Happy Mother’s Day

Mom

On this Mothers’ Day we all pay tribute to our mothers. My mother’s reach was well beyond our household. We had to share her with hundreds of her other children. I remember when we were at a luncheon with some Atlanta school officials and the area superintendent had been one of her second graders. He told me that when he once visited her school and addressed her as “Harriet”. Mom immediately scolded him, saying “You are never old enough or big enough to call me “Harriet.” He said that he never made that mistake again. Mom was the first four year graduate of Fort Valley State University. In the school’s tribute to her upon her death, it was noted that she made a contribution to the university from her graduation in 1941 to her death at 101. What was not said was that she did not have the funds to complete her senior year. The university then waived all her costs to have her work in the registrar’s office that last year. Mother never forgot that generosity.

Here is her tribute from her alma mater, Fort Valley State University.

“Harriet Barfield Black, the first Fort Valley State College graduate, died Tuesday, April 14, 2020, following a life highlighted by her steadfast support for Fort Valley State University. The Atlanta resident was 101.

Mrs. Black loved most things passionately. However, her most important loves were (in no particular order) her family, her Atlanta church Friendship Baptist Church, her home church in Gray, Ga – St Paul AME Church, her students over a 52 year career as an educator and her alma mater, Fort Valley State University. She was an avid Wildcat and contributed to Fort Valley every year since her graduation as its first four year student in 1941. She celebrated her 101^st birthday on the Fort Valley campus where she was awarded the key to the city. Mrs. Black had an eidetic memory and could recall the names and personal information of all members of her graduating class of 1941. She loved Fort Valley and attended homecoming games well into her nineties. 

Prior to her death, Mrs. Black became widely known around campus for having made a gift to FVSU every year since 1941, the year she made history by becoming the first student to walk across the stage to receive her bachelor’s degree from FVSC.

Before becoming FVSC’s first graduate, Mrs. Black had earned her teaching certification in 1939 from then Fort Valley Normal and Industrial School only to be called back by the registrar two years later when the State of Georgia designated FVNIS as a college.

After graduating, Mrs. Black would go on to become a second-grade teacher in Atlanta Public Schools, a role she treasured. She would jokingly tell others she stayed in the post for decades because she never got “promoted” to a higher-grade level. During those years, she helped nurture thousands of students and developed a reputation for being a kind-hearted educator.

Family members recalled a story the perfectly illustrated her impact on her students. In her early days of teaching, students didn’t have access to federally funded lunches and had to bring their lunch from home. One student could only bring one biscuit for lunch, and, at lunchtime, she noticed him embarrassedly holding his lunch bag under his desk and eating his biscuit sheepishly so as not to be seen by the other students. She said nothing to the student, but for one week, she brought a single biscuit for her lunch. She elaborately spread a place setting for herself on her desk, placed her biscuit proudly in full display, and made a big show out of eating it and enjoying it. That show mitigated the student’s embarrassment and helped him feel more confidently part of the class. That was important to her, and why her former students have constantly stopped her, thanked her, and updated her on their life’s progress over the years.

Mrs. Black’s name became so synonymous with consistent alumni giving at Fort Valley State that the FVSU Foundation established a society in her honor. Members of the Harriet Barfield Black Society have made the solemn promise of an annual and ongoing charitable commitment to the University. The first members of the HBBS were installed during homecoming 2008.

“We are deeply saddened by the passing of Ms. Harriet Barfield Black,” said Fort Valley State President Paul Jones. “Ms. Black was a dear friend to FVSU and represented the spirit, dedication and loyalty that has allowed this institution to endure and prosper for 125 years. We are forever grateful for the outstanding example of service and giving that she provided and the opportunities she created for generations of Wildcats through her generosity.”

For her 101st birthday last year, she made the trip back to her alma mater to personally visit the institution that had empowered her life’s journey. Dozens of family members joined her and the City of Fort Valley, Georgia’s Pro-Tempore Mayor Lemario Brown, an FVSU alum, presented her with a key to the city. To honor her commitment and dedication to the University and others, President Jones declared that day as “Harriet Barfield Black” day on FVSU’s campus and throughout Wildcat Nation.

President Jones ordered the FVSU flags be lowered to half-staff in recognition of Black’s remarkable legacy at this institution and across the nation.”

RIP Mom. I love you.