2003 Nancy Susan Reynolds Award Winners

2003 award in the category of Advocacy

Josie Ellis

Dillsboro

Josie Ellis spent her childhood in Jackson County. When she returned as an adult, she found it had changed. Migrant workers were doing much of the farm labor – living on isolated farms, existing in inhuman conditions, and working long hours in sometimes dangerous conditions for low pay. As a county healthcare worker, Ellis tried to improve these conditions, but powerful growers pressured officials to stop her. She and her family were threatened, but she persevered, convincing a doctor to help open a clinic and making it possible for Hispanic children to attend public schools. Even so, social injustice and inequity continue. “I would not be in these beautiful mountains if my family had not been immigrants,” Ellis said. “We are a nation of immigrants, and this group deserves the best chance for a better life.”

2003 award in the category of Race Relations

Effley D. Howell Sr.

Kernersville

The life of Effley Howell of Kernersville, winner of the Nancy Susan Award for race relations, has been shaped by his love of African-American history. He is determined to help African Americans understand their heritage and all people understand the importance of human rights and mutual respect. He collects items that depict African Americans both positively and negatively and uses them to illustrate the African-American experience and foster better race relations. He would like to have a permanent home for his collection, but meanwhile takes items with him when he visits classrooms, does diversity training, and makes presentations to civic clubs, churches and other groups. Howell gets his audiences to think about racial prejudice and its consequences. Students participate in simulated sit-ins, demonstrations, and slave auctions. He has mastered names, dates, and places. And when he recites Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream Speech,” he brings tears to their eyes.

2003 award in the category of Personal Service

Mary Mosley

Wilmington

Mary Mosley of Wilmington, Nancy Susan Reynolds Award winner for personal service, proved you can go home again. She returned to Wilmington in 1987, living in The Bottom, the neighborhood she remembered fondly from her childhood. But The Bottom, once a well-kept, safe community, had become one of Wilmington’s most troubled areas. Angry and determined, Mosley began reclaiming it despite threats from thugs who considered the neighborhood theirs. Today, the transformation is remarkable. The Family and Neighborhoods Institute of North Carolina, located in the heart of The Bottom, is a community center where children go for tutoring, seniors gather, and the community holds special events. It is a symbol of good triumphing over evil. Mosley usually is there, six days a week. Five afternoons a week, children come for one-on-one tutoring and study. Last year, all 20 of her students passed their end-of-grade tests. Other success stories abound, and today The Bottom has vitality and community pride.