The Richmond-Madison County (Ky.) branch of the NAACP honored Berea College at the recent Freedom Fund Banquet.
The NAACP recognized Berea College because it was the first interracial and co-educational college in the South, and for its inclusive Christian character expressed in its motto, “God has made of one blood all peoples of the earth.”
The 2019 honorees included six individuals or couples, one organization and one institution, including Otha and Pauline Chenault; Frank Parks; Leora Hocker; Joretta Hill; Elizabeth Denny and Donald Fields; Open Concern, an outreach ministry of First Christian Church; and Berea College.
Sharyn Mitchell, a research specialist in the Berea College archives, accepted the award on behalf of the College. In her remarks, Mitchell, who is a Berea College alumna, noted parallels between the missions of Berea College and the NAACP. She also pointed out that one of the charter members of the NAACP, Julia Amanda Britton Hooks, was an early Berea College graduate, faculty member at Berea, and the grandmother of Benjamin Hooks a Civil Rights leader who later became the executive director of the NAACP.