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History of Chapter
The first organizational meeting held to form a BIG chapter
in the Huntsville area was held on July 25, 1989 through efforts of Mary
Peoples, an Equal Employment Manager at the U.S. Army Strategic Defense
Command, who prepared the publicity to announce the meeting. Ms. Peoples had
obtained a chapter start up kit from a colleague who was a national board
member. The meeting was held at St. John AME Church on Church Street at 7:00
p.m. with 20 people from various federal agencies in attendance. These
employees were from the Army’s Missile Command, Army Strategic Defense Command,
Army Corps of Engineers, the Office of Personnel Management and the Marshall
Space Flight Center. A special invited guest at this meeting was Mr. Johnny
Smith, who gave a briefing on BIG and answerers questions from the audience.
Mr. Smith, at that time, was the Executive Vice of National BIG and a member of
the Muscle Shoals Area Chapter. At this meeting, temporary officers were
selected and they were: President – Arthur Henderson, Secretary – Johnnie Clark
and Treasurer – Theodore Dixie.
After several meetings and completion of the chapter
bylaws, a nominating committee was elected to present a permanent slate of
officers. The slate was presented at the meeting on August 24 and the first
permanent officers were: President – Betty McPherson; First Vice President –
Arthur Henderson; Second Vice President – James Turnage; Recording Secretary –
Johnnie Clark; Corresponding Secretary – Bo Wilkerson; Treasurer – Theodore
Dixie; and Parliamentarian – Walter Lacy. Mary Peoples was elected as the
Historian.
The Huntsville-Madison County Chapter of BIG was
officially charted by national BIG in February 1990. Charter members of the
chapter consisted of employees from the U.S. Army Missile Command (currently
AMCOM), U.S. Army Strategic Defense Command (now Space and Missile Defense
Command (SMDC), the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), the U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers and the Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC). Following the
chartering of the chapter, letters were sent to these local federal agencies
seeking formal recognition as an organization providing assistance and support
to EEO programs that furthered employment and advancement opportunities for
Black employees. In its recognition letter in June 1990, the Commanding
General of the U.S. Army Missile Command granted permission to the chapter to
use available conference room space/facilities to conduct BIG activities.
Currently the chapter is comprised of federal employees in the local area from
Department of the Army and Department of Defense installations, MSFC, OPM,
Government Accounting Office, and the U.S. Postal Service. The chapter has
increased its membership to include municipal government employees, State of
Alabama employees and private sector employees.
Goals of Chapter
The chapter’s goals and objectives include being
an advocate of equal opportunity, eliminating practices of racism and racial
discrimination against Blacks in government, promoting professionalism,
developing and promoting programs that will enhance ethnic pride and educational
opportunities for Blacks in government, establish a mechanism for the gathering
and dissemination of information to Blacks in government and to provide a
nonpartisan platform on major issues of local, regional, and national
significance that affect Blacks in government.
Activities of Chapter
During its existence, the chapter has sponsored free
employment seminars at local churches to provide information to persons seeking
employment with government and private sector companies. The chapter also
co-sponsored a seminar on Title VII of the Civil Rights Act (Equal Employment
Opportunity) with the local NAACP branch with presentations by the staff from
the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in Birmingham. In 1993, the chapter
sponsored its first Professional Development Seminar (PDS) for local federal
sector employees, which was a success. The PDS has become an annual event
sponsored by the chapter to promote professional development and is open to the
general public. Participants at the PDS have included support of local
commanders who served as luncheon guest speakers. High-ranking officials from
other federal agencies have participated by speaking at banquet events. The
chapter has supported Youth Programs developed by the national organization that
included an oratorical contest and an information superhighway computer
competition. The chapter has also sponsored employment related luncheon
programs and banquets with guest speakers from within and outside the
government. Presentations on personnel issues and equal employment opportunity
have been conducted that served to educate BIG chapter members on employment
areas of concern to them.
The chapter was the recipient of the BIG Southeast Region’s
Chapter of the Year Award in 1994 for successful fund raising, contributions to
community programs and recruitment and maintaining the largest chapter
membership in the region. The chapter continues to remain the largest chapter
in the Southeast Region. Members belonging to the chapter have been elected to
and served in offices at the regional and national level to include Regional
Council President (James Foster, Retired-AMCOM employee), Regional Council
Executive Vice President (Bob Wilson, PEO Missiles and Space), Regional Council
Vice President and National Board of Directors (Mary Peoples, SMDC). Chapter
youth contestants have won competitions at the regional (oratorical contest) and
national level (computer competition).
Chapter Initiatives
Chapter initiatives include: (1) Continued sponsorship of
the chapter’s Professional Development Seminar on an annual basis, with emphasis
on bringing in nationally renowned speakers. (2) Sponsoring lunch and learn
sessions to educate members on the Federal personnel system. (3) Establishing
relationships with local federal, state and municipal agencies to offer
assistance in addressing the needs and concerns of Blacks in government and to
assist in dissemination of information pertaining to employment opportunities.
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