When the Alabama State Conference of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) took place earlier this month, Russellville resident Rev. Charles Dale was right in the middle of the action.
The annual event commemorates the anniversary of “Bloody Sunday,” the Selma-to-Montgomery march and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. This year's theme was Celebrating the Bridges We've Crossed: It Takes Leadership and Courage.
Dale serves on the state executive committee that plans the three-day event.
With activities both in Selma and Montgomery, the annual weekend features more than 40 events for participants.
At the March 3rd gala, Dale helped present awards to the 2018 recipients. Included among the honorees were men and women who staged a 'sit-in' in Washington D.C., to protest the appointment of Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions as the U.S. Attorney General.
Several other trail blazers in the civil rights movement were recognized, including Dr. Wendell Wilkie Gunn, the first African-American citizen to enroll and graduate from Florence State Teachers College (now the University of North Alabama). Gunn enrolled in September of 1963 and graduated two years later.
UNA's Board of Trustees recently voted to rename the UNA commons building to the “Wendell W. Gunn University Commons.”
Gunn's courage to break the color barrier in 1963 opened the door for many more young men and women to follow the trail he blazed, Dale said.
Gunn was surprised and humbled by the honor.
“The new Wendell Gunn Commons will stand out on the UNA campus as a permanent reminder of the university's expanded mission, bringing focus and gravitational pull for our community to bond and to embrace the university experience,” Gunn said.
“With a humble heart, I accept this honor on behalf of the many people who have worked to make this journey a success,” he added.
Other NAACP honorees included Rep. John Lewis, Rep. Terri Sewell, civil rights attorney Fred David Gray, Autherine Lucy Foster (first student to integrate the University of Alabama), Jerry and Bernice Burnet, Tracey Williams and Jerry-Pule Mokolo for work on the association's website.
Dale was also honored with a plaque thanking him for serving on the planning and executive committees.
