Pittsburgh civil rights leader Adams 'risked everything' for equality

[Heidi]

Rest in peace, Mr. Adams.
_______________________________________



Pittsburgh civil rights leader Adams 'risked everything' for equality

PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Wednesday, September 9, 2009

The crowd of black marchers, seething on a night in 1968 when race riots ignited around the country, approached a phalanx of white police officers outside the Hill District police station.

They stared at each other, angry and afraid. Into the breach stepped Harvey Adams Jr., a black police sergeant and driving force behind the civil rights movement in Pittsburgh. He ordered the officers into formation, and marched them into the station. The crowd outside dissolved.

While many American cities burned, Adams gave his corner of Pittsburgh a few moments of peace. Adams died Monday night, an unbowed veteran of domestic struggle and foreign war. He was 80.

<SNIP>

Adams' career included 16 years as president of the local NAACP chapter, 12 years as director of the city's Housing Authority Police and more than 30 years as "a force in the African-American community," said Rod Doss, publisher of The New Pittsburgh Courier.

<snip>

They risked everything, including their lives. They put everything on the line," Kendrick said. "He couldn't be intimidated."

During the 1968 riots, Adams emerged as one of the few people able to keep peace.

Read more

Former NAACP leader Harvey Adams Jr. dead at 80

[Solly Mack]

1. K&R

[Heidi]

2. Thank you, Solly Mack.

:hi: