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Special recognition for Hiawatha native

By Greg Bebermeyer

11/04/2021

Lena May Grier Carper

(KNZA)--November 13 has been proclaimed “ Lena Mae Grier Carper Day” in Hiawatha.

Hiawatha Mayor Bill Collins made the proclamation at Monday evening's City Commission meeting at the request of Hiawatha Middle School teacher Marissa LeMay, who read the proclamation in recognition of her great aunt.

Carper was one of the original plaintiffs in the landmark Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court case to end segregration.

She was born in Hiawatha on November 13, 1920 and attended school in Hiawatha before moving to Topeka in 1939.

The proclamation said Carper made a signficant impact as a global citizen and humanitarian.

LeMay said she also hopes to get signs erected in town in her recognition.

LENA MAE GRIER CARPER DAY PROCLAMATION NOVEMBER 13, 2021

Whereas, Lena Mae Grier Carper, was born in Hiawatha, Kansas on November 13, 1920;

and Whereas, Lena Mae Grier Carper attended school in Hiawatha and moved to Topeka in 1939;

and Whereas, Lena Mae Grier Carper worked at the NY A Center in Topeka with the work program of President Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal for Women in 1939;

and Whereas, Lena Mae Grier Carper attended the College A venue Seventh Day Adventist Church until 1963 and was instrumental in forming the Church of God Seventh Day Adventist Church in Topeka;

and Whereas, Lena Mae Grier Carper made a significant impact as a global citizen and humanitarian;

and Whereas, Lena Mae Grier Carper married Dorsey L. Carper on May 8, 1940 and they had a daughter, Katherine L. Sawyer, on whose behalf Lena Mae Grier Carper was one of the original plaintiffs of Brown v. Board of Education in Topeka to end segregation;

and Now, Therefore, be it Resolved that I, William Collins, Mayor, proclaim November 13, 2021 "Lena Mae Grier Carper Day" in Hiawatha, Kansas, and encourage all citizens to follow the many examples set by Lena Mae Grier Carper.

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