Linda Grace Morris: Baltimore Boomer Tales from the Hood

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The National Institutes of Health is not a typical Federal work environment. It is located on a 300+ acre campus in Bethesda, MD. There are over 30 buildings on the grounds, and it has its own power plant, police department, and fire department. Every single employee has a hand in the great research that comes out of this premier biomedical research facility--from the maintenance staff who clean the labs to the glass washers to the cafeteria staff. If you worked at the NIH, you definitely felt you had a role to play in its mission.

Most of the early African Americans who went to work there stumbled across this hidden gem accidentally. Matt Kinnard did too. His was quite a journey from the farms in rural Tennessee to Lab scientist to NIH Administrator. 

Matt Kinnard and his late wife, Regina Linden Compton Kinnard, were a very accomplished couple--he in science and she in education. Among these accomplishments is a treasured marriage of 59 years, 9 months, that have left him with so many cherished memories.

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Friendship is golden. Particularly when it is lifelong. My closest friends are the ones I met in school. Today, two of my best friends and I discuss growing up in Baltimore and our friendship with the late Sidney Rauls Ellis. We are pictured above in Atlantic City for what used to be our annual girls' trip. From left to right, me, Sandra Green Johnson, Carol Matthews, and Sidney.

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Marva grew up in the Annapolis area and is related to the owners of Carr's Beach. Carr's Beach and Sparrows Beach were two of the beaches in the area designated for African Americans. In it's hay day, all the big acts from James Brown to the Miracles appeared at Carr's beach. When Marva was 10, she was directing cars where to park. It was a great time until her mother died in a car accident when she was 15, and she had to take on the responsibility of raising her siblings with her dad. Listen as Marva shares with us what life was like growing up in Annapolis.

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When little Myneca Offord was catching a ride to her babysitting certification class in downtown Tulsa at the age of 10, little did she know she would one day be the Mayor of Hanover, PA. If you listen to Myneca's episode, you will understand how  the drive and determination to get what she needed was instilled in her at an early age. Shout out to Myneca's fur babies, Mylo and Jamesbaldwin, who did not make a sound laying at her feet as she shared her story. Good boys!

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If you know of any African American research scientists/medical doctors 50 and under, chances are they came through some training experience funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). If they did, they were probably introduced to the NIH by Joe Ager. I had a front row seat at the NIH to watch how Joe and several other colleagues traded their careers in the labs to become EEO Officers for the various Institutes so that their mission of finding the cures could transition to the next generation of scientists of color. This was no easy task because as with every turn we take into the professions, our intellectual capacity is always doubted--especially if we matriculated at HBCUs. I was captivated as Joe shared his journey from Shelby, NC, to the heights of the biomedical research establishment. I know you will be too.

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Minnie Conyers Carter has made her mark on many aspects of life in Baltimore. As with many in this generation, she is part of the Great Migration of African Americans from the south to seek better lives up north. She and her mother, Mrs. Ida Mae Conyers Dates, came up on the train and first settled with Minnie's aunt, Mrs. Mattie Stukes, on Barre Street in South Baltimore. From there, Minnie moved to West Baltimore and matriculated through Baltimore City Public Schools. Our paths crossed in high school and later in life at the Maryland Department of Transportation. Minnie is now also known for her work as an award-winning gospel recording artist.  Meet Edmondson High School Class of 1965's own songbird.

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When 8-year-old Geraldine Wilford first saw New York City, she could not believe her eyes. She learned that there was a world very different from the one she was born into in Miami, Florida, and she was determined to get a piece of it. She was the only child of Jesse James Wilford and his wife Marie Sanders Wilford. After her mom and dad divorced when she was two, her mother married her stepdad, Cyril Leroy Nottage, and she continued to be raised as the little princess she was with all her family having very high expectations for her. Listen and learn.

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Sandra Aldridge was one of the first people I noticed when I came to Payne Memorial A.M.E. Sunday School at 6 or 7 years old. She was a preteen who was beautiful and impeccably dressed. She was probably the most popular girl in Sunday School because everybody liked her. I never traveled in her circle because I was too young. But I was always impressed with her. I think you will be too when you hear her very candid story.

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If you are from Baltimore City, chances are your education has been touched by something that Dr. Hayman influenced, proposed, sponsored, or initiated. Having over 60 years of international experience, he has devoted his life to inspiring young people and adults to learn. Listen as he shares his memories of growing up and how basketball played a major role in setting him on his education journey. If you are lucky enough to listen to this when first posted, you need to find your way to Coppin University's Parlett L. Moore Library, 2500 West North Avenue, at 2 p.m. on Sunday, October 5, to hear about his book, Everyone Has A Story To Tell.

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Joseph Yvette is a multitalented artist who has pursued each and every one of those talents in the service of others. Born and raised in Washington, DC, she shares with me memories of growing up in Jim Crow DC and later moving out into the world on her very special journey.

Make every moment count! E-mail me at [email protected] and tell me in 25 words or less why I should interview you.