Welfare Workers Club members honored for 218 years of service
Last weekend, in front of a packed house at the Dickey-Givens Community Center, some of Taylor’s living legends of African-American history were honored with plaques, songs, memories—and even some joyful tears.
As part of the Welfare Workers Club’s 2024 Juneteenth celebrations, four long-serving members of the club—including Lessie Givens, Darlene Clayton, Johnnye Mae Patterson and Delores Hennington—were granted Emeritus Board Member status for one of the oldest Black organizations in Taylor on Saturday, June 15, to recognize their combined 218 years of service.
“Let us remember those who paved the way for our brighter future,” said WWC Vice President Doris Corley. “This is a commemoration of past symbols of hope and progress.”
The WWC was organized in 1935 by Magnolia P. Dickey, the wife of Dr. James L. Dickey, as a health and civic-minded club for African-American women. The nonprofit organization’s achievements include negotiating three public hydrants for impoverished community members who could not afford to pay $1.30 for water during the Great Depression, sponsoring a daycare during the 1930s, launching a typhoid vaccination campaign, as well as raising the necessary funds to construct what would later come to be known as The Dickey– Givens Center, named after the organization’s founder as well as Givens, who stepped up to become third president of the Club from 1970-1984. “You ladies are a blessing to us,” said Janet Curtis, a WWC board member, to the honorees in attendance, including Givens, Clayton and Patterson. “You shine so brightly. Thank you for what you have done for us and for those of us who follow in your footsteps.”
The four honorees share a common background of active community service as well as a strong Christian faith.
Clayton, who is 84, served in the Head Start program from 1971 to 2004, starting as a teacher’s aide before becoming a teacher herself and then later serving as associate director. She has been a member of the WWC for 40 years.
Hennington, who is 77, taught reading at Taylor Middle School for more than 30 years and was appointed by former Mayor Don Hill to the Parks and Recreation Board. She has been a member of the WWC for 42 years.
Patterson, whose family endured the lynching of her father in the 1930s, worked in a funeral home and credits her mother and God for teaching her love and forgiveness.
Patterson, 88, has been a member of the club for 62 years.
Givens, who is 97, served for 36-years as a second grade teacher at an assortment of Taylor schools, including O.L. Price, Northside Elementary and more, and was the first teacher from Eastside School to begin working in a newly desegregated system. In addition to serving as president of the WWC for more than a decade, she also managed the community center for many years. Givens has been an active member of the club for 74 years.
Featured speaker Tony Sorrells, pastor of Mt. Calvary Missionary Baptist Church that both Patterson and Hennington have attended, noted the dedication and service of the honorees.
“We just cannot give enough thanks to people who go the extra mile to work with our children,” Sorrells said. “Sister Patterson worked three jobs … she helped people with disabilities… She might not get a statue, but I guarantee you, God knows. Your presence here is a testament that serving the Lord really does pay off.”
Mayor Dwayne Ariola, who was born in 1966, and is now the third Latino mayor of Taylor, said he was able to achieve this milestone because of other organizations like the Welfare Workers Club, which sued the city to allow for more diverse representation on the City Council.
“People tell me today how racial Taylor was, (but) I never saw it,” Ariola said. “It was because of groups like the Welfare Workers Clubs that fought for our rights … Organizations like the Welfare Workers Club are Taylor’s greatest generation. That is 218 years of hard work to make our community one. And it’s a daily fight. I get it. But there are (now) laws that prohibit racial discrimination, and it’s because of communities like this that will not take ‘No’ for an answer.”
After the program, which also included singing “Lift Every Voice and Sing” — the Black National Anthem, “This Little Light of Mine” and a “Change is going to Come,” as well as a rendition of Langston Hugh’s poem “Mother to Son,” Givens and the other honorees expressed their appreciation for the ceremony.
“It’s amazing,” Givens said. “I’m so grateful.”
