Tribute journey will take Exhibit looks at Carl Winfield to Tenn., Ala. Chesterfield County’s
African-American schools FROM STAFF REPORTS
CHESTERFIELD — The face of Audrey Ross, a member of the Chesterfield Historical Society of Virginia, radiated pride as she pointed to a young boy in a blackand-white photograph of county school children from the 1920s. Despite the fact that the all AfricanAmerican Midlothian Elementary School class in the picture stood outside of a very worn and small building that served as their school, they were dressed in their best. The young boy was Walter Ross Sr., who would later become the father of Audrey Ross. Walter Ross Sr. was a product of a segregated school system mandated by the Virginia Constitution in 1870. PATRICK KANE/PROGRESS-INDEX PHOTO
Carl Winfield speaks about his walk from Suffolk to Petersburg to commemorate the Poor People’s Campaign. FROM STAFF REPORTS
PETERSBURG — Carl Winfield, known for embarking on a 131-mile march from Petersburg to Washington in 2009 in honor of the late Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., is planning a tribute that will take his feet even further. Winfield plans to embark on a nearmonth-long journey in March that will take him from Petersburg to Memphis, Tenn., and then from Birmingham to Montgomery, Ala., before coming back to Petersburg. Winfield also said the march is in honor of the late Nelson Mandela. “I can’t forget my African friend,” he said. Winfield plans to set off from Good Shepherd Baptist Church on March 7 and to complete the trip on the first of April. He estimates that his first pit stop will be Danville. The 2009 walk was meant to commemorate a march from Petersburg to Washington which King originally planned as part of his Poor People’s Campaign. In 1968, Winfield was asked by the Southern Christian Leadership Conference to
help organize the march, which was postponed when King decided to go to Memphis, Tenn., where an African-American man had been killed in a demonstration of sanitation workers. King never made it to Petersburg; he was assassinated on April 4, 1968, the day the march was to begin. More recently, the 66-year-old Winfield honored King in April 2013 when he walked from Suffolk to Petersburg, and then from Petersburg to the Richmond International Airport. The walk from Suffolk to Petersburg took 13½ hours. Winfield said the portion of his latest walk that spans from Virginia to Tennessee is in honor of the Memphis sanitation strike. Winfield said more people should honor King’s mission to advocate for the poor. “We don’t talk about the poor anymore. That is something we should always talk about,” he said. It’s not just about black people, it’s about all people. ... Someone has suffered in the world and is still suffering.”
Walter Ross Sr. became a licensed tailor and owned a shop in Chesterfield. He later motivated his daughter to reach for more. “He used to say, ‘I walked 3 miles to school everyday, so you’re going to college,’ ” Audrey Ross said. She used to wonder why he would say this; later in her life it became apparent why her father and others in his generation were so insistent. “They realized how important it was sacrificing and walking miles. In spite of it, they achieved a lot,” she said. The African-American History Committee of the Chesterfield Historical Society of Virginia, worked to gather older photographs of county residents, depicting Audrey Ross’s father and others. Please see EXHIBIT, Page 8
HONORING OUR MUTUAL HERITAGE AND HISTORY! I am the first African-American Female Dentist from Battle Creek, Michigan, which is the final resting place of Sojourner Truth, and my hometown. Now open and accepting new patients! Friendly, Patient-Centered Orthodontic Care for Families in Chester & throughout the Tri-Cities Area
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(804) 454-1888 12230 Iron Bridge Rd., Suite B • Chester, VA 23831 www.wb-orthodontics.com The Progress-Index, Petersburg, VA Sunday, February 16, 2014
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