To the Editor:
Every February, I learn new things about the contributions of African Americans who helped shape the nation. Let’s play the game “did you know” about African American history in Cape May County.
Did you know that Harriet Tubman worked in the City of Cape May during the 1850s to raise money for some of her rescue missions into the South? Did you know that the last black congressman of the Reconstruction Era, George Henry White, played an important role in the founding of Whitesboro?
Did you know that the famous stage actor, singer, and activist, Paul Robeson, performed at the opening of a black USO in Cape May in 1943? Did you know that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. gave a speech in Cape May just three years after the Montgomery bus boycott?
Did you know that Flip Wilson who had a top-rated television program between 1970 and 1974 spent a part of his youth in Whitesboro? Did you know that nationally known artists such as Sammy Davis Jr., the Supremes, and the Four Tops performed in Wildwood during the 1960s?
Did you know that the professional football player, Randy Beverly, from Wildwood, played an instrumental role in the New York Jets epic Super Bowl victory in 1969?
Were you aware of these facts? Do some research and see how many other facts you can come up with. Don’t sit on your knowledge. Share them with your kids, grandkids, neighbors, and friends. Knowledge is power!
– THEODORE BRYAN
Court House
