Banner Staff Report

CHARLESTON - Several local residents will be inducted into the West Virginia All Black Sports & Academic Hall of Fame on Friday.

The hall of fame inductees from Aracoma/Logan are Claude Williams, Lifetime Achievement, Greatest of the Great Historians; Carolyn Smoot, Lifetime Achievement, Greatest of the Great Academics; Joseph Cromwell Peters (P), Legend, "Coach" Lacy Smith, Legend and Buffalo/Accoville, William "Tootie" Carter, Legend.

An historical event occurred in West Virginia on April 26 and 27, 2008, at the Charleston Civic Center in Charleston.

The Dunbar School Dr. A.J. Major Historical Educational Museum, Inc., proudly presented the first half of the West Virginia All Black Schools Sports and Academic (WVABSSA) Hall of Fame ceremonies. 94 members from 19 former Black schools were inducted.

The WVABSSA Hall of Fame was founded on September 19, 2006. The hall of fame was created to preserve the history of Black education in West Virginia prior to 1954 and the Brown v. Board of Education case.

The primary goals of the hall of fame are:

1) To research and preserve the history of the formerly Black schools in West Virginia;

2) To champion the legacies of those former academic and athletic role models and leaders of yesterday that have gone largely unrecognized and

3) To network throughout the country with the other twenty states that had segregated schools to form a National All Black Schools Sports and Academic Hall of Fame (NABSSA).

The hall of fame induction categories are: "The Greatest of the Great", the highest honor a member can receive from their school. The Lifetime Achievement Award based on the members outstanding works over their lifetime, the highest honor a member can receive from the hall of fame board. The Icons Award is granted to our last living faculty, staff and school personnel. The Legends Award is granted to our pioneers of progress and the first/last to achieve in their areas. Lastly, the Vanguard Legacy Honors Award is granted to the heirs of a member who are leaders and at the forefront of developments in their fields.

The ceremonies will begin on Friday, September 5, at the Charleston Marriott with a meet and greet from 6-10 p.m. The hall of fame museum is on Saturday, September 6, from 9 a.m.-4 p.m. The museum is free and open to the public. Museum presentations include former Liberty High School graduate, Mingo County, Ms. Serena Wilson's "Secret Messages In Quilts And Songs From Slavery Time." Former Bluestone High School graduate, Sylvester Myers', DVD sequel to his book, "From The Coal Fields To The Oil Field And Beyond-A Life In Pursuit Of All I Could Be".

To close out this historical weekend on Sunday, the hall of fame ceremonies will commence at 1 p.m. featuring our co-host, world renown, Lou Meyers. Meyers is an actor, writer, producer, director and singer with his famous jazz and blues cabaret show. In 2005, the Appalachian Education Initiative listed Myers as one of fifty "Outstanding Creative Artists" from the state of West Virginia. The affair will close with dinner and picture and DVD excerpts from the April ceremony.

Tickets cost $30 per person for the induction of Legends, dinner and dance on September 6 and $40 per person to attend the hall of fame induction ceremonies and dinner, which is a black tie affair on September 7.

For more information call Jackson-Gillison at (304) 748-7116.