pdf Retiree News & View - Mar/Apr 2018(1.38 MB)
The late Dr. Dabney N. Montgomery (1923-2016)
• Tuskegee Airman
• Bodyguard to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
• Congressional Gold Medal of Honor recipient
• NYCHA Housing Assistant
• Now, a street corner in Harlem
On April 21, West 136th Street received a new and improved name: TUSKEGEE AIRMAN DABNEY N. MONTGOMERY PLACE. In a ceremony brimming with distinguished guests among an overflowing crowd of community residents, NY1 anchor and reporter Cheryl Wills served as Mistress of Ceremonies for a street naming in honor of this remarkable man.
(Left) Nancy B. True pictured with retiree, Kenneth Fox. Photo by Michelle Winfield. (Right) (l-r) Mrs. Montgomery with Cheryl Wills.
It was a truly long journey for Mr. Montgomery, who passed away at the age of 93, from his native Selma, Alabama to his home on West 136th Street in Harlem. Along the way, he was met with racism. He served in a segregated unit of the Armed Forces where black Airmen were sent on some of the most dangerous missions of World War ll, and were given only one-way reserve fuel tanks. When he returned home from the War, his skin color made him ineligible to vote. And he volunteered to be a much-needed bodyguard for Dr. King during the 50-mile march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama.
Among the event’s guest speakers was Nancy B. True who read a letter (see below) to Mrs. Montgomery from Local 237’s President Gregory Floyd, to express the pride of all of our members and retirees to have “one of their own” recognized for his “game-changing, history-changing accomplishments.”
Presentation of colors.
Dear Mrs. Montgomery:
I am very sorry I could not be there today to share this glorious occasion with you and your family, but I want you to know that the pride you must feel at this time is also felt by me and all Local 237 members.
So much has been said and written about the game-changing, history-making accomplishments of your husband, that it would seem an understatement to simply conclude that he was a man of great courage, honor, dignity and valor. Those words are true, but they aren’t enough. They don’t even tell the full story.
His life was filled with so many highs and lows: Known for his bravery in World War ll, but denied the right to vote when he got home; awarded the Congressional Gold Medal nearly 60 years after the War had ended; protector of Dr. King on his historic march from Selma to Memphis, and now the heels of his shoes from that march are on display in the first-of-its-kind National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C.
For Local 237, the appreciation and interest in Mr. Montgomery’s life is personal. He was one of us! How many unions can boast of having a Tuskegee Airman among its members? Serving as a Housing Assistant with the Housing Authority for 14 years means so much to so many of our members. Although they could never walk in his shoes, he walked in theirs. He experienced and understood the life of a NYCHA worker, a union member and a family man living in Harlem.
So today, when the street sign is unfurled, bearing the name “Tuskegee Airman Dabney N. Montgomery Place,” for us, it does not just mark a street corner or recognize an important time in history. More than that, it represents a place in the hearts of our union Brothers and Sisters for one of their own.
Sincerely,
Gregory Floyd
President, Teamsters Local 237
and Vice President-at Large on the General Board
of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters.
