Three Livingston County people were among those from the 8th District honored this week by U.S. Rep. Elissa Slotkin, D-Holly, in commemoration of Black History Month.
The remarks — delivered in Statuary Hall at the U.S. Capitol — will be entered into the Congressional Record to ensure the memory and legacy of these leaders and groups live on.
Slotkin’s full remarks, as prepared for each Livingston County honoree, are below:
George Jewett, Howell
I rise today to honor George Jewett, a legend of the gridiron, a physician, and an entrepreneur who blazed a trail through the history of both football and race relations, breaking barriers and records at every turn, including a forward pass through Howell, Michigan.
Intelligent, driven, and athletically blessed, George was a classic all-American, and he was also an African-American at a time when Jim Crow was tightening its grip on the country.
Valedictorian of the class of 1889 at Ann Arbor High School, Jewett captained the football and baseball teams—as well as the debate club. He was the fastest sprinter in the Midwest, and was fluent in German, Italian, and French. He went on to attend the University of Michigan, becoming the first African American in the school’s history to letter in football, and ultimately one of its greatest stars.
Though he excelled on the field and in the classroom, Jewitt endured racial taunts and physical abuse on and off the field. A newspaper during Jewett’s time aptly described him as “a brilliant player who stands punishment with indifference.”
Jewett transferred to Northwestern University in 1893 where he suited up for the Wildcats, becoming the first Black player for that school’s football team as well. Upon graduating from medical school in 1895, he returned to Michigan where Howell Public Schools Superintendent Robert Briggs hired the doctor as coach of the first official Howell High School football team.
Now, high school sports had different rules and norms in the late 1800s, with teams composed of both student athletes and local residents who would join them. And that is how Dr. George Jewett became not just the first Black coach of a Michigan high school football team, but also a teammate.
To fundraise for the new team, Mr. Jewett hosted a gala at the Howell Opera House, a lavish event featuring food, music, and demonstrations of football plays.
By all accounts it was a smashing success, and if it hadn’t been for that event, we might never have known about the remarkable role George Jewett played in Howell’s history.
A program from his fundraiser was recently found under the floorboards of the Howell Opera House during its renovation, connecting this trailblazing legend to the community, and forever cementing his role in Howell history.
Last fall, the George Jewett Trophy — the first rivalry trophy in major college football named for an African American player — debuted in Ann Arbor when the University of Michigan played Northwestern University. And from now on, the George Jewett Trophy will be played for, each and every time the two programs meet on the field.
I’m so proud to see George Jewett’s cultural, academic, and athletic accomplishments solidified, immortalized and set in stone.
It is my honor to record his name and his story into the permanent record of People’s House so that all who read it may catch inspiration from his groundbreaking achievements– So that we too may tackle our current challenges with the same dedication and perseverance he brought to every aspect of his life– And so that each of us may lace up our shoes, march onto the field, and pass on his legacy of triumph over adversity, and indifference to punishment.
You can read our story on George Jewett by clicking here.
Lulu V. Childers, Howell
I rise today to recognize the incredible contributions to musical history and to the history of Howell, Michigan made by one of the city’s Black pioneers, Lulu Childers.
This remarkable woman was ultimately responsible for developing the small music program at Howard University in Washington, D.C., first into a Conservatory of Music, and then into a School of Music.
But before all that, she was a child in Howell, Michigan, the daughter of slaves, her parents brought her from Dry Ridge, Kentucky in 1875 at the age of 5.
It was in Howell that the public was first treated to the gift of Lulu’s voice. In the early 1880s, she performed regularly at the Howell Opera House and its neighboring Methodist Church on Walnut Street. By 17 she was singing at numerous fundraisers and events across the area and was billed as “Howell’s Lulu Childers.”
And in 1890, she walked across the stage as valedictorian of the Howell High School Class, and enrolled at Oberlin Conservatory in Ohio to study voice.
After graduation, Childers performed around the country but felt a tug to the classroom. She taught music in Ohio public schools for several years, and then in 1905, she joined the faculty of Howard University.
At the time, Lulu was one of only two music teachers at Howard. She taught voice, and another instructor taught piano. In 1906, Lulu was appointed Director of Music and steadily the program blossomed.
Lulu established a college-level curriculum, hired experienced instructors, and created the University Choral Society. When she led the chorus in song, the people turned out. At the 1929 Christmas service, Lulu drew a crowd so large that there was standing room only and 400 people had to be turned away.
Lulu also created an annual concert series that brought renown musicians to the Washington community. In 1938 she invited the famed contralto, Marian Anderson, to perform. The performance gained national attention because both the Board of Education of Washington, D.C. and the Daughters of the American Revolution refused to let Anderson perform in their facilities because of her race.
Lulu used her voice, not just to sing, but to enlist the help of First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt in the fight for equity and justice. She also took her advocacy to Secretary of the Interior Harold Ickes, who in turn invited Anderson to perform at the Lincoln Memorial, a free concert which drew 75,000 people on Easter Sunday of 1939.
One year later, Lulu retired from Howard University and returned to her family home in Howell, where she died in 1946.
It’s so entirely fitting that 10 years after her passing, the classroom portion of Howard University’s fine arts complex was renamed Lulu V. Childers Hall.
And it’s fitting that I now speak her name into the permanent record of the People’s House.
Lulu Childers was born with the gift of voice, a gift she never took for granted. She used that voice to entertain, to instruct, and to advocate. She sang the anthem of freedom, justice, and equality with perfect pitch and tone. Let us all endeavor to use our own lives and our own voices to carry her tune, to continue singing her song, and to ensure that the music never ends.
Thelma Lett, Brighton
I rise today to share the story of a courageous Black woman from Brighton who would not sit down when faced with racism, hatred, and bigotry.
Thelma Lett did not grow up in Livingston County, but moved there from Detroit in 1976 with her husband. She was an avid churchgoer and involved in many community organizations, as she and her husband raised their two children, Paul and Keith.
But it was her involvement with the Livingston Diversity Council, then known as Livingston 2001, that drew headlines and propelled this quiet woman into the local spotlight.
Eager to champion the cause of diversity in the mostly white county, she joined the organization in 1988, its founding year — the same year a cross was burned on the property of a Black family in the county. She’s credited with helping to grow the group and support for the cause with her dynamic, can-do style.
Here’s what some former friends and colleagues had to say about Thelma: “A tremendous go-getter.” “You just had a smile on your face after talking to her,” and, “I would put a great deal of the success of the membership on her leadership.”
But it’s what SHE had to say to a group who showed up to protest a community forum that will go down in history. In 1994, members of the National Association for the Advancement of White People showed up at a forum in Howell and openly declared that they didn’t want Black people living in their community.
Lett stood up, looked directly at the crowd, and calmly, but passionately informed them she would not be run out of her home.
“When I walk down the street, I’d like not to have cat calls or the N-word shouted at me,” she said, staring into the eyes of men and women wearing hats emblazoned with “NAAWP” and “Anglo-Saxon.”
She told the crowd how some of her family members served in the US military, and were wounded in combat fighting for the American ideal that all people are created equal.
And when she called for some simple respect, saying “I give dignity and I want dignity,” the crowd rocketed to its feet.
Lett never backed down from her devotion to diversity, continuing her activism and community involvement until her death at age 79. In fact, if you visit the Detroit Impact Youth Center on the city’s west side, you’ll find the Thelma Lett Library inside, a tribute to the many young people she taught to read and write.
And if you visit Howell, you’ll find the Livingston Diversity Council continuing her work, inspired by the courage of her convictions, and still standing up to intolerance and hate.
Thelma Lett lived and died in Brighton, Michigan and made it abundantly clear her love for this country and all it stands for was far greater than the hatred she was shown. Brighton was her home, and today it is my honor in sharing her story, to give a permanent home to that truth in the public record of the United States House of Representatives.
Video of Slotkin’s remarks can be viewed here:
