History
Corona-East Elmhurst NAACP Branch History Through the Years
We honor all Presidents and Officers of the Corona-East Elmhurst Branch, Past and Present,
whose dedication and service made the Branch one of the outstanding branches in the NAACP Family.
NAACP Corona East
Elmhurst Branch
was Established
in 1940
The Corona Branch of the NAACP was established in our community in 1940. Attorney Anton Slaughter, Sr., was elected President of the group. The organization met at the office of Dr. Reginald Chantrelle, 101-16 Northern Blvd. until 1943. For three years, for lack of a central meeting place, disillusionment and almost complete abandonment followed. With the election of Mr. Horton Smith to the presidency, a charter was given. In 1944, James Gadson became president.
The Branch became the Corona-East Elmhurst NAACP in 1946.
After the name change, the above problems still existed and the organization also now seemed doomed because there was no leadership. Immediately, Harry T. Stewart was elected president and during his seven years in service, he helped to build up the morale of the members by focusing on the purpose of the organization. – The following president, John E. Evans, served for two years. The next president was Carl Harris.
During the following years, the faithful, honest and willing efforts of Mrs. Alice Reed carried the branch through its most trying moments. Among other activities, she served as Vice President and was Treasurer of the branch to 1958. She gave twelve years of exceptional service to the organization as its treasurer.
The Corona-East Elmhurst Branch of the NAACP held its FIRST PUBLIC “MASS RALLY” in. It was initiated by Harry T. Stewart, who was at that time the Membership Chairman. The purpose of the meeting was to commemorate the May 17, 1954 United States Supreme Court school desegregation decision – Brown v. Board of Education. Mr. Stewart often said, “The Brown v. Board of Education laid the groundwork for the civil rights laws”. The meeting also highlighted the Spring Membership Campaign.
A meeting was held at the Corona Congregational Church. The Reverend Robert Sherard was the Pastor of the Church and Attorney James Robinson, Judge of the New York State Supreme Court, was president of the Branch. The rally call of this meeting was SCATTER-SITE HOUSING and specifically the FOREST HILLS PROJECT. The concept of building low-income housing in middle-income neighborhoods caused fury across the city. There were court battles and angry picketing. The Branch was very active in its support for the project by joining in demonstrations and picketing at the proposed site. Rev. Timothy Mitchell, Pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church, Flushing, was one of the leaders in the fight for this project. Mario M. Cuomo was the mediator for the housing controversy and informed this cause to the public for the first time. Mr. Cuomo would later serve three terms as the Governor of New York State.
Over the years, the Branch has been privileged to have many distinguished speakers address the current issues affecting our community. For our first meeting the keynote speakers were: Mr. Eugene Lattimer, Director of Equal Opportunity, New York City Housing Authority and Mr. John A. Morsell, Assistant Executive Director of the National NAACP. In our second year, we were honored to have as our speaker, ROY WILKINS, Executive Director of the NAACP.