Family History from My Perspective
By Henry Ford
Perhaps the most challenging group of individuals to work with are family. Operating under the
banner of love and shielded by the protective proclamation that "blood is thicker than water,"
family offers opportunities that you should expect no where else. The bad news is that the
banner and the proclamation can and often are used to defy imagination, create stagnation
and avoid great expectations.
Trying to get family to function in a business-like and effective manner is often met with super
critical remarks and bad feelings that can last a lifetime. The family is unique in that its
members had little choice about who the other members would be. Their interests, aptitudes
and attitudes are as diverse as one could imagine. And the prevailing comment when faced
with challenge is that "If you loved me, you wouldn't have said that," or "You have to accept
me, we're family." Being related is elevated as having supremacy over logic, reason and
fairness. My family is different. SURE THEY ARE!
Well, I suppose they aren't different, but we've done it anyway. For thirty-one consecutive
years (as of 2004), a chapter of our family has given a family reunion. Has the planning ever
been easy? NO! Has the reunion always been fun? YES! Have the relationships been
inspiring, productive, rewarding and character building? To me they have, and I will go on and
explain some of the reasons why. I hope within these pages will come the inspiration for you to
begin or increase your involvement in family reunions, for you will find that they truly offer you
acres of diamonds.
Our family reunion began with a dream in the early 1970's. My late cousin, Synnia Solomon
worked toward making the reunion a reality. It was her premature death before the first
reunion plans were finalized that brought together family members in Cleveland, Ohio. In her
memory, it was decided that the reunion plans must go forth. So we joined together and had
the first reunion in Cleveland in 1974.
That year and since then there have been disagreements about dues, hotel sites, menus,
participation, fundraisers and the name of the reunion. But through it all, we have met and
become better acquainted with relatives all over the country.
My speaking career began and was enhanced because of the family reunion and people like
Sherbia Jones and Ruth Mitchell, cousins that I didn't even know existed prior to the family
reunion. I have been inspired by young people in the family as a result of the Synnia Solomon
Scholarship Fund that I started.
One example that comes to mind is Amanda Vinson, daughter of James (Mann) & Velma
Vinson. Amanda was a top scorer on her high school basketball team and a high academic
achiever.
I am reminded of some of the first scholarship winners, Bonita Pratt, Ardell Whitworth and
Alfred Keith Littman. Ardell, Alfred, their parents and Kindra Littman were featured in The
Cleveland Reporter. It was the first newspaper coverage of our reunion that I am aware of.
The article also featured photos of Jean Louise Ford, Margaret Ford-Taylor, Lawrence Ford
and Aaron and Lela Bryson.
From the creative side there is poet and author Arlene Jackson, co-author of Make Time for
This, and author of Ain't No Half-Steppin'. Howling Against The Wind and Champions of
Change. Ain't No Half-Steppin' is a book of poetry. Howling Against The Wind is a powerful
fictional novel based upon the factual circumstances of illness and malpractice. Champions of
Change is a book about ten famous African Americans.
There are people who would open their homes to have a fundraising party, parties such as
the one sponsored by Margaret Ford-Taylor in 1974. There are those willing to plan
fundraisers at places like Karamu Theatre, where we saw the Pulitzer prize-winning drama of
"No Place to be Somebody" on June 16, 1974. We were exposed to a touch of class, in
addition to a champagne sip after the show.
I recall the determination and controversy surrounding the decision to give a reunion at
Wheels Inn in Chatam, Ontario, Canada in 1985. I applaud the vision and commitment of that
decision.
It was a decision that was highly criticized, particularly after Canadian authorities would not let
the disc jockey into Canada to perform for the Saturday night affair. Small minds sprung into
action with additional criticism, while visionaries found local entertainment, and most of us had
a good time in spite of the circumstances. The incident challenged our fears, but it improved
our adaptability and increased our knowledge base.
There are people like Bill Taylor, who with the necessary ingredients of calmness and
confidence, avoided a possible confrontation with rowdy teenagers who attempted to intrude
upon a reunion in Detroit. His unique combination of restraint and boldness diffused a
potential problem.
People like Willa Williams of Cincinnati who almost single handedly sponsored a reunion, while
much larger chapters watched in amazement.
I can recall the commitment and flexibility of Willa, Janet Nelson-Bali and members of the North
Carolina Chapter as they joined together to sponsor the first reunion to take place in Macon,
Georgia. They ignored to challenges of long distance planning in order to take the reunion
back to "our roots."
Then there was the support of Cleveland area community leaders like Beverly Anderson-
Glover, Bertram Gardner, Jodie Goggans, Leonard Hardy, June Taylor and Betty Thomas who
unselfishly devoted their time and expertise to the scholarship review board.
In 1984 my sister Jean Ford published her cookbook, Sweet Potato Pie and gave them as
souvenirs at the reunion. She was able to accomplish this despite the fact that our mother had
passed earlier that year.
We found corporate supporters for souvenirs that year from companies such as Van Dorn,
American Family, Ohio Bell and NAIC.
Later years found us inspired by powerful and eloquent speakers such as Margaret
Ford-Taylor and Barbara Williams.
We graduated to celebrity status when Myra Coates and Leslie Davis shared the responsibility
of presenting the scholarship awards. Leslie rearranged her schedule to honor that
commitment. She placed commitment ahead of convenience. Leslie was featured in Ebony
Magazine that year and was named Miss Kentucky State. She is now Dr. Leslie Davis.
Celebrity status continued as Beverly Ford was acknowledged for being featured on the
nationally aired Barbara Walters show. The focus was on the generation we refer to as
"Twenty Something."
Buffalo and the younger generation astounded the family when the Buffalo Chapter put it's
Saturday night dinner and awards program into the hands of teens and preteens. The results
were absolutely fantastic as the youthful Buffalo family members rose to the occasion.
Detroit took us on a trip down memory lane as they dug up records of parents, other relatives,
family history & other pertinent facts. They displayed many antique items from the "Old Home
House" in Georgia and from other places.
Dianne and I went to Washington, D.C. one year and ended up staying one block from the
Holiday Inn where our cousin, Glenwood (Tamp) Williams operated his limousine service.
Tamp chaueffered us all over Washington, and refused to take a cent. There is very little that
matches the stares of people who witness two African Americans jumping in and out of a
limousine to take pictures; and no one knows who those two people are. They thought we
were the rich and famous. Only we knew that we were the broke and the busted. But we were
special at that moment to association with "Family" had taken us to a higher level.
As I write these words, fresh in my memory is the 1995 reunion in Atlanta, Georgia. With just a
few people scattered between Atlanta, Macon and Haddock, the Georgia Chapter did an
excellent job, and attendance was up from previous years. Peggy Martin, Janice Temple, Mary
Wallace, LaTasha Temple, Tanisha Moss, Lisa Jessie and the disc jockey provided a
weekend of top quality entertainment.
Missing from the reunion that year were Eddie and Marguerite Langston, who have been
constant supporters of the reunions. They were always there with their video equipment
recording the fun times. Marguerite was facing a very serious illness, and we prayed daily for
her recovery. Painfully we lost Marguerite before the next reunion, but all of us are better
because of her warmth and love.
One of the most inspiring people I've known was the late Beverly King of Detroit. Beverly
worked very hard behind the scenes to keep the family newsletter and the scholarship fund
going. She did much more, but these were two of my dreams that she helped me with I've tried
to relate some of the people and circumstances that make a family reunion worth the effort.
Unfortunately words cannot describe the feeling and facts do not adequately define the results
of these years since 1974. For those of you impressed by numbers, let me share this with
you. Out of the forty individuals I have mentioned, I didn't even know twenty-six of them before
we began the reunion in 1974. I cannot tell you how different my life would have been without
the inspiration of these twenty-six people. I can however assure you that I am a better person
because of knowing them.