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Westchester Honors African-American 'Trailblazers'

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. – Olivia J. Hooker may be 97 years old, but she has keen memories of her childhood spent partially in Tulsa, Okla., where she was a victim of the 1921 Tulsa race riots that burned the black neighborhoods to the ground.

“Everything was destroyed that belonged to African-Americans,” she said. “Schools were dynamited.”

Hooker was honored Sunday afternoon at the Westchester County Center as one of six African-American trailblazers by the African-American Advisory Board of Westchester County, which holds the event every year in February in affiliation with Black History Month.

Hooker said her family fled to Topeka after the race riots, although her father stayed behind in Tulsa to rebuild his department store. She made her way to Ohio, where she studied at Ohio State University before pursuing a career in psychology and childhood education. She said she is most proud of the educational opportunities she provided for special education students. “I worked with children to show them they had talent,” she said.

Another honoree who devoted her career to education is Brenda L. Smith, the former superintendent of Mount Vernon Public Schools.

When asked for her supreme achievement, she said, “Since 1969 I’ve had the opportunity to work with children and watch them grow. Many are now teachers and superintendents and I’m proud to have been able to impact their lives.”

The others honored Sunday were Alvin Clayton, Cora Miles, Winston A. Ross and Ernest S. Prince.

Brenda L. Edwards, who chaired the event, said it was the 11th annual program that “highlights the positive contributions of these superlative leaders to the community at large.”

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