Black History Month 2019

E. J. Alexander

Edward Jones Alexander was born a slave in North Carolina in 1854. He came to Emporia after the Civil War ended and started a hay market that was located on the east side of town. After some time, he moved to a 40-acre farm four and a half miles northeast of Emporia and for about 30 years he grew and sold fresh produce. He would load up his produce on a spring wagon and his customers and their children would listen for his call when he came into town. The children loved him because he would give them a piece of fruit or vegetable to eat or occasionally a nickel for candy or ice cream.

Children from the surrounding farms would ask permission to hunt rabbits on his property. It was said that he was never too busy to stop what he was doing to play with the children. He never married. After he fell ill, his neighbors took him to Newman Hospital.

On April 6, 1923, he invited a judge to come to his hospital room to make up his will. He passed away on May 13, 1923. In his will, he stated that proceeds from the sale of his farm should go to his estate and that estate was to be used for the benefit of “orphans and other needy children.” The estate was named Camp Alexander and is a place that serves children and families of the community to this day. E. J. Alexander is also buried on the site of the camp.

Thomas "Tom" Bonner

Thomas Edison Bonner was born on September 29, 1921, in St. Louis, Missouri. He graduated from Lincoln University with a bachelor’s degree in mathematics in 1943. He earned his master’s in mathematics from the University of Illinois in 1949 and was also a member of Pi Mu Epsilon, the national honorary mathematics society. He also earned his master’s in education from the University of Illinois in 1953 and a doctorate in higher education with a specialization in mathematics from Oklahoma State University. Thomas married Mary Winstead on August 11, 1945.

Thomas joined the faculty at Emporia State University, then known as Kansas State Teachers College, in 1960. He was the first African American faculty member hired by the university and taught in the mathematics department. He served as an advisor to the honorary mathematics society of Kappa Mu Epsilon and helped in the process of bringing the Omega Psi Phi fraternity, which was a predominately black fraternity, to campus in 1971.

He won the Dr. Christian Award in 1952 for his script “A Slight Case of Politics” for use on the Dr. Christian Program. Together, the Bonners received more than 25 awards including being named among the Outstanding People of the Twentieth Century. Thomas also received the Emporia State University President’s Award for Leadership in Diversity in 2000.

The Bonner and Bonner Diversity Lecture Series was founded in 1992 to honor Thomas and Mary. This lecture is given every year on Emporia State University’s campus. Thomas Bonner passed away on April 30, 2004.

Mary Winstead Bonner

Mary Winstead was born on April 20, 1924, in North Carolina. She earned a bachelor’s degree in education from St. Paul’s Polytechnic Institute in 1946. She went on to earn a master’s in elementary education from Virginia State College in 1952. She then received a doctorate in elementary education with a specialization in reading and minors in social studies and English from Oklahoma State University in 1968 with postdoctoral studies at the University of Kansas in special education and the University of California in administration of multicultural pluralistic assessments. She also received an honorary doctorate of humane letters from St. Paul’s College in 1979. Mary and Thomas Bonner were married on August 11, 1945.

The Bonners came to Emporia in 1960, and in 1964 Mary became the first African American woman on the faculty of Emporia State University, then known as Kansas State Teachers College. In 1969, Mary helped bring the Sigma Gamma Rho sorority to campus. It was the first minority sorority on campus but it was open to anyone. Women who were in the sorority under Mary were known as “Dr. Bonner’s Girls.” In 1970, the sorority purchased a house at 1307 Merchant Street.

Mary visited more than 20 countries. The Bonners received more than 25 awards which included: Outstanding People of the Twentieth Century, World’s Who’s Who of Women, Who’s Who of American Women, and many awards from ESU such as a certificate for service on the Faculty Senate and the President’s Award for Leadership in Diversity. Mary also won the Ruth Schillinger Faculty Award for Outstanding Service to the Women of Emporia State.

The Bonner and Bonner Diversity Lecture Series was founded in 1992 to honor Thomas and Mary. This lecture is given every year on Emporia State University’s campus. Mary Bonner passed away on July 15, 2018.

Mark and Nellie Essex

Nellie Evans was born in Emporia on April 5, 1920. Nellie attended Emporia State University, then known as Kansas State Teachers College, and earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in early childhood education. She also earned a specialist in education degree. She started as a teacher’s aide in 1965 for the Head Start program in the Emporia Public Schools. In 1970, she returned to Emporia State University for further education. When Nellie retired in 1990, she was the director of the program. After she retired, she worked as a crossing guard. She served as a contributing writer for the book Black Emporia: The African-American Experience through the Lives of Emporians.

Her husband, Mark Essex, was born on June 28, 1919, in Emporia, but grew up in Dunlap, Kansas. Mark served in World War II and became a sergeant after three weeks. He mainly served in England. His job in the war was to do all of the typing for his battalion. After the war, Mark worked at the Fanestil Meat Packing Company as a meat curer. He worked at the meat packing company for over 40 years.

Mark and Nellie had five children together. Mark passed away on June 17, 1988, and Nellie passed away on January 7, 2008.

Mary Louise Flowers

Mary Louise was born in Mansfield, Ohio. Mary Louise and her husband, Lorin, were introduced through her aunt and came to know each other through letters. The first time they met in person was right before their wedding. After a small ceremony in her home on March 30, 1936, the newlywed couple came back to Emporia to Lorin’s nine-year-old daughter, Maxine. They managed the country club for three years until Lorin fell ill, after which Mary Louise quit the job for both of them.

Mary Louise then worked for the Sigma Sigma Sigma sorority at Emporia State University, but left the position to work in the lunch program at the Butcher School. She did all of her cooking from scratch, and the students and teachers especially loved her cinnamon rolls. Food for the school was provided from government commodities. The school also had a surplus of orange juice and Mary Louise convinced the principal to give orange juice snacks. Every week she took a pan of four-ounce cups of orange juice to all of the kids and talked to them about nutrition. She told the class, “And we know we get Vitamin D from the sun, so we’re gonna have liquid sunshine.” A boy in kindergarten went home and told his mother, “Mama, today Mrs. Flowers served us liquid moonshine.” This story gained attention and was in the national news. Mary Louise passed away on March 14, 2011.

Paul Terry

Paul Terry was born on October 15, 1916. In 1932 when he started the tenth grade at Emporia High School, Alfred D. Smith, a close friend of Paul’s and the basketball coach, suggested that Paul should try out for the basketball team. Word got around town that Paul had joined the team, and some members of the community became upset. He wasn’t trying to break any barriers, he just wanted to play the game. Alfred received calls from the superintendent of the Eastern Kansas Athletic Conference and the town’s school board asking what he was doing. Alfred did not change his mind. Paul was a member of the team and that was that. There were instances that made Paul’s father Charles want to take Paul off the team, such as telegrams for an upcoming away that said, “Leave the Negro at home...or don’t come.” When the team went out to eat, Paul either ate in the kitchen or stayed in the car to eat a sandwich. Despite it all, Paul wanted to finish the season. Alfred’s son Dean Smith stated in his biography, A Coach’s Life, that “Paul single-handedly integrated high school sports in Kansas.”

Paul graduated from high school in May of 1934 and started college at Kansas State Teachers College that fall. He majored in social sciences with a minor in geography. He had issues student teaching because African American students were not allowed to teach any of the subjects to students, so he had to observe at Roosevelt High School instead. It was in college that he met his wife Odessa Lucille Bowser. She also received a degree in education. Paul and Odessa were married on July 10, 1943.

Paul served in the European Theatre during World War II. He was first assigned to chemical warfare and then transferred to engineering. He was discharged after two and a half years. After the war, Paul managed Baird Cleaners for 20 years but worked there a total of 50 years. Paul and Odessa had eight children. Paul became an inaugural member of Emporia High School’s Hall of Fame in 1996. He passed away on March 25, 2005.

Elizabeth Holt Williams

Elizabeth Holt was born in Emporia, Kansas, on November 13, 1924. When she was in high school, she needed one-half credit to graduate in May and so she talked to her vocational stenography teacher. She took jobs running the elevator at the Broadview Hotel on Friday afternoons and grading shorthand test papers on the weekends. Even though she passed the civil service test for clerk typist and clerk stenographer, she could not get a job in those areas. Since she could not afford to attend college, she worked various jobs such as running the elevator at Citizen’s Bank, doing housework at various homes in town, and being an assistant at the Broadview Beauty Shop.

She married Rex Williams in 1949 and they had six children. For a living, Elizabeth cleaned office buildings, including The Emporia Gazette, worked as a lunchroom server at William Allen White School, and ran a catering business with Rex. They catered many parties for William Lindsay White and served a variety of famous guests, from governors to Hollywood stars. Elizabeth once gave actress Joan Fontaine her recipe for barbecued brisket in exchange for an autograph. Elizabeth and Rex also helped to cater his daughter Barbara White Walker’s wedding. The White family and the Williams family were very close. When the 1977 film Mary White was being produced in and around Emporia, two of the Williams children were in one scene.

Elizabeth served as a Cub Scout Leader, Girl Scout Leader, served on the Flint Hills Girl Scout Council Board of Directors and was active in the Emporia Parent-Teacher Association Council. She also served as a contributing writer for the book Black Emporia: The African-American Experience Through the Lives of Emporians. Elizabeth passed away on March 20, 2013.

Rex Williams

Rex Aaron Williams was born on December 14, 1917, in Emporia, Kansas. Rex learned at a young age to rely on himself and get a job wherever he could. He quit high school to work on highway construction near Elmdale and during the winter months he would clean houses. Rex worked for Pennington Auto Supply for 30 years and also worked with William Lindsay White’s family. He served in the United States Air Force during World War II. He was based in New York and was in the service for three years. After being discharged, he did not want to stay in New York and moved back home to Emporia. After Rex married Elizabeth Holt in 1949, the two started a catering business together. They catered many parties for William Lindsay White and his family. For one party that was held at the White house, they assisted another caterer, and they wound up having to take over and save the day.

Rex served as a precinct committeeman, a Cub Scout leader, and a neighborhood chairman for the Cub Scouts. He was recognized in The Emporia Gazette “Community Spotlight” in 1976. Rex and Elizabeth had six children. Rex passed away on August 17, 2000.