Thaddeus Bell
The reader will recognize the last name of this member of the Drew Park Sharks, as Gary Bell shared his story earlier. Thaddeus is the older brother, born two years earlier in 1944. The Bell family had two additional members, a sister, Veta, and a brother Reginald. They were not members of the Drew Park Sharks. As you will recall, the family lived in Allen Benedict Court. Their father was a professional barber with a shop near Pine and Taylor Streets, between Allen University and Benedict College. Thad’s father’s name was John Hamilton “Jim” Bell and he had numerous clients who were professionals. The President of South Carolina State University was a weekly client as well as many professionals from the nearby universities and from throughout the city. Thad said his dad taught the family that your word should be your “bond”. He felt if your head and shoes were well-groomed, you were a person of good character. When Thad’s father was in conversation with someone getting a haircut and the man used a word that his father was unfamiliar with, he would ask his client to use the word again and possibly even spell the word. Later his dad would be found searching the word in the dictionary, so the word could then become a part of his vocabulary. He frequently had a list of words he had developed from conversations. Thad’s mom was a school teacher. She had graduated from Allen University around 1938 and was “Miss Allen” while in college. She taught Special Education. She was fond of poems and she made her children learn poems. Poems such as “Somebody’s Mother”, “House With Nobody In It”, and the poem “If”. Thaddeus reflects even today about many of the poems he learned, and he has a deep appreciation of having to learn them. He finds they have created an interesting awareness for his life and caused him to come “full circle” as he considers life and the lives of those he meets. His mother often quoted from a poem, “The House by the Side of the Road”. Thaddeus said his mother had a reputation for stopping her car while driving down the road if she saw an item she could pick up, clean and give away to someone in need. Thaddeus indicated their back yard often appeared like a junk yard. If she saw an old refrigerator along the side of the road, she would order the boys to go pick it up and bring it home. She often washed old clothes no longer wanted by others, to give away. One day, Thaddeus was taking his mother to visit her sister in Washington, DC., and while having her driver’s license examined at the airport, the security woman, exclaimed, “Are you the Ms. Hattie Bell who taught school in Fairfield County Schools?” “Oh my god, you’ll never remember, but you used to give my mother clean clothes for us to wear”. Thaddeus says even today, while browsing Facebook, he will get a comment from someone his mother helped at some point in the past.
As both Gary and Thaddeus reported, their mother took them to the pool each day so they could learn to swim. She wanted them to have a good experience. He was 13 or 14 years old when he went to the pool for the first time. He played little league baseball not 200 yards from the pool. Thaddeus became a lifeguard like his brother. When they would need to report to work early in the morning, before either had time for breakfast, their mother would cook them breakfast and bring it to them at the pool. Charles Bolden, Sr. was a mentor to Thad. Bolden was the manager of the Drew pool and hired Thad to be a lifeguard at 16. Thaddeus became water safety certified at age 18. A Water Safety Instructor was the Red Cross program that certified the individual was competent in the nine strokes of swimming, good at saving lives and certified to teach others to be a lifeguard. As far as Drew pool swimming competitions went, Thaddeus indicated he didn’t excel like so many others. He said he didn’t see it as his forte.
With such strong competition for summer lifeguard jobs, as has been noted throughout various individual stories, Thad, with the support of Bolden and Martin, found summer employment at a Girls Scout Camp. Bethlehem Center Girls Scout Camp was run by the Methodist Church located in North Carolina. The camp had a lake and Thad, his friends, David Whaley and “Tadpole” Wiggins elected to work as lifeguards there. As the camp was well into the woods, the boys used their spare time to get into shape for football season. Charles Bolden, Sr. was in addition, the football coach at C.A. Johnson High School. Thaddeus played football with David and “Tadpole”. David Whaley was the captain of the high school team. On the first play, in the first game of the season that fall, David experienced an injury that would alter both his and Thad’s life. On that first play of the game, David was hit in the left side of his body rupturing his spleen. It was 1961/1962 and there was no EMS one could call for support. Instead, a local funeral home hearse transported David to Waverly Hospital for emergency surgery. Dr. Everett L. Dargan, a young and promising surgeon, with a growing and successful practice, operated on David and removed his spleen. Thad and his friends went to visit David on Saturday morning. Thad said David had tubes sticking in various parts of his body. While visiting, Dr. Dargan was completing rounds. Thad began asking questions about David’s recovery, ability to play football and the procedure. Thad admits, he didn’t have any idea what the spleen was or what its purpose was to the human body. He found Dr. Dargen’s knowledge fascinating and at that moment, it was like a lightening strike. Thad knew he wanted to become a doctor. Today, Thaddeus Bell is Dr. Thaddeus Bell. David recovered and returned to high school. Thad nicknamed him “Spleen”. That year the football team won the AAA Football State Championship when they defeated Howard High School. Each member of the team was the recipient of a football jacket. Due to a state high school regulation, David, the team’s captain, could not receive a jacket as he had not played 16 quarters, the minimum required to be awarded a jacket. After all, he had been injured on the first play of the first game of the season. Unbeknownst to Thad, David carried this disappointment of feeling he was not part of the team for more than fifty years. At a funeral for their friend, Hugh White, Thad was asked to deliver a eulogy. He called some of his friends for any details of Hugh, he might include in the eulogy. While talking to some of his former high school teammates, he was not only reminded that Hugh generally gave a prayer prior to leaving the locker room, but that David had always felt bad about not getting a football jacket. Following a conversation with Hugh’s family, Thad worked out a plan to present David with a jacket after delivering his eulogy. Needless to say, David was overwhelmed at the ceremony and Thad felt it had finally closed the loop on the football issue. The framed football jacket is currently a part of the C.A. Johnson Hall of Fame display.
While in high school, Thad spent his football off-season studying science and working on science projects. He entered the South Carolina Science Fair and placed first. He got to represent C.A. Johnson High School and the State of South Carolina in Seattle, Washington at the National/International Science Fair which was being held in conjunction with the 1962 World’s Fair. The World’s Fair was officially called the Century 21 Exposition, and the Space Needle and the Alweg monorail had their debut. Thad was one of the earliest people to go up into the Space Needle as well as ride the monorail. Marshall Parks was a football coach and advisor to the Science Fair. There were two Science Fairs of South Carolina. One for each race. Thad said he never met the winner of the white science fair. As a high school senior Thad was interested in microbiology and took courses at Benedict College.
Thad had two out of state offers to play football but the scholarships were not full scholarships and his father didn’t feel either was enough money to justify going out of state. He actually hoped Thad would attend South Carolina State University. Thad had received a work aid (work study) scholarship for four years as a lab assistant in microbiology at South Carolina State University. Thad heard the football team was starting early, so he too left early for college with the intent to make the team. Thad tried out for the team, and won a scholarship to play. The President of the campus while getting his haircut from Thad’s dad, mentioned that Thad made the football team which lead to a telephone call from his dad. His dad was concerned he might get hurt and informed Thad, “you won’t get hurt in the lab”. He also told him that he needed to do like he was told, or he could stay somewhere else. Thad’s dad was not impressed with athletes, but he was impressed with Black men who were educated. Thad made the decision to quit the football team.
Thad attended South Carolina State University and swam his freshman year. He swam the 50-meter breaststroke but similar to his swimming experiences before, he felt he was just not good enough and he didn’t win any medals. Because Thad was a college swimmer due to having been a Drew Park Shark, when the Department of the Interior was searching for swimmers who could be recommended for the position of a park ranger, Thad was selected as one of the first African Americans to get the prestigious summer job. He spent three summers at Yosemite National Park in California. The National Park Service was a part of the Department of the Interior. He was almost ready to be a permanent Ranger when he learned he might be drafted into the Army. The Registrar at South Carolina State University notified his parents he was on the list to be drafted. Following a conversation with his parents, he decided he could avoid the draft by becoming a teacher. The South Carolina Teacher’s Association was wanting to integrate schools and Thad was recommended to be one of the first African American teachers at a white high school. The superintendent of the Cherokee County Schools at Gaffney High School, called and Thad accepted a job. Gaffney had a reputation as a racist community but Thad went to work and had an amazing experience. In the beginning white students wanted to get out of his classes but soon there were so many students wanting into his classes, he had to be told to stop making promises to the students about entry due to there just not being enough room. After the first year, Thad moved to Charleston with a strong recommendation from his Cherokee County superintendent and he became the first African American teacher at Charleston High School.
One event did occur while Thad was a student at South Carolina State University. He was part of 700 men from his college dorm arrested while protesting and marching at a bowling alley for not being permitted to enter. The Selma Bridge March had just recently ended. The entire group was sent to the Correctional Institute in Columbia and the group was kept locked up for two weeks. A civil rights attorney Mathew Perry represented the group of protesters. The event occurred during Thad’s sophomore year.
After teaching for five years Thaddeus went to Atlanta University for his Master’s Degree. He had been turned down two times for medical school and applied again to the Medical School of South Carolina after receiving his Master’s degree. The medical school was not accepting applications from African American candidates. He accepted a job at St. Andrews High School an historically white school which had integrated. The father of one of his students was the Associate Director at the medical school and he informed Thad the federal government was going to be taking away funds if African Americans were continually barred from entry. Thad applied and was accepted to medical school in 1972. In 1976 he graduated. Upon graduation, Thad enlisted in the Air Force. Stationed in Charleston, Thad, a major, became a flight surgeon which certified pilots for the qualifications to fly. He served in the Air Force until 1991 following Operation Desert Storm. In 1993, Thad was appointed to his first of two prestigious positions with the medical school. He became the Associate Dean of Students of the College of Medicine where he served from 1993 – 2004. Simultaneously, Thad was the Director of Diversity for the Medical College from 1996 to 2000.
One day Thad was seen running and the individual informed him he should consider competing in the Master’s Track and Field competitions. Thad became the only former Shark to become a world champion in Masters Track and Field (100-meter dash, age 40-44 and 45-49) from South Carolina. He holds all of the master’s records in sprinting in the 40-50-year age group and was on three, 4 by 100 world championship relay teams. He was a two-time world champion in the medical games’ 100 and 400-meter dash. The Post and Courier News Paper selected him as one of the best athletes o the 20th century in South Carolina. Dr. Thaddeus Bell is being considered for the South Carolina Hall of Fame. After practicing medicine for the past 48 years, he continues to work as a family physician in Charleston. This year, Dr. Thaddeus Bell will receive his 60-year pin from his fraternity, Omega Psi Phi, Inc., for dedicated service to the fraternity.
Dr. Harvey Dorrah, PhD
To share any story about Harvey Dorrah, one must begin with the role that Jimmie Ruff played in his life. Harvey credits Jimmie for keeping his life on course, teaching him to swim, recognizing his potential and for his efforts in helping him to be involved in the lives of children. Like Ellis Pearson, Harvey was selected to work with younger children learning to swim. He specifically noted helping Ellis’ little brother, “Birdie” in his journey to be a swimmer. Born in 1951, Harvey initially lived near Booker T. Washington before moving to Allen-Benedict Court. His mother began in Columbia doing domestic work before obtaining a position at Fort Jackson where she was employed as a clerk in the stock room and later in the military store. Harvey was 8 or 9 years old when he was invited by his mom’s fiancé to join him at Drew pool. Drew pool became Harvey’s “hangout”. With his friend, Ricky Garrett, they shared a paper route and often went to the pool together. Harvey entered the junior lifeguard program and he passed all training requirements. Mr. Martin asked Harvey, very encouragingly he adds, to participate in the senior lifeguard training and was informed by Tom (Martin) that Harvey “must” get his Water Safety Instructor certification. At 18, now a college freshman, after graduating from C.A. Johnson High School, Harvey began his WSI certification. It was during his certification, that Harvey earned his nickname. During one aspect of the certification exercises, Tom Martin was heard saying, “Come on granddad”. Harvey remains “Granddad” to friends today. Under Tom Martin’s leadership, Columbia was the only city in South Carolina where lifeguards had their WSI. Harvey felt as though he was a pretty good athlete. He liked swimming but he liked gymnastics as well. Harvey was inspired by his friend, Howard “Porky” Simmons. He admired “Porky” for his athleticism and agility, and always viewed him with the highest regard. The reader will learn more about Howard “Porky” Simmons later.
In Harvey’s first meet as a Shark he placed 4th. He felt his breaststroke was his strongest stroke but he eventually moved to freestyle and in college he swam the butterfly. Harvey had enrolled at Benedict College after high school and joined the swim team there. He practiced with the team from 7:00 am to 8:30 am each day. They generally competed against other HBCU swim teams such as Johnson C. Smith University, Tuskegee University, and Alabama State University. Harvey noted that South Carolina State University was a very good team, but he felt Morehouse College was the most competitive and best team in his opinion. Harvey remembers one meet in particular in which he was swimming the 400-meter butterfly. As there was no one from the other team entered in the race event, Harvey swam it alone to cheers from his teammates, “Come on Granddad. Take one for the team.” It was truly a badge of honor for Harvey to have the love and support of his teammates.
To date, there’s often been reference made to being WSI certified from numerous other members of the Drew Park Sharks. As the reader is aware, a number of the team’s members were WSI certified lifeguards. Unlike others though, Harvey described in detail the process for one obtaining her/his Water Safety Instructor certification. Mr. Martin liked for his swimmers to be certified at Fort Jackson. Harvey notes he went to Ft. Jackson with his friend Willie Patterson for their certification. There was a particular certification trainer at Ft. Jackson, a German-born man with the last name of Schmidt, and Harvey had the last class of the season. There was both a written and a physical component of the certification. Harvey recalls doing exceptionally well on the written component. There were 100 questions on the test and one was required to score at least a 75 for a passing grade. The certification was complex. One was required to have knowledge of the rules in water safety; to know the nine strokes and the mechanics of each stroke; to be competent in CPR; for water safety specifically, one must know about boating, safety equipment use, the cleaning of the pool, clean safe water, PH levels and filtering systems. Physically, one had to be competent in performing the nine strokes and were observed above and below water for the correct style being performed. The certified individual had to have knowledge and be able to perform all life saving techniques in retrieving a swimmer from the water. For WSI certification, one had to demonstrate basic to the most advanced rescue techniques to protect yourself when making a rescue. One had to demonstrate he/she had the endurance to perform rescues. One was required to know how to disable a swimmer who might be fighting for his life. The reader will recall how Chris Cochran described forcibly grabbing the man he was saving in the armpit to induce pain so the individual would focus on his pain rather than on his drowning, thus allowing the lifeguard to rescue him and bring him to the surface. Harvey said these were the techniques taught to perform a rescue to an individual fighting help. For a very large individual Harvey shared you were taught to lock your arms around the individual as well as utilizing the arm pit maneuver. In total, it was clear that obtaining your certification was a demanding exercise, and for the safety of individuals needing help, clearly important lessons and knowledge.
With a degree in Education from Benedict College, Harvey decided on graduate school at New York University. There he majored in Therapeutic Recreation Education. He was 23 years old. With his Master’s Degree completed, he left New York City and moved upstate to work at the Rockland Psychiatric Hospital where he spent three years. Following that experience, Harvey returned to Benedict College and he taught for six years before obtaining his PhD at Bowling Green State University in Bowling Green, Ohio. With his PhD in his hands, Harvey became the Assistant Dean of Academic Affairs at Benedict before moving to Winthrop College and spending 22 years at the University of Central Michigan. Harvey and this writer have a mutual colleague who retired from Central Michigan. Harvey currently is employed at the Wayne County Community College where he serves as the Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs.
Throughout Harvey’s journey, as well as the journey of each of the members of the Drew Park Sharks swim team, the reader has experienced the successes and positive experiences which have been a common theme. As Lindy Jeffcoat is fond of saying, the recipe for success is really quite simple……. Just add water.
Regina Brandyburg Crump
Although far from being the only female Shark, Regina Brandyburg was actually one of the very first people to begin swimming at Drew Pool when it opened in 1950. A sprinter, one news article reported Regina winning in an amazing time, the 55-yard backstroke for Junior Women in 81 seconds. For non-swimmers, that is an amazing time for a woman in high school. The backstroke is one of the most difficult strokes and the reader might recall that Lindy Jeffcoat referred to the backstroke as “controlled drowning”. Regina was also a freestyle swimmer and a strong relay team competitor. In one meet in particular in Jacksonville, Jimmie convinced Regina to take part in the diving competition, as they needed a female diving participant. She was required to perform a forward dive, a backward dive and a flip. She said “it wasn’t pretty”, but for the team Regina was willing to do what it took and she completed all three dives. Regina swam through elementary school and high school.
Regina recalls Drew Park still being named Seager’s Park, and praises the name change to Drew Park, as a true day of celebration for the African American community. Born in 1944, Regina is one of the “first generation” swimmers to be a Shark. She lived and was raised near Benedict College on Laurel Street and Heidt Street, and lived close enough to walk to the pool. Regina’s mother and aunt were both swimmers and it was her aunt, Clotelle Davis, who frequently accompanied Regina to the pool. Regina started swimming at the age of 6. Clotelle worked as a librarian at Benedict College and both of Regina’s parents were high school science teachers. Her mother had degrees from South Carolina State University and Marshall College. Her father had degrees from South Carolina State University. The family often went on vacation to the beaches of the Carolinas and Florida and everyone was comfortable in the water, so becoming a Shark seemed natural for Regina. She reports that Jimmie Ruff was one of her first coaches. The Sharks wore team jackets emblazoned with a shark on the jacket and when traveling to competitions in Jacksonville, Greenville, Greenwood or other locations, Regina wore her jacket with pride, while other teams were envious of how the Sharks appeared. To Regina, being a Shark meant so much more than just being a member of the team. It was being a member of the family or of the community that existed within Drew Park. It was a meaningful experience that she did not take for granted throughout her entire life.
After graduating high school, Regina pursued her education at Michigan State University majoring in Education with minors in Communication and Classroom Management. She later earned her Master’s Degree in education from Western Connecticut State University. She taught in the Royal Oaks area near Detroit, St. Louis for six years and Westchester County, NY until retirement. Regina shared that swimming was always a part of her life due to it being an outstanding form of exercise as well as a source of pleasure. The family had a pool in their backyard and in Westchester County, she always planned an end of the school year pool party for her students and their parents. Regina also had a brother, Freddie who swam and was a Shark. You will learn more about Freddie Brandyburg later.
Although Gigi, as her friends call her, talks about how good other female swimmers were, specifically Tommye Martin, Carolyn Fair, and Charlotte Jones as compared to herself, one gets the idea that it’s really her sense of camaraderie, of her support and her character that prevents her from promoting her own outstanding skills. Afterall, Regina is a member of AKA Sorority, Inc. with its strong focus on sisterhood, “By Culture and By Merit”.
Freddie Brandyburg
As noted above, Freddie Brandyburg is the younger brother of Regina. Born in 1947, Freddie like his sister, was one of the early-generation Sharks. During our conversation Freddie actually began sort of where his sister ended. To Freddie, Drew Park and the pool and the Sharks were connected and considered an extended family. He shared that he felt it was the older kids’ responsibility to take care of the younger children who came to the park and that was a distinguishing feature of life at the pool and park. Older ones had watched out for him and it was the tradition at Drew Park pool for each generation to care for and mentor the next. It was such a genuine feeling and this writer could sense it in Freddie’s expression as he shared the information. He left no doubt about his sincerity. Of course, at times the younger kids were “little brats” getting themselves into trouble by running around the pool, not going through the showers to wash the dirt or sand from their feet, or simply jumping into the deep end of the pool when they couldn’t swim. Freddie said in his first year as a lifeguard he rescued 26 people out of the water. After the first year he simply quit counting, though he and the other lifeguards routinely pulled people out of the water who had gotten into trouble. The reader will surely recall that Ellis Pearson, early in this collection of stories, said he jumped off the diving board and had to be rescued and because of that experience, he taught himself to swim. It was Freddie Brandyburg who rescued Ellis on that eventful day. Freddie said it is very humbling when someone recognizes you as the person who saved their life or taught them to swim.
Although three years younger than Regina, Freddie indicated he was much more adventurous than his sister. Where she often walked to Drew with their aunt, Clotelle, Freddie ran ahead on his own, not waiting for the pair. He would head to Drew from their home on Laurel Street because he was so excited to get there. Like so many others, Freddie said his family loved Drew Park and that sentiment clearly has been echoed by just about anyone who ever swam or visited the park. Drew Park was their village.
Freddie shared how much he admired and respected two specific people from Drew pool. One was Mr. Thomas Martin and the other was Jimmie Ruff. Mr. Martin managed the pool and was the Sharks’ head coach, but he was also its “heart and soul”. Mr. Martin tried to instill a high work standard in everyone who worked at the pool and a sense of pride and responsibility, whether we were in the pool, on the deck or working in the basket room. He helped teach us how and when to be serious and focused. While we may not have known it at the time, he was grooming us for greater things, preparing us for life! The other person Freddie shared his admiration and respect for was Jimmie Ruff. Freddie describes Jimmie as “more worldly” and more aware than many of his peers. To Freddie, Jimmie Ruff was a role model and “big brother” at the pool to him. He was more mature and “responsible” according to Freddie and like Mr. Martin, served as a positive role model. Freddie learned how to balance the chemicals in the pool and operate the filter room from Jimmie. Today, thanks to Jimmie’s lessons, Freddie balances the chemicals for his own pool. Freddie indicated he talked to Jimmie on his cell phone, with the help of Jimmie’s daughter April, the day proceeding Jimmie’s death, where he reminded Jimmie of all the positive memories they had shared.
Talmadge Dixon was another contemporary of Freddie’s. Though only one year older, Tam was a very good swimmer and pushed Freddie to be a better swimmer. It is not unusual in reviewing the archive photographs of swim meet results to see that Freddie often placed directly behind Tam. Freddie acknowledged that his chances of winning an event improved when Tam didn’t swim. While the two were competitors in the pool, they were good friends and enjoyed working together. Freddie shared that when Tam went to South Carolina State University, it was truly an eye-opening experience for him to see how much his teammates, who were mainly from the north, benefitted from swimming and practicing year-round. Again, that reality has been additionally shared by Stanley McIntosh, and a driving force behind Stanley’s pursuit of outstanding facilities and coaching opportunities for the area’s swimmers.
Freddie shared his best stroke was the butterfly and the stroke he most liked to swim. He often swam the 50-meter events and the 100-meter events, and occasionally, the 200-meter events. In any competition, there were limits to the number of events one could swim, so that certainly played a factor in competitions. Freddie began swimming at the age of 5 or 6 but he progressed quickly. It didn’t take Freddie long before he was working in the basket room, around 14/15 years of age, like so many before him. Soon after that, Freddie was sitting in the lifeguard chair. The reader has already read that one role of the lifeguard position was to assist in the cleaning of the pool. You will recall the lifeguards “swept” the dirt, etc. from the shallow end of the pool into the deep end where it would be vacuumed. Freddie shared the vacuuming was performed underwater by the lifeguards. The lifeguards would dawn a mask and air source like that used by scuba divers but with no tank. The oxygen came from the air compressor on the deck. It was a significant addition to the understanding of cleaning the pool previously omitted.
After graduating high school in 1965, Freddie enrolled at Clemson University where he was one of the earliest African American students since its integration in 1963. Freddie majored in architecture for two years before switching to building construction. Freddie practiced with the school’s swim team where he was the only black participant. Many of the team’s swimmers were from northern states where they swam year-round. He never participated in any competitions. Freddie completed his undergraduate degree in Business Administration and Economics at Benedict College while simultaneously earning an associate degree in Data Processing and Computer Programming from Columbia Commercial College. He later earned a Master's in Public Administration (MPA) from the University of South Carolina. His professional career included working at the South Carolina State Housing Finance Agency and the Department of Housing and Urban Development as an Economist conducting market studies and feasibility analyses.
Freddie shared a story, that this writer had heard mentioned by a “future contributor” to this work. He and the team were on a bus heading to a meet in Jacksonville, Florida when the bus crashed into a car making an illegal turn. This writer is not totally aware as of now, the exact details of the injuries, but has been told there were several, and upon arriving at the first hospital, they were turned away due to the hospital not accepting Black patients. Freddie indicated he was not injured. More details to this story will be forthcoming, but initially, local officials believed the bus had “fruit pickers” on it and not the Sharks swim team.
Charles Bolden, Jr.
This writer was sitting in front of his laptop earlier today when he received a phone call. His first thought was he might require the services of one of the Drew Park Shark lifeguards with the certification to perform CPR, as on the other end of the cell phone was Charles Bolton, Jr. If one can imagine answering the phone to hear it is a world-famous U.S. astronaut, then you know how this writer felt at the moment.
It’s not a stretch to think that there would have been no Drew Park or Drew Park pool, no Drew Park Sharks and no place of refuge for the hundreds of thousands of African Americans from around the city, area and the State of South Carolina without men like Thomas Martin and his father, Charles Bolden, Sr. A great debt is owed to these men and Charles Bolden, Jr. is made in the same mold of these men of quality.
Born in 1946, Charlie grew up three blocks from Drew Park. The family had constructed a new home in 1949, just one year prior to the Drew pool opening. Early in the pool’s history everyone was taught to swim by Thomas Martin who wanted every African American kid to know how to swim. As the reader is aware, Thomas wanted lifeguards to be certified and many were WSI certified. Charles’ father, Charles, Sr. was the Assistant Manager of Drew Park pool and it’s safe to say, he loved kids. In addition, his father coached high school football, track, basketball and tennis. He taught history and civics after graduating from Johnson C. Smith and Charles’ mom also attended Johnson C. Smith and majored in English. She was a librarian and received her Master’s Degree from Atlanta University.
Charles, Jr. shared he was much like a fish. He loved the water. After all, he began swimming at the age of four. Like many young men at Drew pool, Charles started working in the basket room and collecting entry tickets. If an individual came with any sort of valuable item, the items was placed in a safe at the pool. The complex had a huge locker room and swimmers would place their clothes, etc. in a basket and have a tag or pin identifying their basket which would be used when leaving to retrieve their possessions. Charles indicated he believed the locker room area was as large as the one at Maxcy Gregg pool, but probably not as “equal” in amenities, with that “separate but equal” policy. His favorite stroke to swim in competition was the butterfly, followed closely by the backstroke. He was also always a competitor in the medley relay, which the reader knows is the 4-man competition in the backstroke, breaststroke, butterfly and freestyle. Charles became a certified lifeguard and certified in WSI. He was a “first generation Shark”. He swam competitively from elementary school through high school, and he played on the football team. Charles disclosed when young, he served as the water boy for the high school football team of which Moses “Hop” Hopkins, was a member. Charles vividly recalls traveling to compete in swim meets. Jacksonville was always a great trip for the team. They swam at Edward Waters University, an HBCU institution. The team also traveled to Greenville, Johnson C. Smith University, Augusta and even to the State of Tennessee to compete. At the time, the white newspapers covered all the swim teams, including the Black teams. It was easy to compare event times and specifically, how you might compare with others who swam the same event, like on the white teams. Charles noted that South Carolina State University was clearly the number one for swimming in South Carolina.
After graduating from high school, Charles received an appointment to the U.S. Navel Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. At the time, Charles indicated one was able to select the service you wished to join upon graduation. Charles chose the Marines. Today, the system is different. It is a “service assignment”. When you are a senior you learn which service you will be joining. Charles had a close relationship with one officer named John Riley Love. He had many of the personal characteristics of Charlie’s father and he became a mentor to Charlie. He said of John Love, “His leadership captured me” due to his style, and his demeanor and “I wanted to be like him”. At the academy he made several friends who impacted him immensely. In addition to his feelings toward John Riley Love, he was impressed with Luke Thames. As a Marine, Charles anticipated he would be assigned to the infantry division, typically the ground troops that engage in close-range combat. It was generally considered that an infantry soldier’s life expectancy was measured in weeks and months. Due to Charles’ high class standing at the academy he selected the “aviation option”. He believed flight school would be a good insurance policy, though he had no desire to fly. In addition, his wife hated the idea of him being a member of the infantry. Charles went to Pensacola in aviation with “advanced jet” training. Following his first flight with Pete Fields, he fell in love with flying and knew he wanted to be a test pilot. He had no desire though to be a “Blue Angel” for fear of the planes flying so near each other. He earned his “wings” with the fleet of the A-6 Intruders and flew for 7 years. In 1978 Charles was accepted into test pilot school and the following year he came out as a test pilot. He learned that NASA was looking to expand the shuttle program with civilian and military men and women regardless of race. In 1978, 35 individuals had been selected including individuals such as Sally Ride, Ron McNair and Fred Gregory. Charles and Guion (Guy) Bluford were selected in the second group of fighter pilots for potential astronauts. Guy actually became the first African American to go into space. He participated in four space shuttle flights between 1983 and 1992. Prior to being accepted into the class of astronauts, Charles had a conversation with Ron McNair. Ron McNair happened to be attending a reunion near Charles’ home. Charles met him when he was getting off the plane. Charles actually said he ran to introduce himself to Ron as he was getting off his plane. Charles took him home with him to meet his family and they spent the weekend talking about the space program. Their conversation went something like this:
Ron: “Are you going to apply to the space program?”
Charles: “They’d never pick me.”
Ron: “That’s the dumbest thing I ever heard.”
That evening, Charles informed his wife he was applying for the space program. Charles reports his father had just passed away, so he was never given the opportunity to share the decision with his dad. Thus, Charles was nominated by the Marine Corp and left for Houston for his interview. It was several months before Charles heard anything. In May, his wife was about to celebrate her birthday when he received the call that he had been selected in the second group. Nineteen individuals including two Europeans were selected and Charles was not permitted to share the news with anyone other than his wife. The work had started to put together press releases, etc. so until all was ready for the announcement, it had to remain a secret. In June, 1980 Charles was in Houston training. His first flight came in 1986 and he made a total of four flights. On January 12 they took off for his first flight and landed on the space station on the 18th. In 1986 Charles was the co-pilot for the launch of the Hubble Telescope and in 1992 he was the commander for the flight which was a joint U.S. and Russian Cosmonaut mission. As the commander, Charles was responsible for seeing if they could work with the Russians. He reports they bonded well on their mission and later President Clinton decided to keep the scientists in the program. They were the first crew to assemble elements of the first space station and the Russian/American teams have been flying together now for twenty-five years. On January 28, 1986 the space shuttle Challenger broke apart 73 seconds into its flight killing all seven crew members aboard. Charles lost his good friend Ron McNair on that flight when the spacecraft disintegrated 46,000 feet above the Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of Cape Canaveral, Florida. The explosion occurred at 11:39:13 a.m. It was the first fatal accident involving an American spacecraft while in flight. Charles later became the chief of the Safety Division at Johnson Space Center in Texas where he oversaw efforts to return the shuttle to flight safely after the Challenger tragedy. In 2009, Charles became the 12thAdministrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration after being confirmed by the U.S. Senate and having been nominated by President Barrack Obama.
What does Charles Bolden Jr. say after sharing his remarkable story? He quickly returns to his time at Drew Park and the Drew Park pool Sharks highlighting the lifetime skills and survival skills he developed while a Shark. He vividly recounts the use of the Shepherd’s Crook which was a pole used in rescuing an individual. It’s to this writer’s sense of emotions he appeals when he discusses how impactful his experience as a Shark so closely resembles the skills he was required to perform throughout his professional life in flight school, as a Marine, or a United States astronaut flying “pole to pole”.