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"The History Makers"
Tuskegee Airman Dabney N. Montgomery Will be at St. Charles on Friday, September 23.Dabney N. Montgomery was born in Selma, Alabama on April 18, 1923, to Dred and Lula Anderson Montgomery. Mr. Montgomery was drafted into the Army Air Corps (now the United States Air Force), during World War II. He served as a ground crewman with the Tuskegee Airmen in Southern Italy from 1943 to 1945 and was awarded a Good Conduct Medal, the WWII Victory Medal, a Service Award, a Basic Driver and Mechanic Medal, the Honorable Service Medal, and the European African Middle Eastern Service Medal with two Bronze Stars. On April 11, 2006, President George W. Bush signed a Bill into law to award all Documented Original Tuskegee Airmen, the United States Congressional Gold Medal of Honor; it was awarded on Thursday, March 29, 2007. In 1946, he enrolled into Livingstone College, Salisbury, North Carolina [to continue his education] and received a B.A. degree in Religious Education, in 1949. He is a Charter Member of the Sphinx Club and was one of the first to be admitted into the Gamma Mu Chapter of the Alpha Phi Alpha [AŘA] Fraternity. He joined Mother African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church (the oldest Black Church in the State of New York, organized in 1796), Harlem, New York, in June 1955. He immediately began to serve as Sunday School Teacher [Junior Department] and, in early 1970, was appointed Director of Youth serving in both capacities, until 1999. In July 1996, he authored a Resolution to the General Conference of the A.M.E. Zion Church Denomination, proposing that ‘The Day of Pentecost’ be incorporated in their Book of Discipline. It was passed and now stands as a day of celebration throughout all A.M.E. Zion Churches. He has served and presently serves in many capacities, i.e., General Chairperson of Mother Zion’s Bicentennial Anniversary celebration, October 1996; charter member of the past organization: 159 West 136th Street Parsonage Building Fund of Mother Zion; Life Member, the W.H. & O.M.S.; member and chaplain, Class no. 4; member, the Board of Stewards; member, the Board of Directors of James Varick Community Center; and, member, the Lay Council. He is Mother Zion’s Church Historian and conducts church tours. In 1999, the Church was featured in a PBS [Channel 13] documentary entitled, "A Walk through Harlem," hosted by Barry Lewis and David Hartman in which Mr. Montgomery cites the history of the Church. On Sunday, March 5, 2006, the men’s committee bestowed upon him a double honor: (1) The Paul Robeson Award of Excellence; and, (2) future plans for the home of the Church archives and museum to be named the Dabney N. Montgomery Art Gallery and Exhibition Hall. He was an activist in the course of the Civil Rights Movement and marched with the late Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. throughout the [50-mile] March from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, March 21-25, 1965 and served as one of Dr. King’s bodyguards. In December 2006, he was selected by the Livingstone College National Alumni Association to receive the Prestigious Outstanding Alumni Award; it was presented on February 2, 2007 by the National Alumni Council of the United Negro College Fund in Nashville, Tennessee. On February 4, 2010, he was inducted into the United Negro College Fund “Share Your Love” and Service in Celebration of Livingstone College Leaders Hall of Fame. These distinguished awards recognize Alumni who have made significant contributions to their alma mater, community, and the UNCF. Mr. Montgomery is involved in the Harlem community and is a member of Community Board No. 10, where he serves on three sub-committees: Parks and Recreation, Inter-Religious Community, and the Executive Committee. As a member of the Parks and Recreation Committee, he wrote a base letter to the Parks Department of the City of New York, as a proposal to recognize Central Park West at 85th and 86th Streets as the historical site of African American settlers in the early 1820s, which was then Seneca Village. Mother Zion was, for a short time, located there. The settlers were evicted in 1857 under the City’s ‘eminent domain’ project. A permanent sign now stands marking the site. He is chaplain of the West 136th Street [200th] Block Association. Mr. Montgomery has received numerous awards for his community involvement and activism: namely, Proclamations from the Presidents of the Borough of Manhattan C. Virginia Fields [April 18, 1998], Scott M. Stringer [September 6, 2006], The Council, City of New York [February 13, 2008]. On Thursday, April 2, 2009, the National Action Network bestowed the Social Action Award for his civil rights activism; Thursday, June 4, 2009, in Washington, DC, Congresswoman Carolyn B. Maloney of New York entered into the Congressional Record (Proceedings and Debates of the 111th Congress) a sequence of his military and civil rights experience, declaring him an ‘American Hero;’ and on Friday, June 5, 2009, at the Annual Founders’ Day Luncheon of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters Union, Local 237, Gregory Floyd, president, presented him their Trailblazer Award. Mr. Montgomery is married to Amelia A. [nee: Neely] Montgomery. They have no children.
Paige Parker-Martin with Dee Dee Trotter at the Adidas Grand Prix
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