Against the Grain
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$54.95 AGAINST THE GRAIN ABOUT THE BOOK The first black educator at Memorial Junior High School in Logan Heights was a young, idealistic music teacher who dressed up every day like she was going someplace special. To her, she was. When Helen Nelson accepted the Memorial position in the 1940s, her The Great Depression. World War II. Pernicious, white colleagues chided her, asking, pervasive bigotry. A dire scarcity of materials, men and “Why would you teach there? The kids – most alarmingly – money for construction. Internecine are uneducable. Throwaways. They squabbles. An unexpected change of architects mid- won’t amount to anything.” stream. A frantic, last-minute search for a suitable Memorial Principal William J. Oakes, a white director. And, oh no – just when the initial facility of its man, did not agree with that derogatory assessment. kind in the region was scheduled to open, the still-unmet Nor did the Boys Club of San Diego’s enthusiastic need for a chain link fence required to encircle this early supporters. Key elected officials, influential civic edifice embedded in a high-crime, gang-infested area. leaders and philanthropists joined together to galvanize How did the Boys Club of San Diego manage to get construction of the Club. They helped propel it forward built in 1942? And how, operating initially with a skeleton as this first Boys Club in San Diego County surmounted staff and sans adequate furnishings, combined with obstacle after obstacle in its struggle to survive. ever-present monetary challenges, was it able to begin In segregated San Diego, the Boys Club became turning boys into men? a rare and shining beacon of integration; a mixture The compelling tale of Historical Landmark No. of blacks, whites, Hispanics, Filipinos and recent 1114, the oldest continuously operating Boys & Girls Seventy-five years ago, in an era of oppressive discrimination, immigrants from around the world. They were united by Clubhouse in Southern California, is a powerful story in a determined group established the Boys Club of San Diego, poverty and society’s marginalization of them. which all San Diegans can take pride. Outside the Club, financial hardship, broken homes providing disadvantaged boys of diverse ethnicities with guidance and support and suffocating racism beat down the kids daily. Inside their safe harbor, external issues disappeared. Fun and to become some of the greatest athletes and leaders San Diego has ever produced. by Marilyn Campbell friendship beckoned. Opportunities to grow and achieve uplifted the kids daily. Today, alumni whose lives were changed at the William J. Oakes Branch Uneducable? Not amounting to anything? Consider of what is today Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater San Diego the people who came out of the Club! Esteemed public servants like Chief Probation Officer Cecil Steppe and strive to better the lives of a new generation of Logan Heights children. Fire Chief Robert Osby. Educators like California Teacher of the Year Stan Murphy. Sports legends like Charlie Powell, Floyd Robinson and NFL referee Mike Carey. And TWO federal judges: Earl Gilliam and Napoleon Jones. Inside are their stories and the story of benevolent San Diegans who went against the grain to help them AGAINST THE GRAIN and hundreds of thousands of boys and girls succeed $54.95 over the past 75 years. ISBN 978-1-5323-2073-6 55495> by Marilyn Campbell 9 781532 320736 OF GREATER SAN DIEGO $54.95 AGAINST THE GRAIN ABOUT THE BOOK The first black educator at Memorial Junior High School in Logan Heights was a young, idealistic music teacher who dressed up every day like she was going someplace special. To her, she was. When Helen Nelson accepted the Memorial position in the 1940s, her The Great Depression. World War II. Pernicious, white colleagues chided her, asking, pervasive bigotry. A dire scarcity of materials, men and “Why would you teach there? The kids – most alarmingly – money for construction. Internecine are uneducable. Throwaways. They squabbles. An unexpected change of architects mid- won’t amount to anything.” stream. A frantic, last-minute search for a suitable Memorial Principal William J. Oakes, a white director. And, oh no – just when the initial facility of its man, did not agree with that derogatory assessment. kind in the region was scheduled to open, the still-unmet Nor did the Boys Club of San Diego’s enthusiastic need for a chain link fence required to encircle this early supporters. Key elected officials, influential civic edifice embedded in a high-crime, gang-infested area. leaders and philanthropists joined together to galvanize How did the Boys Club of San Diego manage to get construction of the Club. They helped propel it forward built in 1942? And how, operating initially with a skeleton as this first Boys Club in San Diego County surmounted staff and sans adequate furnishings, combined with obstacle after obstacle in its struggle to survive. ever-present monetary challenges, was it able to begin In segregated San Diego, the Boys Club became turning boys into men? a rare and shining beacon of integration; a mixture The compelling tale of Historical Landmark No. of blacks, whites, Hispanics, Filipinos and recent 1114, the oldest continuously operating Boys & Girls Seventy-five years ago, in an era of oppressive discrimination, immigrants from around the world. They were united by Clubhouse in Southern California, is a powerful story in a determined group established the Boys Club of San Diego, poverty and society’s marginalization of them. which all San Diegans can take pride. Outside the Club, financial hardship, broken homes providing disadvantaged boys of diverse ethnicities with guidance and support and suffocating racism beat down the kids daily. Inside their safe harbor, external issues disappeared. Fun and to become some of the greatest athletes and leaders San Diego has ever produced. by Marilyn Campbell friendship beckoned. Opportunities to grow and achieve uplifted the kids daily. Today, alumni whose lives were changed at the William J. Oakes Branch Uneducable? Not amounting to anything? Consider of what is today Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater San Diego the people who came out of the Club! Esteemed public servants like Chief Probation Officer Cecil Steppe and strive to better the lives of a new generation of Logan Heights children. Fire Chief Robert Osby. Educators like California Teacher of the Year Stan Murphy. Sports legends like Charlie Powell, Floyd Robinson and NFL referee Mike Carey. And TWO federal judges: Earl Gilliam and Napoleon Jones. Inside are their stories and the story of benevolent San Diegans who went against the grain to help them AGAINST THE GRAIN and hundreds of thousands of boys and girls succeed $54.95 over the past 75 years. ISBN 978-1-5323-2073-6 55495> by Marilyn Campbell 9 781532 320736 OF GREATER SAN DIEGO AGAINST THE GRAIN Bobby Allen and Alvin Jones at the Boys Club of San Diego; late 1940s. ii AGAINST THE GRAIN AGAINST THE GRAIN The Story of the First Boys Club in San Diego County, Established in 1942 by Marilyn Campbell OF GREATER SAN DIEGO We greatly appreciate the many people who contributed their time, memories and photos regarding what was originally known as the Boys Club of San Diego. We could not have created AGAINST THE GRAIN without their input. We are also thankful for the assistance of Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater San Diego staff: Michelle Malin, Ricardo Sandoval, Scott Lamb and Jon Greene. A special thank you goes to the Oakes Alumni Association, whose members provided a wealth of vintage material and pointed the direction to in-depth research. Information has been sourced from news publications, historical documents, personal interviews, written recollections and anecdotal items. Sources are listed in the Bibliography. We have made every effort to ascertain correct facts and figures, and to verify that all information contained herein is accurate. If we have missed the mark in any instance, we sincerely apologize. Funding for this book was provided by the generosity of an anonymous donor. Publisher: Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater San Diego. SDYouth.org Book Design: Tara Lee Torburn ISBN #978-1-5323-2073-6 FIRST EDITION Printed December 2016 Copyright © 2016 by Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater San Diego. All Rights Reserved. Printed in the United States of America. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission of Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater San Diego, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. For information, call 858-866-0591 or email [email protected]. iv v AGAINST THE GRAIN AGAINST THE GRAIN In 1946, I was a ten-year-old troubled kid from a broken home who could not get my bearings. One day, I happened to walk by the Boys Club of San Diego, which had opened in 1942 on Marcy Avenue in Logan Heights. A staff member came up to me and said in a friendly voice, “Hi son! How’re you doing?” My life began to change for the better that day. I hope you enjoy reading about how the Club changed my life and the lives of so many other kids. v AGAINST THE GRAIN ORIGINAL BOYS CLUB CODE I believe in God and the right to worship according to my own faith and religion. I believe in America and the American way of life... in the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. I believe in fair play, honesty and sportsmanship. I believe in my Boys Club, which stands for these things. The Boys Club Code was written by Aaron H. Fahringer, an executive with the Boys Clubs of America who was actively involved with the establishment of Boys Clubs on the West Coast created during the mid-1930s through the mid-1950s, including the Boys Club of San Diego in 1942.