Entrepreneur turns dream into reality
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Serving, empowering and advocating for equity in St. Louis since 1928
CAC Audited JULY 22 – 28, 2021
Vol. 93 No. 17
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Dr. Givens pioneered vitality for Harris-Stowe
Visionary education and civic icon passes at 90 By Gloria Ross St. Louis Public Radio Henry Givens Jr., the university president whose name became synonymous with HarrisStowe, the college he rescued, transformed, nurtured and led for more than three decades, has died. He was 90. In a 1993 profile, Givens said it was “a pleasure to work in my own town, among the friends that I grew up with.” He grew up in St. Louis’ storied Ville neighborhood, 10 minutes from the small teaching college that he would lead for 32 years. When he arrived in 1979, many thought the school was on the brink of extinction. Givens had other ideas. During his tenure, Harris-Stowe’s student enrollment tripled, one building morphed into seven, and the single elementary education degree it offered grew to 14 baccalaureate programs. Givens, who once said he never dreamed he could be a university president, died Tuesday, July 20, 2021 at his home in St. Louis of unknown causes. He was always keenly aware of why and for whom he worked. “If this place closed down, 98 percent of our students wouldn’t be able to go to college,” he said in his profile in “Lift Every Voice and Sing: St. Louis African Americans in the Twentieth Century.” Givens wasn’t about to let that happen on his watch. Services are pending.
Four named Excellence in Healthcare awardees Damon Clines, MD is a community based Gastroenterologist and Hepatologist, practicing in St. Louis, Cape Girardeau and Southern Illinois. He serves as an assistant clinical professor in the division of internal medicine at the St. Louis University Health and Science Center. His clinical interests include viral Hepatitis and Colorectal cancer. He also serves the community through his ambulatory surgery center, Damon the Gateway Digestive & Clines, MD Liver Center, which is the only such organization in the state to be 100% minority owned. He volunteers at local health fairs and community events and informs the community about the benefits of getting a colonoscopy and the early detection of health risks that colonoscopies can provide. He also educates the community about hepatitis and the risk of getting tattoos at community events and through public service work. Blottie Ussery, RN is a registered nurse at Ranken Jordan Pediatric Bridge Hospital. When she first visited a hospital as a child, she knew then that she wanted to be a nurse and to work with children. She graduated from Florissant Valley Community College
Photo by Wiley Price / St. Louis American
Dr. Henry Givens Jr., the iconic Harris-Stowe State University president whose name became synonymous with Harris-Stowe, passed away July 20 in St. Louis. fifth and sixth grade and physical education at the old Douglass School in Webster Groves. He was the school’s only male teacher. “I loved it,” he said, but he was about to become a full-time administrator. To integrate Douglass, administrators wanted a program “unlike anything in the nation” to attract white students.
Givens designed such a program. He had walls torn down and floors carpeted. He introduced team teaching and multiage grouping of students. Then he sold the new concept to the community. White teachers and students flocked to the See GIVENS, A7
Mercy Clinic brings Ferguson a healthier outlook on life
Dr. Nana Atsina (center) and Donn Sorensen, Mercy executive vice president, shared ribbon cuttung duties during a ceremony on Tuesday at the Mercy Clinic Primary Care and Women’s Health facility in Ferguson as community members and employees look on.
By JoAnn Weaver The St. Louis American A new era in north St. Louis County health care began on Tuesday with a blessing and ribbon cutting at the Mercy Clinic Primary Care and Women’s Health facility in Ferguson. The first day of patient care will be Monday. The new 5,500-square-foot space at 9180 West Florissant Ave. will serve families of Ferguson and surrounding communities with adult, pediatric and women’s health services. “This has been an opportunity for collaboration and partnership that will benefit Ferguson residents for decades and generations to come,” Ferguson Mayor Ella Jones said. The health and well-being of a community starts with the health of its people, according to the 2021 National Health Disparity report, See MERCY, A7
2021 Salute to Healthcare
In a year that has challenged the region’s health care industry unlike any other in a century, four health care professionals have been honored with St. Louis American Foundation Excellence in Healthcare awards. They will receive their awards during a virtual event on July 29.
Beyond integration Givens grew up at 4349 N. Market St. in the Ville, once the city’s Black cultural center. Acclaimed Black historian Julia Davis, for whom a library is named, lived on his street. She taught Givens at Simmons Elementary School, which he described as “the best elementary school in the city of St. Louis.” He felt similarly about Sumner High School, from which he graduated in 1950. In 1954, as Givens graduated from Lincoln University in Jefferson City, the Supreme Court struck down school segregation — and Stowe Teachers College for Black students was folded into white Harris Teachers College. The Stowe name disappeared and did not reclaim its rightful place alongside Harris until 1976. Former U.S. Rep. William Clay Sr. had known Givens since they were in high school — even though the two did not attend the same school. “He was energetic and industrious and was part of this community,” Clay said. “… He was very supportive in organizing ward organization and was the most dominant political factor in force in St. Louis for 50 years.” Clay said Givens was involved in a variety of community activities throughout his life. “He was a fantastic individual in the community,” he said. Right out of Lincoln, Givens began teaching
COMPLIMENTARY
Photo by Wiley Price / St. Louis American
See MAMAH, A7
St. Louis County’s Black millennials earn less, study shows By Karen Robinson-Jacobs The St. Louis American Black millennials in St. Louis County with a bachelor’s degree on average earned about $23,000 less than their non-Black local counterparts in 2019, according to a new study. Experts predict the ongoing pandemic will further widen that gap. On average, Black millennials in St. Louis County with a bachelor’s degree earned $44,155 annually two years ago, according to Lending Tree subsidiary Student Loan Hero, which analyzed data from the U.S. Census American Community Survey. By comparison, the average income for non-Black millennials in the county with a bachelor’s degree was $66,769 per year. That income disparity contributes to a persistent “wealth gap” between Blacks and other ethnic groups. And some experts fear the pandemic’s blow to the economy, especially in sectors that employ large numbers of Blacks, will make matters worse. See MILLENNIALS, A6