Trachtenberg Office Salutes Black History Month in Lyttonsville

Councilmember Trachtenberg’s Office celebrated Black History Month at the Gwendolyn Coffield Community Center in the Lyttonsville Community of Silver Spring. Trachtenberg staff joined members of the public in viewing the Lyttonsville community’s “Remembering African American Soldiers” exhibit prepared for Black History Month.

The exhibit noted the service of Mr. Phillip Eaglin, a Lyttonsville resident who was born a slave in 1831 and fought for General Grant during the Civil War. Pictures of United States servicemen from the Gaither, Turner and Tracy families in Lyttonsville were also displayed. The exhibit included a copy of the original deed conveying property in 1853 to Samuel Lytton, a freed slave, as well as interesting maps, photographs, and numerous other documents and artifacts.

The program was organized by Charlotte Coffield of the Lyttonsville Civic Association. She is the sister of the Center’s namesake, the late Gwendolyn Coffield. The Gwendolyn E. Coffield Community Center is located at 2450 Lyttonsville Road, Silver Spring, MD.

Alan Bowser, our Chief of Staff, represented Councilmember Trachtenberg at this program.

Celebrating Roscoe Nix

The Trachtenberg Office attended an inspirational tribute to legendary Montgomery County educator and civil rights activist Roscoe Nix on the evening of Thursday March 4th, held at the Roscoe Nix Elementary School in Silver Spring. Among his many friends in attendance were County Executive Isiah Leggett, County Council President Nancy Floreen, Councilmembers Valerie Ervin, George Leventhal and Marc Elrich, former Councilmember Ester Gelman, former Board of Education President Paul Vance, and past Montgomery County NAACP President Linda Plummer. Our Chief of Staff Alan Bowser represented Councilmember Trachtenberg.

From the Roscoe Nix Elementary School website – Roscoe R. Nix has spent most of his life helping those less fortunate and providing a voice for those who may be afraid to speak for themselves. Mr. Nix took on many roles to be that voice. He provided distinguished leadership in public education in Montgomery County for decades. Mr. Nix served on the Montgomery County Board of Education from 1974 to 1978, being only the second African-American to win election. He sought improved educational opportunities and early childhood initiatives to support increased local resources for Head Start, Title I and lower class size in the elementary grades.

Roscoe R. Nix also served as president of the Montgomery County Branch of the NAACP from 1980 to 1990. During his NAACP tenure, he conceived the idea and was instrumental in creating the African American Festival of Academic Excellence, which celebrates academic achievements of African American Students.

Roscoe R. Nix has been married for over 50 years to Emma Nix. They have two daughters and three grandchildren. They continue to reside in Montgomery County.

"Blessings come to people through someone else's help or through some unknown entity. Because of that, it is our obligation to use whatever it is that one of us has to help those who are less fortunate or who may be afraid to speak for themselves."

--Roscoe R. Nix

Visit the website of the Roscoe Nix Elementary School http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/schools/nixes/about/nixbiography.aspx.

Councilmember Trachtenberg Attends Annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Breakfast

Councilmember Trachtenberg attended the 34th annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Breakfast, held at the Bethesda North Marriott Hotel & Conference Center. The Memorial Breakfast was sponsored by the Montgomery County, Maryland Chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc's.

Since its founding on December 4, 1906, Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. has supplied voice and vision to the struggle of African-Americans and people of color around the world. Alpha Phi Alpha, the first intercollegiate Greek-letter fraternity established for African-Americans, was founded at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York by seven college men who recognized the need for a strong bond of Brotherhood among African descendants in this country. The visionary founders, known as the “Jewels” of the Fraternity, are Henry Arthur Callis, Charles Henry Chapman, Eugene Kinckle Jones, George Biddle Kelley, Nathaniel Allison Murray, Robert Harold Ogle, and Vertner Woodson Tandy.

The Fraternity initially served as a study and support group for minority students who faced racial prejudice, both educationally and socially, at Cornell. The Jewel founders and early leaders of the Fraternity succeeded in laying a firm foundation for Alpha Phi Alpha's principles of scholarship, fellowship, good character, and the uplifting of humanity. Alpha Phi Alpha chapters were established at other colleges and universities, many of them historically black institutions, soon after the founding at Cornell. The first Alumni Chapter was established in 1911. While continuing to stress academic excellence among its members, Alpha also recognized the need to help correct the educational, economic, political, and social injustices faced by African-Americans. Alpha Phi Alpha has long stood at the forefront of the African-American community's fight for civil rights through leaders such as: W.E.B. DuBois, Adam Clayton Powell, Jr., Edward Brooke, Martin Luther King, Jr., Thurgood Marshall, Andrew Young, William Gray, Paul Robeson, and many others. True to its form as the “first of firsts,” Alpha Phi Alpha has been interracial since 1945.