Newspaper Page Text
Page 4
Clark Trustee Board Head A Surprising Man
By Deborah C. Lipscomb
As I walked through the
huge, white building of the
Atlanta Life Insurance
Company, I really didn’t
know what to expect. I
thought interviewing the
chairman of the Clark
College trustee board would
be like interviewing the
President of the United
States. I had never talked to
such an important decision
maker of the Clark College
family.
The receptionist at the
front desk called Mr.
Edward L. Simon and an
nounced my arrival. I
thought I was going to have
to wait for the senior vice
president of the insurance
company. No sooner than
she had announced my
arrival, 1 was on my way to
his office.
As I knocked on the
door, I imagined a tall,
solemn man hovering in the
door way with an unfriendly
smile. To my surprise, a
man average in height, and
dressed in a plaid suit,
opened the antique wooden
door with a smile.
“Come in,” he said with
a deep voice.
Simon’s warm smile let
me know my fears of the
stiff-necked administratoi
was unfounded. Even
though Simon appeared
slightly uneasy, it did not
take him long to relax and
relate his life story.
The graying executive
consultant of Atlanta Life
told of his education at
Atlanta Universitv as a high
V.
' . ■
Edward L. Simon
school and undergraduate
institution. Simon men
tioned he went to school for
chemistry. He received a
scholarship in chemistry
from Atlanta University but
couldn’t afford to go. He
eventually graduated from
Clark in 1933.
Before Simon’s career
with Atlanta Life, he worked
as a red cap in New York
and teacher in Griffin, Ga.
Simon said he got in the
insurance business by ac
cident. “I was going back to
New York to get a job as a
red cap,” he reminisced.
“On my way, I saw a friend
who suggested that I eo to
Atlanta Lite." Simon said.
Simon liked the in
surance business so well
that he made it his
profession for 23 years. He
started out in 1934 as a
special salesman and
retired February 7th as a
general officer.
Along with a career at
Atlanta Life, Sirnon has
served on several boards
and committees. He was the
first Black to become a
fellow of the Herndon
Foundation and isst i! on the
board of directors.
Laughing and joking
throughout the interview,
Simon displayed a warm,
sensitive personality un
tarnished by the stigmas
society has placed on the
elderly. Simon boasted he
has only been sick one time,
when he was 65. He said he
used to lift weights bu(
stopped because of ad
vancing age.
“Now I get exercise
from working in my yard,”
he chuckled. When I was in
college I was all- American
in football.”
Simon’s prowess on the
football field enabled him to
withstand his pledging
period with the Alpha Phi
Alpha fraternity. He is also
a member of the graduate
fraternity Sigma Pi Phi. As
a life member of the Alpha
Phi Alpha fraternity, Simon
feels Check organizations
are responsible for many
scholarships and con
tributions to the black
culture.
“The organization
doesn’t make the person, the
person makes the
organization,” he said.
Simon is also involved
with the Peachtree Kiwanis,
a service organization.
Even though he is still in
volved with these
organizations,he said hehas.
not adjusted to his
retirement. He likes to
travel with his wife Jewel.
Simon said he doesn’t
really have a particular
hobby but enjoys doing
several things. He
developed an interest in art
after Mrs. Simon began her
studies after their
marriage.
Mrs. Simon is a
renowned artist and
sculpturess whose work has
reached many people across
the world. She received a
Bachelor of Arts degree,
summa cum laude, from
Atlanta University. She
was the first black to
receive a Bachelor of Fine
Arts degree from the
Atlanta School of Art. While
she was at Atlanta
University, she studied
under Hale Woodruff and
Alice Dunbar.
Continued on Page 8
Atlanta Gets Neighborhood Center
Atlanta is one of three
cities in which a neigh
borhood justice center will
begin operation in March.
The other two cities are Los
Angeles and Kansas City,
Mo.
Funded by $210,000
allocated by the United
States Justice Department
through the Office for the
Improvement of the
Administration of Justice,
the Atlanta center is located
in a two-story white building
at 1118 Euclid Ave.,N.E.
Linwood R. Slayton Jr.,
formerly 9 planner with
Economic Opportunity
Atlanta, heads the project
which is scheduled to begin
its first case during the first
week of March. YVhen the
program becomes
operational next month, it
will have a permanent staff
of five and 25 trained
mediators.
The program aims to
help people resolve disputes
which arise between
relatives, friends and neigh
bors. A major goal of the
program is to reduce local
court caseloads by resolving
minor disputes.
At first the center will
handle cases referred to it
by Atlanta police precincts,
the courts and community-
based groups. All voluntary
cases (walk-ins) will be
handled if both parties
agree to mediation. The
parties in the referred cases
must also agree to
mediation.
“I don’t expect that we
will have many problems
getting people to agree to
mediatipn,’’ said Nick
Butterfield, a program
assistant. “When a judge
says, ‘Look, we can take this
thing to court or settle it our
of court through mediation,’
I think people will see the
value of the neighborhood
justice center.”
When a referral is
made, the center’s staff will
talk with both disputants
and get the facts of the case.
Next, a trained a
community mediator will
help the parties to reach an
agreement by which they
both can abide.
Once the disputants
reach a mutually acceptable
agreement, the terms will
be put into writing and
signed by both parties.
When an agreement is
reached, the referring
agency will be notified that
the pioblem has been
resolved and the matter will
be officially concluded
“This is a good program
for all involved,’’ But
terfield said. “The plaintiff
gets it over and finished and
the defendant avoids court.”
Other advantages of the
program include:
.mediation sessions
scheduled at the con
venience of disputants
(evenings and weekends if
necessary).
. Totally fiee service to
all regardless of one’s in
come.
.an agreement arrived
at by and betv „*en the
parties involved instead of
one imposed upon them.
To recommend a case or
for further information
about the neighborhood
justice center call 523-8236.
50 Years Of
The World
The Atlanta Daily
World, America’s oldest
continuing Black daily
newspaper, will celebrate
its fiftieth anniversary this
year.
The World began its
publication on August 5,
1928, as a weekly-
newspaper. W.A. Scott II
was the founder of the
World. His brother, C.A.
Scott, the editor and general
manager of the World, was
the co-founder. The World
became a daily newspaper
on March 12,1932.
The World is a family-
owned. independent paper.
C.A. Scott, the editor and
general manager of the
We Id. said in a recent in
terview that the purpose
for establishing the
newspaper was to educate
Black people and to print the
good and bad news about the
fjBlack community.
Scott said that he and
his brother saw how the
Atlanta Constitution printed
only negative and
discriminating news con
cerning Blacks. The Scotts
established the World to
change this, he said.
Scott said the World has
done much to help to im
prove the Black community-
in Atlanta. In 1935, the
World began its annual
Christmas Cheer Program
for the needy. In 1944, the
World started the first voter
registration program in
Atlanta. In 1959, the World
raised monies.’
C.A. Scott, the editor of
34 years for the W’orld, has
as an individual done many
things for the community.
Scott founded the Citizens
Democrat Club of Fulton
County in 1944 to challenge
the white primary. His fight
enabled Blacks to vote in
the primary elections in
1946.
The World was a
recipient of the Georgia
State Chamber of Com
merce’s “Accolade of
Appreciation” for economic
contribution in 1959.
The World, up until 1970,
had about 60 people em
ployed at its office.
Presently, there are 32
people employed by The
World.
C.A. Scott attributes the
World’s success to his late
mother who taught her
children the art of printing.
When asked what ad
vice he would give to
aspiring Black journalists,
Scott said. “Be sincerely-
interested in journalism
based on service and not
slavery.”