Some of my readers are very astute. They have paid close attention to my
writings and might have developed hunches, and or recognized foreshadowing. So
I will confirm what a small fraction of what my insightful followers already
know. Montford Point Marine Clifford Primus had an older brother who was a
Tuskegee Airmen.
From www.tuskegee.edu:
The Tuskegee Experience, Documented Original Tuskegee Airmen (DOTA) is anyone--man
or woman, military or civilian, black or white-- who served at Tuskegee Army
Airfield or in any of the programs stemming from the "Tuskegee
Experience" between the years 1941-1949, is considered to be a documented
Original Tuskegee Airman (DOTA).
So while my father was making history as a part of the Nation's First Black
Marine, and also in the first combat battalion, the 51st, my uncle, the late
Dr. Jay Primus, (1918-1998) was making history at the same time.
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| Source:wwwlbcanaacp.org |
As a young child growing up, I would always observe my father and Uncle
Jay, joking and carrying on. Uncle Jay was the oldest of my father's brothers,
so I imagine that Dad looked up to him, as younger kids turn to their older
brother and sister for guidance. The African American Community in the Primus Family hometown of Daytona
Beach was a cohesive group. Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune, a member of Franklin
Delano Roosevelt's "Black Cabinet", provided a beacon of hope to the
local residents. There were teachers that cared about student learning and
various churches with dynamic preachers. Everyone knew everybody and whose
child you were.
Dad and his siblings attended the segregated schools in Daytona Beach,
Florida: Cypress Creek Elementary and Campbell High School. He remembers his
teachers fondly, and several days ago admitted to being somewhat of a class
clown. Books were hand me downs from white students that were given to the
Negro students. This was usually after the white school officials deemed the
books unacceptable. Dad walked to his elementary school, which was not too far
from his house. He recalls other students that had to get up extra early and
walk miles to school. White students were bused.
Clifford Primus is the only surviving member of his graduating class at
Campbell High School. His classmate, the late Yvonne Scarlett Golden, became mayor of Daytona Beach. She was salutatorian of his class, and Paula Pittman was valdictorian, dad reports. In any event, dad's classmate became mayor of Daytona Beach, Florida in
her late seventies, after spending time as an education advocate for
minorities in San Francisco, CA and a career as a principal. Whenever Dad spoke to the late Mrs. Golden, the two would tease each other and talk about the old days.
But back to my Uncle Jay. He was born in 1918, making him five years older
than my dad. Jay played football in high school and stood about six feet five. Like
most of the Primus men, he was handsome and tall. Uncle Jay attended Johnson C. Smith College in Charlotte, North Carolina, a Historically Black College, and
played football. Dad stated that his father, the landscaper, worked extra hours to help pay Uncle Jay's college tuition. He also indicated that he knew of only several young men (one being the son of a merchant) who was able to attend Johnson C. Smith during those tough economic times.
Sometimes Uncle Jay would visit our hometown in Windsor,
Connecticut, and swing by the Hartford residence of Doc Hurley's. Hurley was an
athlete that played football against my uncle in college. Doc Hurley played
football for Virginia State, and is well known in the Greater Hartford, CT area
for community service and his famous Doc Hurley Basketball Tournament. Uncle
Jay would also visit other Tuskegee Airmen in the area during his
visits.
I always treasured the insightful wisdom that my Uncle Jay imparted. It was never long and tedious, but straightforward and to the point. I would later ask myself, "But how does he know?" He was always on track.
Like the Montford Point Marines, The Tuskegee Airmen had to be the
brightest. My Uncle Jay later went on to attend Howard University's College of
Dentistry, in Washington, D.C (It is the fifth oldest dental school in the
U.S.; 1881) and settled in Elyria, Ohio where he spent the majority of his
life. He was also an artist, and even inspired me to attend Spelman College in
Atlanta, GA, where his daughters attended. Spelman is a private, all female
HBCU founded in 1881 by two white female missionaries.
Uncle Jay's younger daughter, the late Dr. Jan Primus, (1959-2002) was
featured in Sisters in Science: Conversations with Black Women Scientists by Diann Jordan, 2006. The book
describes African American Women who made significant strides in science. Dr.
Jann Primus attended Massachusettes Institute of Technology (M.I.T., Cambridge,
MA) for her Doctorate in Biochemistry and later taught science at our
undergraduate Alma mata, Spelman College.
My cousin Jann was also a member of Spelman's Board of Trustees.
While matriculating at Spelman, fellow students would proclaim, "Desiree, I like your
cousin and all, but she is killing me in biology." I chuckled,
remembering how a teenaged, bespectacled Jann once sat at a wedding reception engrossed
in a thick book, while everyone was dancing to R&B and early
disco music.
Uncle Jay also was the conduit for another important event in my father's
life. However, that would be several years later....
TWO MEDAL OF HONOR MEMBERS IN ONE IMMEDIATE FAMILY. How rare is that in
American history? I am not a statistician or a data cruncher but one
does not need to be scientist to conclude that it is indeed extremely unique.
Preliminary research reveals that there are only about ten. This would make Clifford
Primus and the late Dr. Jay Primus the first African American brothers.
There are Three African American Military Groups that received Medal of
Honors: Buffalo Soldiers, Montford Point Marines, and The Tuskegee Airmen.
The Primus family that lived in Daytona Beach, Florida produced TWO members in
one immediate family!
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| Source: www.uvm.edu |
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| Source: marineparentsinc.com |
Notes: (1)Montford Point Marines existed between the same years as the Tuskegee
Experience, 1941-1949.
(2) Buffalo Soldiers were established by Congress as the first peacetime all
Black regiments in the regular US Army, (1866-1951).They were used in American
Indian Wars, Spanish American War, World War I, World War II, and also to
patrol National Parks such as Yosemite (See Invisible Men: Buffalo Soldiers
of the Sierra Nevada by Shelton Johnson). The famous song by Bob Marley,
"Buffalo Soldier" was a tribute to them.
(3) A notable alumni of Johnson C.
Smith is Albert Manley, class of 1930,
who was President of Spelman College, Atlanta, Georgia, from 1953-1976. Despite
the pernicious racism that existed after slavery was abolished, many of the
HBCUs listed on this page were established by white individuals and received
financial backing by whites. Additionally, these institutions of higher
learning have produced America's most successful and famous African Americans
and are deemed competitive with high academic rankings.
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