DATE: Wednesday, September 3, 1997          TAG: 9709020132

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B3   EDITION: FINAL 

COLUMN: Neighborhood Exchange 

TYPE: Public Life 

SOURCE: BY MIKE KNEPLER, STAFF WRITER 
                                            LENGTH:   65 lines

PORTSMOUTH HISTORICAL SOCIETY TO SPONSOR TRIBUTE TO MUSICIANS

Why worry about history when it's hard enough keeping up with fast-changing, high-tech modern times?

The African American Historical Society of Portsmouth offers some reasons as the new group plans its first public event for 7 p.m. Sept. 13, a tribute concert to some great musicians in Hampton Roads.

Learning history is important, says 90-year-old author-historian Lelia Lawrence Barnes, ``so we can let our future generations know . . . whether they are going forward or backward. . . . ''

``And a lot of people are going backward,'' adds Charles Whitehurst, 59, president of the 1 1/2-year-old historical society and a former Portsmouth treasurer.

For example, many folks don't like dredging up the horrors of slavery. ``But a lot of people are . . . enslaving themselves today and don't even know it,'' Whitehurst says. ``A lot of them with drugs!''

The past can be a source of healing. That's one reason the society has organized its concert.

The event will feature the musicianship of the late Graham Washington Jackson, born in 1903. He performed for Henry Ford, the Rockefellers and seven presidents.

Jackson gained notoriety through a Life magazine picture of him mourning the death, in 1945, of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. A photo showed Jackson crying while playing ``Going Home'' on an accordion as the president's body was taken away.

The concert will center on Jackson, but include other musicians who had an impact on Portsmouth's African-Americans. Whitehurst is seeking more volunteers.

On a road strewn with stumbling blocks, the past can become a stepping-stone to a strong future.

The concert's souvenir program will summarize oral history interviews with elderly blacks.

Instead of seeking routine advertisements, the society asks sponsors to pay for space dedicated to oral histories.

``I'm sponsoring the story of the Hiram Simmons Glee Club, which sang from the late 1940s into the 1970s,'' Whitehurst said. His father, the late John Edward Whitehurst Sr., was a member.

Through the concert and the souvenir booklet, the society seeks to rekindle storytelling to pass traditions and values to younger generations. ``We need to give our children a sense of purpose,'' says Sharon Campbell, a member.

Member Floyd Myrick says the oral-history project preserves the stories. ``We are losing our history every day when our older people pass away,'' he notes.

Another proposal is the renovation of the former ``Colored'' Community Library, on the grounds of Ebenezer Baptist Church. The society hopes the old building will win state and national historic designation.

``We need to tell our stories,'' Whitehurst says. ``If it's something that's bad - well, if you know it, then you can make sure it never happens again.'' MEMO: For information about the African American Historical Society

of Portsmouth or its concert at I.C. Norcom High School, call Charles

Whitehurst, 393-0598.

Story ideas for this column, call Mike Knepler, 446-2275. ILLUSTRATION: Photo

Charles Whitehurst

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