Hidden Figures Revealed Program Recap

Thank you to Janice Cross-Gilyard, president of the Afro-American Historical and Genealogy Society – New Jersey Chapter, for her fascinating and well-researched look into notable African American figures from Summit New Jersey.  Janice has only uncovered the tip of the iceberg, yet the fruits of her research are enigmatic of the entire story of the African American experience, not only in New Jersey, but throughout the country.  While only a few of individuals are covered below, please feel free to watch a recording of the presentation at https://youtu.be/IPcKzbBTf1E.  If you have any questions, please contact Janice at aahgs.njchapter@gmail.com.

Reverend Florence Spearing Randolph

Florence Spearing Randolph (August 1866 – December 28, 1951) was an American clubwoman, suffragist,, ordained minister, and pastor of the Wallace Chapel AME Zion Church in Summit.  She was the first woman in the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church denomination to be ordained as a deacon and an elder, as well as licensed to preach.  She was a delegate to an international ecumenical conference in London in 1901.  She was also the head of the New Jersey Women’s Foreign Missionary Society and set up the Bureau of Supplies to collect and distribute donations for missionaries.  Florence also served on the executive board of the New Jersey Woman Suffrage Association.

Violet A. Johnson

Though Violet was born in Wilmington, North Carolina, she became a servant for the John Eggers family in New York, before she moved with them to Summit in 1897.  She organized a Bible study group that became Summit’s first African-American church: Foundation Baptist Church.  As a result, she was the founder and president of the missionary society and president of the Deaconess Board.  Later, she joined the all-white New Jersey Women’s Suffrage Association, helping transform New Jersey’s suffrage movement into a multi-racial movement.  During World War I, she organized black women and girls for  war relief work.  In the late 1920s, Violet Johnson established the Girls Industrial home, a school for training African-American women and girls for domestic work.  She also was a founder and officer of the Summit chapter of the NAACP.

John Mallory

John Mallory was a high-school sports star that eventually made his way into professional football.  At Summit High School, he won honors in football, basketball, and track.  While playing football at West Virginia University, he ranked among the nation’s best punt returners and became an All-Southern Conference first team and Associate Press All-American honorable mention defensive back in his junion year, after only playing 3 games.  John was drafted in the 10th round of the 1968 NFL draft by the Philadelphia Eagles.  After playing 14 games his rookie season, he was traded to the Atlanta Falcons and became their all-time punt return leader.  He was inducted into the West Virginia University Hall of Fame in 2001 and inducted into the School of Physical Education Hall of Fame in 2004.

Bill Robinson

Bill Robinson is a tenor jazz singer and despite a long career, continues to perform in his 80s. Cab Calloway.  He has performed with jazz pianist Betty Liste, jazz guitarists John Zweig and John Carlini, violinist Marion Mansfield, and many others.  He signs in a variety of jazz styles, including the Great American Songbook, jazz standards, bluegrass music, classical music, gypsy music, Brazilian jazz, and others.  Bill Robinson has performed at the Apollo Theater in New York and opened for comedian Jackie Mason and jazz vibraphonist Lionel Hampton.

Norman Hill

Normal Hill, born in Summit in 1933, was one of the first African-Americans to graduate from Haverford College in 1956 with a bachelor’s degree in sociology.  After serving in the military, he moved to Chicago to join the Civil Rights Movement and pursue a master’s degree at the University of Chicago’s School of Social Welfare.  However, he dropped out to pursue more direct social action and held various positions in projects around Chicago, including Youth March for Integrated Schools, Secretary of Chicago Area Negro American Labor Council, and Staff Chairman of the Chicago March Conventions.  Norman Hill joined the Congress of Racial Equality in the 1960s and served as the first East Coast Field Secretary, moving his way up to National Program Director.