Linda Grace Morris: Baltimore Boomer Tales from the Hood
Baltimore was the place to be in the 1950s and 1960s, bustling with all the industry and social change about to come. For African Americans, it was a jobs magnet with all the major manufacturers. Those living in Turner Station and Sparrows Point, the company town built to host the Bethlehem Steel Company, had the highest per capita income for African Americans in the nation. Cherry Hill, the only planned community built for African Americans by the Federal Government, lifted many Baltimore Boomers into the middle class. This podcast walks down memory lane through the neighborhoods and good times--despite segregation--that those growing up there can never forget.
Linda Grace Morris: Baltimore Boomer Tales from the Hood
Leon Bailey: Navy's First African American Wrestling Champion in New England
When Leon Bailey won first place for his wrestling division weighing 136 ½ pounds at the Quonset Point Navy Base in Rhode Island in 1964, he became the first African American to win a Navy wrestling championship in New England. Leon had been preparing to box and wrestle all his life in the recreation centers and gyms of East Baltimore. When he found out that he could execute those skills for the Navy, he signed up for active duty during the Vietnam era and continued honing his craft. Wrestling for the Navy became his dream. It took three years for Leon’s dream to materialize, but he never gave up hope that it would.
Leon has been recognized for his accomplishments across many areas of his life including: the National Wrestling Hall of Fame, Outstanding American From the State of Maryland, October 2017; the Carver Vocational Technical High School Class of 1962 Distinguished Service Award, May 2000; Carver Alumni Award, 2005-2006; Roots of Scouting, Inc., February 22, 2014, in Recognition of Outstanding Character, Achievements, and Demonstrated Leadership in Service to Scouting in the African American Community; Navy Wrestling, 64-65, 65-66, and Navy Boxing 65; and Guest Speaker Award, 2017, Baltimore City JROTC Military Ball.
Make every moment count! E-mail me at Lindagracemorris@gmail.com and tell me in 25 words or less why I should interview you.
