Leon Howard Sullivan (1922 - 2001)

Born 16 Oct 1922 in Charleston, Kanawha, West Virginia, United States

Died 24 Apr 2001 at age 78 in Scottsdale, Maricopa, Arizona, United States

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Biography

Leon Sullivan is Notable.

Leon Sullivan was awarded the Spingarn Medal for outstanding achievement by an African American.

Leon Sullivan was a Freemason and a member of Most Worshipful Prince Hall Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania.

Leon Sullivan was a Baptist minister, and a civil rights leader and social activist focusing on the creation of job training opportunities for African Americans. A longtime General Motors Board Member, and an antiApartheid activist.^[1]

Sullivan moved to Philadelphia in 1950 and became the pastor of Zion Baptist Church at the corner of Broad and Venango streets until he retired in 1988. In 1964, Sullivan founded Opportunities Industrialization Centers (OIC) of America in an abandoned jail house in North Philadelphia. The program took individuals with little hope and few prospects and offered them job training and instruction in life skills and then helped place them into jobs. The movement quickly spread around the nation.

After establishing the OIC in the mid-1960s, the next major undertaking was the fulfillment of Rev. Sullivan's dream of building the nation's first black- owned and developed shopping center, to be named Progress Plaza. Progress Plaza, which is located on Broad Street, one of Philadelphia's main thoroughfares, was dedicated in 1968 before a crowd of 10,000 well-wishers. In 1971, Sullivan became the first African American to join General Motors’ board of directors, where he served until 1991. While he was on the board, Sullivan took his fight against racial injustice both domestically and Internationally.

In 1977, he drafted the Sullivan Principles, guidelines for American businesses operating in South Africa during apartheid, a system of institutionalized racial segregation. The Sullivan Principles called for desegregation on factory floors, fair employment practices; equal pay for equal work; promotion of more Blacks to supervisory positions; improved housing, schooling, recreation and health facilities for workers.

During his lifetime he was also awarded honorary doctorate degrees from over 50 colleges and universities and served as a board member of General Motors, Mellon Bank and the Boy Scouts of America. He was awarded The Presidential Medal of Freedom, by President George H. W. Bush, 1991 ^[2] He was the son of Charlie Sullivan and Helen Truhart.^[3]

In 1944 he married the former Grace Banks.^[4] The marriage record gives his wife’s name only as “Banks”; the New York Times Obituary has “In 1945 he married the former Grace Banks”, although the marriage record shows 1944. His Wikipedia article only gives her name as “Grace”. The marriage record shows the marriage in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

In the 1950 census, he is living with his wife Grace in South Orange, Essex, New Jersey, United States.^[5]

In 1971, the NAACP awarded him the Spingarn Medal.

He died of leukemia in 2001^[3] and is buried in Greenwood Memory Lawn Cemetery in Phoenix, Arizona.^[6]

Sources

1. ↑ Wikipedia: Leon Sullivan
2. ↑ Military: "U.S., World War II Draft Cards Young Men, 1940-1947"
   National Archives at St. Louis; St. Louis, Missouri; WWII Draft Registration Cards for West Virginia, 10/16/1940-03/31/1947; Record Group: Records of the Selective Service System, 147; Box: 477
   Ancestry Sharing Link - Ancestry Record 2238 #13355400
   Name: Leon Howard Sullivan; Race: Black; Age: 19; Birth Date: 16 Oct 1922; Birth Place: Charleston, West Virginia, USA; Residence Place: Gettysburg, Potter, West Virginia, USA; Registration Date: 30 Jun 1942; Registration Place: Potter County, West Virginia, USA; Employer: Mills; Height: 6 5; Weight: 200; Complexion: Light; Hair Color: Brown; Eye Color: Gray; Next of Kin: Helen Parsons.
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1} Social Security: "U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007"
   Social Security Applications and Claims, 1936-2007
   Ancestry Record 60901 #27029234
   Name: Leon Howard Sullivan [Leon H Sullivan]; Gender: Male; Race: Black; Birth Date: 16 Oct 1921; Birth Place: Charleston K, West Virginia; Death Date: 24 Apr 2001; Father: Charlie Sullivan; Mother: Helen Truhart; Notes: Jun 1939: Name listed as LEON HOWARD SULLIVAN; 04 Jul 2001: Name listed as LEON H SULLIVAN.
4. ↑ Marriage: "Pennsylvania, Philadelphia Marriage Indexes, 1885-1951", database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:JVQ3-MJB : 2 March 2021), Leon H Sullivan and Banks, 1944.
5. ↑ 1950 Census: "United States 1950 Census", database, FamilySearch (ark:/61903/1:1:6F9B-69RW : Mon Jan 30 03:02:30 UTC 2023), Entry for Leon Sullivan and Grace Sullivan, 25 April 1950.
6. ↑ Memorial: Find a Grave (has image)
   Find A Grave: Memorial #22879
   Memorial page for Leon Howard Sullivan (16 Oct 1922-24 Apr 2001), citing Greenwood Memory Lawn Cemetery, Phoenix, Maricopa County, Arizona, USA; Maintained by Jack M. Jones (contributor 49679459).

See also:

• Wikidata: Item Q2460277, en:Wikipedia

• Obituary in the New York Times, published April 26, 2001 : https://www.nytimes.com/2001/04/26/world/leon-sullivan-78-dies-fought-apartheid.html

• "United States 1950 Census", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:6F9B-69RW : Tue Mar 19 02:15:25 UTC 2024), Entry for Leon Sullivan and Grace Sullivan, 25 April 1950.

Indexed Information

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leon_Sullivan

• https://www.encyclopedia.com/people/social-sciences-and-law/social-reformers/leon-h-sullivan