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! *Usttota Nrurfniiav A Vol. 3 1 I ®A A % ft A H WARREN A. CANDLER Dr. Pitts Last Dav s w K W > z ■ •*. 4®'<Az IP C. t J 7 Z< - -r r iffiKJ? $ ■ pne of Dr. Pitts, proudest moments was receiving 9 SIOO,OOO in pledges and cash from the Black W community of Augusta to rebuild Haygood Hall which ■ was burned down in 1968. Here “Build It Back” M chairman Edward Mclntyre presents symbolic check. By Mallory K. Millender “Sometimes you wonder whether you are pushing time or whether time is pushing you,” murmured Mrs. Juanita Addison as she sat at her desk Tuesday reflecting on the death of Dr. Lucius H. Pitts, president of Paine College, who died of an apparent heart attack in his office Monday night. Mrs. Addison was Dr. Pitts’ secretary. As she talked, she looked over his schedule during the last week wondering whether he might have live longer had he lived at a less torrid pace. He would have been 59 today, , February 28th. Last Tuesday and Wednesday,he was in St. Louis attending a meeting of the college of bishops. Thursday he flew to Washington for a meeting with the National Science Foundation. Friday, he went to New York for a planning workshop for college presidents sponsored by the Moton Development Consortium. Saturday he returned to Augusta rather than stay over in New York for his next meeting in Boston on Wednesday. A few days in New York would have meant that he probably would have gotten some much needed rest, but he preferred to spend that time working at Paine College where he knew there was important work that needed his attention. And just as important, his son, Lucius, Jr., was speaking at a church in South Carolina Sunday and he wanted to hear him. Dr. Pitts had planned to leave Augusta Tuesday night for the Woodrow Wilson Internship program in Boston on Wednesday. But Tuesday never came. Monday started out very routinely for Dr. Pitts. He sat quietly with the students mid-way the Gilbert Lambuth Chapel during the Monday 11:00 chapel hour. During the singing of a hymn, he rose from his seat on the right side of the chapel, strode to the front of the auditorium, and ordered the organist to stop the music. He was disturbed at the way the hymn (“All Hail the Power of Jesus’ Name) was >' being sung. They were dragging it. Addressing the students, he pleaded, “I know that the song is difficult and some of the notes are kind of high, but let’s take a deep breath and try to sing it better.” Then giving the pitch himself, he led into the song, strutting up and down the center aisle, his arms pumping and pulling out the desired tempo. U NATIONAL BLACK NEWS SERW .CE MEMBER After the services, he urged the students to attend the research workshop being held on campus. It was the last time he was to address the student body. In the afternoon, he met with Academic Dean Dr. Willie Coye Williams from 2-4. Then he met with a student, dictated a letter to Mrs. Addison, and talked about how his hand had improved. During the first week of January, he was hospitalized after losing use of his right hand, which was paralyzed by a pinched nerve. He talked about some of his own theories he was going to put to the doctor about his hand, he talked about the college in general and at about 5:30, he talked with another student who came to see him about financial aid. THE LAST CONVERSATION Next he talked with Nelson Hall, the last person he ever talked with. Nelson Hall is an accountant at the Pilgrim Health and Life Insurance Company. As a child, he played at the Bethlehem Community Center when Dr. Pitts was a student at Paine College doing volunteer work at the Center. Hall said they talked about the past and future of Paine College and just “lost track of time” but he was sure they talked an hour or more. Then as he was about to leave he said, “Well, I guess I better go out and get away home.” But Dr. Pitts said, “ ‘No, I’ll take you.’ He started to get up and just fell back in the chair and slumped over, groaning. I said, ‘Dr. Pitts? Is something wrong? Can I get something for you?’* But he didn’t answer. “I thought I saw him reach toward his pocket. “I didn’t know how to operate his phone to get an outside line. I just kept punching buttons until I got a dial tone and called his wife and told her,” Hall said. Mrs. Daffemeeze Pitts arrived quickly and thought he was suffering from insulin shock. He was a diabetic. She tried to get sugar into his mouth and called his doctor and ambulance. She also called Albert Jasper, Dr. Pitts’ brother-in-law, who works at the college. About the same time, Charles Smith, a faculty member, called to tell Dr. Pitts he would be late for his 8:00 appointment. Mrs. Pitts told Smith to meet them at University Hospital. Smith, was there when the ambulance P.O. Box 953 *3SL Last April, he was inaugurated as the first Black president in the 92 year history of Paine College ... jdßi&rL At kdHH ■r vlaJg w ■ W BMB fl 9 zneA fl iflto The student was the center of his work. Here he salutes Miss Paine College 1973-74”, Mary Faye Harris, as Michael Thurmond, president of the Student Government Association looks on. arrived and gave the following account: “At the hospital they rolled him into a room. I went in with him. They immediately saw that it was a total emergency. All the attendants and staff went in. “I heard the doctor ask, ‘How long has he been this way?’ I couldn’t hear the answer to the question, but then the doctor asked, ‘You mean he hasn’t been breathing for 15-20 minutes?’ “The doctor called Mrs. Pitts into an office and Jasper turned to me and said, ‘He’s gone.’ ” Within minutes the news began spreading across the county. About 9:30, faculty, staff, students, friends and local ministers began to arrive in large numbers at the Pitts’ Beman Street home. Dr. Pitts’ daughter, Etha, received visitors at the door, Mrs. Pitts sat on the sofa in the livingroom, visibly shaken but poised and talking quietly in a controlled voice as she thanked guests for their expressions of sympathy. Paine College’s administration and cabinet officers assembled at the house and went quickly into a meeting. Lucius Pitts, Jr. walked about serving coffee and tending to the needs of visitors. JUST ONE BIG FAMILY Around 11:30 entertainer James Brown arrived with his wife, Deidre, his father, Joe Brown, and his radio station manager, Mai Cook. He talked briefly with Mrs. Pitts who was then seated in Dr. Pitts’ study with former Paine Vice President Stewart B. Gandy, who along with Lucius, Jr. answered the telephone calls that started to pour in. Brown talked about Dr. Pitts as a “great man who did so much for Augusta” “I was just talking to him this afternoon. I’m just dumbfounded. I don’t know . . . . It was a real honor to have talked to him on this day. He made my day. I had been depressed until then.” Brown talked a few moments more, then wrote down his private phone number and handed it to Gandy and instructed him to call him if he could be of service. Then turning to Mrs. Pitts, he said, “We’re just one big family.” Michael Thurmond, president of the college’s Student Government Association, said, “I guess the realization will come to us later that he was a genius and a THE PEOPLE’S PAPER giant. “I just hope people won’t stop because it’s a very critical time for the college. Black people and America will'miss him.” Cyrus Hickson, an instructor at the college said, “I was at first shocked then disheartened. It’s always sad when somebody dies that you have a lot of respect for. Although I did not agree with some of the policies that he used, I did feel that he sincerely loved Paine College and was concerned about the best interest of the college.’’ TWO PREVIOUS HEART ATTACKS Charles Smith, the college’s federal relations officer, kept a constant check on Dr. Pitts’ health. He was fully aware that Dr. Pitts had previously suffered two previous heart attacks during the 60s, one of them massive. Smith said, “Normally when I asked Dr. Pitts how he was doing, he’dsay‘l’m going to be better.’ But in the last week he’d say ‘l’m not doing too well.’ 1 had never heard him express negativism before. “He was really pushing these last few weeks, pushing harder than he ever has, I guess he knew these last few weeks were critical in the life of the college.” The Nationally known educator had been president of Paine since 1971. Before that appointment he had served as President of Miles College in Birmingham, Ala. for 10 years. A native of James, Georgia, Dr. Pitts attended public school in Macon and attended Paine College for his undergraduate work. After graduating from Paine in 1941, he entered Fisk University, Nashville, Tenn, where he obtained a Master of Arts degree in 1945. He did further post-graduate study at Atlanta University, Peabody College, Nashville, Tenn, and Western Reserve College in Cleveland, Ohio. His Honorary degrees included the Doctor of Divinity from Paine College in 1962, a Doctor of Laws degree from Rhode Island College, a Doctor of Laws degree from Wooster College, Wooster, Ohio, and a Doctor of Laws degree from Miles College. He was a charter member of the Augusta-Richmond County Human Relations Commission, having served as its vice chairman. He was a member of the Board of Directors of Greater Augusta Chamber of Commerce. He served in the National Advisory Council on Education Professional J * ~ t mm He is joined (L-R) by Mrs. Dan Collins, Dr. Benjamin Mays, president emeritus of Morehouse College and trustee of Paine College, and Dr. David Collins, first Black president of Paine College’s board of trustees. ; 5 :; ? J I In a rare moment of leisure, Dr. Pitts posed for the News-Review before jetting off to Europe on a pleasure trip. Development, the Board of Directors of the National Association for Equal Opportunity ,in Higher Education and on the advisory committee for education of the National Science Foundation. He was chairman of the Specialized Training advisory Panel of the Boy Scouts of America and served on the policy board for the National Council of churches’ Deoartment of Education, Commission on Religion in Higher Education of the Association of American Colleges and chairman of the President’s Council of the Christian Methodist Episcopal Belair Residents Rip Madison Woo, County Commission Hr ■ V 1 IB a-r SHBm ; ft '\JI ■■ ■' KMHb JAMES E. CARTER, ID Jimmy Carter 111, spokesman for the Belair Hills Association, called a press conference Monday threatening to take legal action if their grievances continue to be ignored. in a prepared statement Carter said, “Some time ago, we, the members of the Belair Hills Association appeared before the Richmond County Commission to voice certain grievances which we as taxpayers of Richmond County felt should not exist, but have continued to exist much to our dismay. “We have petitioned the Commission over a period of years to have many improvements made to our community, only to have promises made, but not kept, verbal agreements presented, Augusta, Georgia Omega Psi Phi Fraternity for his numerous contributions in the areas of education and human relations in the Augusta community He had recently met with President Nixon in the White House to discuss increased federal participation for Black institutions of hgher learning. He was married to the former Daffemeeze E. Bates and they had four children: Lucius, John, Eleanor, and Etha Pitts. Funeral arrangements will be held in the Gilbert-Lambuth Church. In 1972, Dr. Pitts was named Citizen of the Year by the Psi Omega Chapter of but as usual, not honored, and finally, commitments given in seemingly good faith, but for some reason, our elected officials have not seen fit to carry out those pledges and promises which they made, even publicly, to the extent that we feel the public should at long last know what your officials are doing and not doing in the interest of the citizenery of Richmond County. “More Specifically: Under the tenure and chairmanship of Commissioner Madison Woo, we sought development ot a ten (10) acre park, land of which was donated free of charge to the county. Money was appropriated last year to begin work on this park. After our appearance before the Commission, work was begun ■wP a I i < ■ Kflhb-—' / mrr} . With his right hand, Dr. Pitts grips singer James Brown i a “soul” shake. With his left hand, he holds a check for scholarship donated by Brown. FUNERAL ARRANGEMENTS I The funeral arrangements of Dr. Lucius Holsey Pitts will be held Friday at 12:00 in the Gilbert-Lambuth Chapel of Paine College. The eulogy will be delivered by Bishop Joseph Johnson. Dr. Pitts will be buried on the campus near the chapel. Chapel at Paine College on Friday at 12:00 noon. The family has requested that instead of flowers, that but not carried out according to the Recreation Master Plan as prepared by the Augusta-Richmond County Planning Commission. “Approximately one acre was cleared and three items were arbitrarily placed on the site. (One sliding board, one set of swings, and one block and frame multi-activity unity). If this is supposed to fulfill the park needs of this area, the recreation committee and Commissioner Woo are badly mistaken. “Delays and lies, promises and pledges have run out. Excuses seem to be the rule of thumb when it comes to fulfilling the needs of the citizens of this area. For the little we have, we have crowds to use the area from the surrounding area. This has not however, taken our kids off the streets, thus creating an extremely hazardous situation with traffic and the lives of the kids in the area. “We are sick and tired of being told that they can not develop the area because of drainage. The engineers have said over and over again that the site is a beautiful one and could be developed, but it seems that ulterior motives are being deployed to deny us the services which we seek and for Radio station WRDW will pay tribute to Dr. L.H. Pitts all day Friday, highlighted by excerpts from many of his speeches. On Saturday, the Paine College Hour wil be alloted to Paine College Students to pay tribute as they see fit. February 28, 1974 No. 50 money be donated to the Lucius H. Pitts Memorial Fund, and sent to the Development Office at Paine College. which funds have been provided. “When the powers that be, don’t want to fulfill a pledge or promise, they find excusesand lie in seeking away out. They could do it if they wanted to. We would like to know what has happened to the appropriated funds from last year, and the funds from this year. The total estimated cost of the project is 548,560.00 but we have not realized this in our neighborhood. “We want our children off the streets, we want our park developed and we are prepared at this time to seek legal recourse if this service by our elected officials is continued to be ignored. Commissioner Woo and those up for re-election have been stumping the community already telling of their many achievements and accomplishments. To us, this is bunk. When they live up to the true creed of the oath they so faithfully recited at their installation, when they define priorities, when they serve ALL the people of the county, when they decide that the office they hold is an elected office and not one of personal glorification, then and only then, will the people of this county get their fair share of what is due as taxpayers.” (fS)