GHS honors first black student
By Phyllis Moore
Published in News on October 4, 2014 10:59 PM
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News-Argus/CASEY MOZINGO
Dwight Allen holds an enlarged photo of Glenwood Burden that appears on the memorial plaque unveiled during the tribute to Burden in the auditorium of Goldsboro High School Saturday.
Marie Burden did not accompany her son on the first day of school.
After all, he was going to high school.
But this was not just any first day -- it was historic.
The year was 1961 and 15-year-old Glenwood Burden was entering the hallways of Goldsboro High School, until then an all-white school.
Integration was spreading across the nation and the local NAACP had chosen a handful of students to break the color barrier at the school.
When the time came, however, Burden was the only black teen who made the courageous walk that fall day.
Even though he was supported and encouraged by his family, he was joined on the first day by the Rev. E.O. Edwards and Geneva Hamilton.
It wasn't easy being the mother waiting at home.
"It was scary," Mrs. Burden said.
But even though she was only with her son in spirit in 1964, Mrs. Burden, now 86, was at Goldsboro High School in person Saturday as his classmates remembered and honored Burden, and memorialized his courage.
The Goldsboro High School Class of 1964 erected a plaque in Burden's honor at the entrance to the school -- near the same doors through which he made history 50 years ago.
In addition to his mother, Burden's family also was there -- his siblings, Ralph Burden Jr. and Pam Adams of Goldsboro, as well as H. Diane Thornton of Durham, his aunt, Helen Simmons of Goldsboro and his daughter, Valerie Burden Bartlett .
All agreed it was a momentous occasion.
"I'm just so happy that this day is finally happening," Ms. Bartlett said.
"It's a long time coming," Mrs. Thornton said. "We're thankful that it's finally being done."
Burden died in 2009. His wife, Margaret, passed away in August, but was aware of the special celebration planned in her husband's honor, classmate Dwight Allen said.
The commemorative plaque will be located in the GHS hallway between the office and the auditorium, where Burden took his first steps as a student.
Allen came up with the idea to honor his classmate, and figured that the 50th anniversary of that milestone would be a perfect time to make sure the historic event would not be forgotten.
But before the plan could be realized, Allen had two conditions -- that the family approved and that the school system would support the acknowledgement.
With the help of another classmate, Lesley Wharton Marcello, who now lives in Louisiana, the idea was soon circulated via e-mail and received resounding support.
The money for the plaque -- and then some -- was collected. The extra funds will be donated to the United Way of Wayne County -- to honor other members of the Class of 1964 who have passed.
"There are about 67 of those and perhaps more, which is a large number," Allen said of the departed classmates, some lost during the Vietnam era.
Saturday's 45-minute tribute took place in the auditorium of the high school, which still managed to transport some of the alumni back to those early years.
"Those are the same stairs, the same stage," Mrs. Marcello said. With the exception of the railing that had been since added, she noted. "We sat right over there and watched President Kennedy's funeral, on a little TV.
Kevin Alston, a family friend, paid a musical salute to the "well-deserving" man he had gotten to know as a youth.
The Wayne County Public Schools music and choral teacher said the occasion marked not only Burden's significance as a person of color during integration, but represented his contributions of service to the community over the years.
After a rendition of the popular Andrae Crouch song, "My Tribute," Alston invited the audience to join hands and to sing the Negro gospel song, "We Shall Overcome."
The anthem was one his generation grew up with, Allen said, and seemed fitting for the occasion.
The plaque will also be a lasting memorial to their classmate, and hopefully an inspiration for students in the years to come, Allen said.
"What he did for me and many in the room, he opened our eyes to a lot of injustice," he said. "He (taught us) that the things that we had been growing up with in the Jim Crow South, that he had a lot of the same interests and beliefs that we did -- love of family, happiness, heartache.
"It helped me to learn and changed my life."
Classmate Eddie Radford, who has also served as a principal at his alma mater and is now a school board member, helped unveil the plaque, which he called an "important piece of history."
Representing the family in accepting the gift was Mrs. Bartlett, herself a graduate of GHS, in 1985.
"This is just an honor for me. I have waited so long for this day," she said, her voice breaking. "Thank you so much, Mr. Allen, to all of you, the classmates. My father would be so proud and so honored.
"He and my mom are looking down from heaven with smiles. Thank you so much for making this day happen."
An estimated 130 classmates converged on the city for the 50th reunion weekend, Mrs. Marcello said, representing a cross section of states -- including Texas, Mississippi, Maryland, Tennessee, Kentucky, Florida and California.
"We're commemorating the fact that this was the first integrated class," said Vicki Steck McCauley, now of Minnesota.
"At that point, we didn't really realize how important it was," said Faye McGuirt Tyndall of Mount Olive.
The inscription on the bronze marker referenced Burden being the first African-American student to attend GHS and called him a "valued member" of the Class of 1964.
"This plaque is presented to the students of Goldsboro High School, past, present and future, in recognition of Glenwood's courage and determination in the hope that his example will inspire others to display the same courage and determination," it read.
Robin Helms Allen of Raleigh, another classmate and Dwight Allen's wife, presented a bouquet of red roses to Burden's mother, and perhaps expressed the day's significance best through a quote from former Duke professor John Hope Franklin.
"There's a saying, 'Right is slow and tardy,'" she said.