A00352 - A Special Thank You to Junius Williams, Amherst College Class of 1965, re James Alphonso Curtis, Amherst College Class of 1933

 As is my custom, I would like to send a special thank you to Junius Williams, Amherst College Class of 1965.  Newly minted with an honorary degree from Amherst and just returned from a marvelous trip to Ghana, Junius took the time to write the following regarding James Curtis, Amherst College Class of 1933.  Writing about his fellow resident of Newark, Junius wrote:

"I had no idea James Curtis Esq. went to Amherst.  I knew him as a lawyer for one of the groups we selected through the Newark Housing Council (NHC), a non-profit community corporation formed to build housing on land we won in the Medical School (urban renewal) fight in Newark. I was the executive Director of NHC, and he represented a community group called TO-SAULT who got land to build housing still occupied today.  Don't ask me what the name meant, but the key operative was Rev. Horace Sharper of the Abyssinian Baptist Church in Newark. 

"James Curtis was at one time a NJ State Assemblyman and an Essex County Freeholder (now called County Commissioner), both before the era of Black Power in Newark. He was supported by the Essex County Democratic party to get the "line" to win both seats, and as such was the go-to lawyer for the older generation of Black folks engaged in politics, like Rev. Sharper.

"Clearly, we had more to talk about than I realized back in 1968-69. My loss. Junius'65"

*****

For me, what has been most instructive in providing my Amherst College Memorial List biographies is the realization that even those alumni we know little about often have life stories of their own which in themselves are quite remarkable. 

Terras Irradient indeed.

Peace,

Everett "Skip" Jenkins

Class of 1975