas supposed to be inPetersburg to start themarch to Washington — hewas killed on the balcony of



PATRICK KANE/PROGRESS-INDEX PHOTO/FILE

In this February 2010 photo, the Rev. Dr. Wyatt Tee Walker and wife Theresa AnnWalker, look through a handful of historic photos in their Chester home.

“He [King] would visitus often and take ourkids to the YMCA to

go swimming with hisown kids.”

— Theresa Ann Walker, wife of the

Rev. Dr. Wyatt Tee Walker


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his hotel. It was a tragictwist in King’s connectionswith the Cockade City.

Walker was charged withthe task to organize King’sfuneral. The preparationskept most of King’s closeassociates too busy to thinkabout what just had hap-pened.

But in the years anddecades to come, Walkerfound time toreflect on histime with thecivil rights lead-er. “He is theonly spiritualgenius thatwestern religionhas produced,”Walker said.“Dr. King con-vinced us to letthe differencesthat separatedus recede suffi-

ciently that we could do onething, at one place, in thename of the Lord. That wasthe assembly of our govern-ment march on the right tovote.”

More than four decadesafter King’s death, Walkerhas nothing but appreciationfor the lessons he haslearned from his time withthe King. “I just thank theLord that my life intersect-ed with his,” he said. “Iknow I am a better personfor having met him and hav-ing worked with him.”


“I just thank the Lordthat my life

intersected with his. Iknow I am a better

person ...”

— Rev. Dr. Wyatt Tee Walker

CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

In this 1960 photo, the Rev. Dr. Wyatt Tee Walker walks through a welcoming crowd of supporters after being releasedfrom the city jail in Petersburg. “This has been a searching experience for us,” Walker told the crowd. “We knew it wouldbe rough, but it was a lot worse than we expected.”

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BY PATRICK KANE

STAFF WRITER

ATLANTA — The web woven betweenthe pulpits of Petersburg, the strugglesacross Virginia and the nascent South-ern Christian Leadership Conferenceare just a little clearer thanks to a majorrelease of documents.

The digitized documents, announcedon Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day andreleased by the King Center, are search-able by keywords and grouped by spot-lights. The spotlights include lettersfrom children, photos of King and sig-nificant speeches.

The Progress-Index conducted exten-sive research into King’s visits to Peters-burg and the Tri-Cities area, publishinga series in 2009. King made at least seven

visits to the area, plucking several folksfrom the pulpits and civil rights move-ment in Petersburg to carry out the mis-sion of the early SCLC.

He was to hold a Poor People’s Marchfrom Petersburg to Washington, D.C. onApril 4, 1968. Instead, King stayed inMemphis to support striking sanitaryworkers and was shot and killed at hishotel.

A brochure for the July 2, 1962, NobelPeace Prize Day program at VirginiaState College, now university, reads likea who’s who of local civil rights activistsand is a prime example of the types ofdocuments now easily accessible to thepublic.

Herbert Coulton, field secretary ofSCLC led freedom songs. Hermanze E.Fauntleroy of the Petersburg Improve-ment Association offered a greeting.Fauntleroy, who died in 2010, was chosenby Petersburg City Council in 1973 asthe city’s first black mayor.

Rev. Milton A. Reid of First BaptistChurch gave the proclamation of NobelPeace Prize Day. The Rev. Wyatt T. Walk-er gave an offertory appeal, followed by

King Center shows Petersburg connectionsDigitized documentsrelated to work and lifeof the Rev. Dr. MartinLuther King Jr. arereleased on MLK Jr. Day

CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

in this photo from the collection of the Rev. Dr. Wyatt Tee Walker and Theresa

Walker, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. preaches in Petersburg.

REBECCA WARD/PROGRESS-INDEX PHOTO/FILE

Herbert Coulton has numerous photos of he and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on the

walls of his Petersburg home. He holds a book chronicling the civil rights era,

opened to a page with a photograph of the two. In 2010, Coulton decided to tell

his own story. His self-published book titled, “In the Shadows of Giants,” is his

account of his time in the civil rights movement and beyond.

Please see KING, Page 10



the Rev. Andrew White’sintroduction of Dr. King.The Rev. Curtis W. Harris,then state SCLC presi-dent, presided over theevent.

Rev. Wyatt T. WalkerSearches for individual

figures with local connec-tions turns up varyingamounts of documents.Some folks turn up noresults, but Walker istagged in 32 items, rang-ing from telegrams topamphlets and news clip-pings.

Some are exciting, suchas a June 1963 telegram toPresident John F. Kenne-dy reading “I am pleasedto accept your invitation,I will attend the meetingin the East Room of theWhite House on MondayJune 17th Four PM.”

Others show the day-to-day tasks Walker carriedout as one of King’s clos-est associates, such as aMarch 17, 1962 telegramto the Sheraton AtlanticHotel reserving tworooms. Walker left Gill-field Baptist Church toserve as chief of staff andexecutive director of theSCLC.

“I was Martin’s alterego,” Walker told TheProgress-Index during a2009 interview.

Rev. Milton ReidReid, who served as

president of the VirginiaSCLC and pastor of FirstBaptist Church, is taggedin four documents. Theyinclude a letter resigningfrom that position.

“You can look forwardto my continuous supportin the work of the SCLC,”he wrote on Oct. 4,1962,pledging $100 annuallyfrom First Baptist Churchof Petersburg. Anotherletter notifies him that

there is limited seating

available for the Nobel

Peace Prize ceremony in

Oslo, Norway.

Dorothy Cotton

Cotton turns up in 10

search results, including

a photo of an early SCLC

meeting in an Atlanta res-

taurant. She left Peters-

burg to join the SCLC

staff, and as the group’s

education director for

several years, she was one

of the prominent women

at the table.

Learn more

The King Center was

established in 1968 by

widow Coretta Scott King.

Located in Atlanta, it is

the largest collection of

primary documents relat-

ed to his life and works.

Nearly one million docu-

ments are digitized and

available online for pri-

vate research at http://

www.thekingcenter.org/ .

KINGContinued from Page 9

Right: Herbert

Coulton speaks

at the Pentagon

on Wednesday,

Jan. 12, 2011.

Coulton, a native

of Petersburg,

was honored in

Washington, D.C.,

for his

civil rights works

with the late Dr.

Martin Luther

King Jr.

Coulton was

recruited by King

in the early

1960s to serve

as the field sec-

retary for the

Southern

Christian

Leadership

Conference for

the states of

Virginia, North

Carolina and

Tennessee.

CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

In this photo from the 1960s, Herbert Coulton of Petersburg is seen with Dr. Martin

Luther King Jr. Coulton began working with the late civil rights leader in 1962.

F.M. WIGGINS/PROGRESS-INDEX PHOTO/FILE

2101 Puddledock Road • Petersburg, VA

804-861-1361

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“Rearranging the earth for you”



Petersburg’s first African-American TV anchorBY BETHANY ROTENBERRY

STAFF WRITER

PETERSBURG – In 1970, Juanita

Evans-Fells carved a place for her-

self in history when she was hired

by WXEX TV 8 as Petersburg’s first

African-American news anchor.

Evans-Fells had majored in com-

munications at Norfolk State Uni-

versity, but until that point she had

no experience in the broadcast field.

At the time, she was working as a

teacher at Peabody Middle School,

but her interest in television jour-

nalism was strong enough to make

her consider a second job.

“This was a seemingly limited

area for African Americans, and I

wanted to do something different,”

Evans-Fells said. “I’ve always been

interested in broadcast, so I went

down to the station to apply.”

At first, Evans-Fells says that the

television station employees put

her off and told her she would get a

call when the hiring boss came to

town.

“They didn’t call me back for days,

so I called them and they went

ahead and scheduled me for an

interview,” she said. “I read a script

for them, and the hiring boss said

that I was good and that they

should give me a chance.”

Evans-Fells began reading the

news on television each morning

before she went to work as a teach-

er. Although she began her televi-

sion career only two years after the

death of Martin Luther King Jr.,

she says that she didn’t receive any

resistance or tension from the pub-

lic once the job was hers.

“I had a fairly wide audience in

my hometown of Lawrenceville

and with the friends I had made

here in Petersburg,” Evans-Fells

said. “All my friends and students

watched me every morning. One of

the science professors at the school

I taught at made his kids get up to

watch me, too, so they could hear

the barometer reading for the day.”

She continued to read the news

for Channel 8 through 1970, but

after about a year at the station shedecided to leave the news anchorposition.

“I had a 13-month-old baby, and Ihad to take her to the babysitter, go

to the station, pick her up and take

her to a different babysitter, and

then go to school. It was too much,”

Evans-Fells said. “I also got very

sick for about a month and was

unable to go to work at all, and

that’s when I decided that I needed

to quit something.”

She says that although her time

on television was brief, it had a

large impact on her career and her

as an individual. “It gave me confi-

dence. I am a very shy person, and

before I didn’t even like to really

look people in the eye for very long,”

she said. “When I was teaching, I

think my students at Peabody even

had mercy on me because they

could tell I was so shy. But with this

job I had to get used to being seen,

to focus on the screen and the light

on the camera.”

Without this newfound confi-

dence, Evans-Fells says that she

would not have been able to move

forward and teach a wider, older

audience of all races and sexes at

Virginia State University.

Evans-Fells also says that she

was very aware at the time of the

significance of her job and the bar-

riers she was breaking through.

“I did think it was significant,”

she said. “I am told ... that I am the

first African-American anchor in

Virginia, but I am most certainly

the first in Petersburg.”

In 2008, Dele-

gate Rosalyn R.

Dance, D-Peters-

burg, put forth a

resolution for

Evans-Fells to be

officially record-

ed as Peters-

burg’s first black

news anchor.

Evans-Fells

still resides inPetersburg withher husband,

Donald Fells. She also has a daugh-ter, Jewel Hairston, who is a dean atVirginia State University.

PROGRESS-INDEX PHOTO/FILE

Juanita B. Evans-Fells of Petersburg became the area’s first female African-American news anchor when she joined WXEX TV8 in 1970.She says she didn’t receive any tension or resistance from the public once the job was hers, but she was very much aware at the time ofthe significance of her job and the barriers she was breaking through.

“It gave me confidence. I ama very shy person ... I didn’teven like to look people in

the eye for very long.”

— Juanita B. Evans-Fells, first female African-

American news anchor in Richmond


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black history 2012

Documents

elder baughwas

combat flight hourswith

wasin flight school

howardbaugh jr

younger baughsaid

combat airmissionsand

younger baughdidnt

hewas commis