Lincoln Ragsdale
| Lincoln Ragsdale | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born | July 27, 1926 Tulsa, Oklahoma |
| Died | June 9, 1995 (aged 68) Paradise Valley, Arizona |
| Occupation | Tuskegee Airman, community organizer |
| Known for | Civil Rights Movement |
| Spouse(s) | Eleanor Ragsdale |
Lincoln Johnson Ragsdale, Sr. (July 27, 1926 – June 9, 1995) was an influential leader in the Phoenix-area Civil Rights Movement. Known for his outspokenness, Ragsdale was instrumental in various reform efforts in the Valley, including voting rights and the desegregation of schools, neighborhoods, and public accommodations.
Ragsdale was born on July 27, 1927 to mortician Hartwell Ragsdale and schoolteacher Onlia Violet Ragsdale (née Perkins) in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and subsequently grew up in Ardmore, Oklahoma. In 1921, Hartwell's mortuary was located in the Greenwood neighborhood of Tulsa, the site of the violent Tulsa race riot, which he narrowly escaped; the business was burned down by a mob along with most other businesses in that black community. Hartwell's oldest brother, William Ragsdale Jr., was a taxi driver who served whites and blacks and was the first of the six brothers, who started the family legacy of funeral service by opening the nation's first African-American funeral business still owned by the same family. Lincoln has said that he grew up hearing about it.
Onlia Ragsdale, the first person in her family to earn a college degree, was the president of the National Association of Colored Women's Oklahoma chapter. Hartwell's mortuary business, relocated to Ardmore, became a success and the Ragsdales lived more comfortably than most black families during the Great Depression. Theodore "Ted" Ragsdale, a cousin of Lincoln, followed in William Jr.'s footsteps to become Oklahoma NAACP president in the 1930s despite the earlier death of his brother. Lincoln's parents instilled in him the value of education. He attended the segregated Douglass High School in Ardmore, and around this time began to develop both his love for flying and his entrepreneurial acumen by earning his own money to pay a local pilot to take him up in his plane regularly.
...
Wikipedia