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Memphis Garrison remembered for accomplishments
HUNTINGTON -- She sent textbooks to Africa, shed light on the desegregation movement and worked with children others considered a lost cause. The list of accomplishments by Memphis Tennessee Garrison is so long it's hard to imagine that anyone could forget her.
But many people still don't know who she was, according to Lynda Ann Ewen, a retired Marshall University professor who co-edited "Memphis Tennessee Garrison: The Remarkable Story of a Black Appalachian Woman."
Garrison passed away in 1988, but not before she made her mark on Huntington, on West Virginia and on the country.
Ewen said Garrison is probably the most important woman in West Virginia history.
"She represented West Virginia in the very early part of the civil rights movement in this country. She held national offices in the NAACP. She was sent to organize chapters across the country," she said.
Garrison's research with children with developmental problems went on to be used by Columbia University. She was also the first female president of the West Virginia State Teachers Association and became vice president of the American Teachers Association.
"She had many opportunities to leave the region, but never would. She claimed she was a West Virginian heart and soul," Ewen said.
During the Depression and long before breakfast programs, Ewen said Garrison brought meals to schools for the kids.
"Any one single thing she did, we probably have other people who did those kinds of things. What's remarkable is the long series of things she did and the number of firsts she was involved in," Ewen said.
Newatha Myers, president of the Carter G. Woodson Foundation, said Garrison was one of her mentors.
"She was a great lady," she said.
Myers recalled Garrison teaching her how to do the NAACP's Christmas Seal drive, right down to mailing the actual envelopes.
Rather than start a family of her own, Myers said Garrison chose to dedicate herself to the civil rights movement.
"That was her life, fighting for freedom and justice," Myers said.
The Woodson Foundation owns the Huntington properties formerly owned by Garrison, and is currently working to clean up her former home at 1701 10th Ave. Myers hopes the home will become a museum for Garrison artifacts so the young "will remember their past and get involved in the future."
Phil Carter, a social work professor at MU, said Garrison should be among the first recognized on "walls of fame" or monuments in Cabell County.
"She is and was an icon among the leaders of the NAACP, nationally, internationally and locally," he said.
He said Garrison was a known and trusted leader who formed partnerships with many interest groups. She took her skills from McDowell County, where she grew up, to Huntington, where she lived for more than 30 years.
He said Garrison also advised students in the local Student Nonviolence Coordination Committee, which led the desegregation movement in the 1960s in Huntington.
"She was an inspirational person," he said.
Presentation to honor Garrison to be performed at Tamarack
The Herald-Dispatch
BECKLEY -- A special presentation of "They Call Me Miss Memphis," a one-person show featuring actress Ilene Evans, will take place at the Tamarack from 2 to 3 p.m. on Sunday, Feb. 24.
Evans will reveal to audiences Memphis Tennessee Garrison the human rights activist, civil rights leader, social worker and teacher through songs and stories.
The performance will take place in the Gov. Hulett C. Smith Theater.
As well as being an accomplished performer, storyteller and singer, Evans is an educator and does much of the work from her not-for-profit organization Voices from the Earth, based in Thomas, W.Va.
There is no admission fee, but tickets are required. Tickets will be available after 10 a.m. on the morning of the performance at the information desk.
