Teacher, Pioneer on Civil Rights Scene, By Christopher W. Wiley, Pittsburgh Post Gazette, July 16, 1997

BLACK BUZZ NEWS SERVICE
Robinson and Saunders, Family Archives
Special Report
Pittsburgh PA.
June 30, 2010

NEWS OBTITUARIES, Pittsburgh Post Gazette, July 16, 1997, By Christopher W. Riley. Post-Gazette Staff Writer

Teacher, pioneer on civil rights scene

In 1951, James S. Robinson Jr. helped integrate the Highland Park swimming pool.
He knew the pool was segregated, and he knew that it shouldn't have been because it belonged to the City," said Nate Smith, founder of Operation Dig, a job training program for minorities.
" He helped shut the pool down for the balance of the summer," said Smith, who met Mr. Robinson at the pool that year." He put his life on the line."
It was an event that would shape Nate Smith's life, a life that he would dedicate to community activism and the fight for civil Rights.
On Monday, Mr. Robinson, of the Hill District, died of heart failure in the Wightman Center for Nursing and Rehabilitation. He was 86.
" He was a man who was ahead of his time,"said Ronald B. Saunders, 54 of Wilkins Twp.
One of eight children, Mr. Robinson attended the Watt Street School, which later became the Robert L. Vann Elementary School.
He graduated from Schenley High School in Oakland, where he excelled in track.
Mr. Robinson was awarded a track scholarship to the University of Pittsburgh, and there he defeated Olympic champion Forrest Town of Louisiana State University in the 220-yard hurdles.
A knee injury, though, prevented Mr. Robinson from competing in the 1936 Olympic trials.
During World War II, he became a Judo expert and taught U.S. troops headed for the Pacific in self-defense techniques.
In 1943, Mr. Robinson became the superintendent of the City's Friendly Service Bureau for the prevention of crime and delinquency, of the City of Pittsburgh, PA.
He also became the Director of the Hill City Municipality, which was devoted to the prevention of juvenile crime and delinquency.
The program won national acclaim by experts in the field of juvenile delinquency prevention.
Mr. Robinson's family called him a "Jack of all trades."
He graduated from the George B.Held School of Radio and T.V. Announcing and Acting, as well as the famous Harty Bible School, where served as class president of his class.
From 1942 to 1945, Mr Robinson worked for the Federal Bureau Of Investigation.
From 1953 to 1960, he served as Executive Director, of the Paul Lawrence Dunbar Community Center in Butler, PA.
He also served as a shop instructor for troubled and delinquent youth from 1960 to 1972 at the Juvenile Court of Allegheny County.
He was employed by the Allegheny County Office of Economic Opportunity as a Community Relations specialist from 1972 until his retirement in 1977.
Mr. Robinson was the second Black American in the country to receive the highly acclaimed American Legion School Honor Award.
William H. "Mugsy" Moore, the police chief in Braddock and a family friend, remembered, Mr. Robinson for his energy and vitality.
Family members said he worked tirelessly to help others and he was always there to give advice.
Mr. Robinson is survived by his wife, Beatrice Saunders Robinson;
two sons, Thomas Saunders of Woodbridge, Virginia, and Ronald Saunders of Pittsburgh; three sisters, Viola Fant of Pittsburgh, Julia Glasco Johnson of Philadelphia and Lorraine Fields of Harrisburg; three brothers, Russell of Philadelphia, Arnold of Pittsburgh, and William of Willingboro, N.J.; and six grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
Funeral services will be held at 11a.m. today in Christian Missionary Tabernacle Church, 2601 Centre Ave., Hill District.
Visitation will be held one hour before the service at the church.
Arrangements are being handled by Odell Robinson Funeral Home.

A Home Going Celebration for

James S. Robinson, Jr.
June 30, 1911- July 14, 1997
Thursday, July 17, 1997 * 11:00 AM
Christian Tabernacle Kodesh Church of Immanuel
2601 Centre Avenue * Pittsburgh, PA. 15219

Dr. Kenneth O. Barbour, Pastor

" But they that wait upon the lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint." Isaiah 40:31
Officiating
Dr. Kenneth O. Barbour, Ph.D.

Order Of Service

ORGAN MEDITATIONS
PROCESSIONAL
PRAYER
MUSICAL SELECTION..................."His Eye Is On The Sparrow"
SCRIPTURE READINGS...............Old Testament
New Testament
SELECTED ACKNOWLEDGMENTS AND OBITUARY
MUSICAL SELECTION................." How Great Thou Art"
EULOGY
RECESSIONAL.......... "When We All Get to Heaven "

INTERMENT
Allegheny Cemetery

OBITUARY
James S. Robinson, Jr. was born on June 30, 1911 in Pittsburgh, PA.
He was one of eight children born to James S. Robinson, Sr. and Elizabeth Grove.. He attended the Pittsburgh Public Schools and graduated from Watt Street School ( now Robert L.Vann Elementary School ). Upon graduation from elementary school, he was the second African American in the United States to receive the American Legion Honor Award. In 1929, he graduated from Schenley High School and received a track scholarship to the University of Pittsburgh.
During his years at Pitt, he worked for the Centre Avenue YMCA as a social worker and later became the Assistant Director of the Kay Boys Club. James was also an accomplished gymnast and Judo & Akaido expert.
During World War II, James was given a deferment from military service so that he could instruct U.S. troops headed for the Pacific in the art of self defense. In 1943, he became the Superintendent Of The Friendly Services Bureau for the Prevention of Crime and Delinquency Department of Public Safety, City of Pittsburgh.
Also in 1943, James became Director of Hill City Municipality.
His Hill City program was nationally acclaimed by experts in the field of Juvenile delinquency prevention and criminal justice.
James married Beatrice Saunders on September 8, 1952. They joined Christian Tabernacle Church in January 1970. James was a Sunday School teacher of young boys and he also served as assistant Superintendent of Sunday School. He was elected president of his 1976 graduating class of Harty Bible School and went on to serve as trustee of the Church and the Harty Bible School.
James S. Robinson, Jr.is survived by his wife Beatrice; sisters Viola Font of Pittsburgh, PA. Julia Johnson of Philadelphia, PA, Lorraine Fields of Harrisburg, PA; brothers Russell of Philadelphia, PA. Arnold of Pittsburgh, PA. and William of Willingboro, New Jersey; sons Thomas of Woodbridge, VA. and Ronald of Pittsburgh PA; 3 daughters in law, six grandchildren, two great grandchildren, and a host of nieces, nephews, relatives and friends.

James S. Robinson, Jr. Project, 2009 to the present
Since 2009 Blogger Black Buzz has been working on the James S. Robinson, Jr Project in conjunction with Dr. Larry Glasco of the History Department of the University of Pittsburgh, and with the Carnegie Mellon University Oral History Project. Jared Day, a professor of History at Carnegie Mellon has also been working with Blogger Black Buzz on the James S. Robinson, Jr. Project, along with the award winning author, John Wilborn III, of "Fundamentally Yours, Pete Dimperio."

Here are some of the highlights of the James S. Robinson, Jr. Project.
"The Baddest Black Man In The Country"
While in the eight grade at Robert L. Vann elementary school in the Hill District, my father was the second Black man or Colored person in the USA to receive The American Legion School Honor Award. My dad said that attorney Oliver Johnson who attended the ceremony at the Watt Street School informed him of said. Blogger Black Buzz contacted The American Legion National Headquarters located in Indianapolis, Indiana in 2009 to verify the authenticity of such a claim, and The American Legion National Headquarters stated that they started awarding the the medal in the state of Pennsylvania in 1922. The American Legion Representative stated that they didn't keep a record as to who was what race but if someone told your dad in 1925 that he was the second Black in the country to receive our coveted School Award then that was probably 100 percent correct. Also note that in 1925 that 929 School awards were given in the state of Pennsylvania and all of them where given to white students except for James S. Robinson Jr. of Pittsburgh PA.
Further Black Buzz's daughter was also a 1989 recipient of the famous American Legion School Award while attending Sacred Heart Elementary School in the East Liberty section of Pittsburgh PA. This maybe a first and great feature separate story in of itself. My father made a double or he skipped one grade in Elementary school because of great mastery of the subject material, and high intellect. My dad IQ's was 145. While my father ( James ) was in attendance at the famous Schenley High School in Pittsburgh PA. in 1926 his ninth grade history teacher stated in class "That the Negro Race hasn't contributed one idea or anything to the development of civilization anywhere in the world." My father James responded to the history teacher by saying " Your American history is one big fairy tale of lies, deceit, fables and distorted myths. My father, James was sent to the principals office, and suspended from school.The next day James arrived at said Schenley high school with his parents, attorneys Homer S. Brown, & Oliver L. Johnson and they met with the principal in question concerning the overt racist behavior of said history teacher in reference to the statements that were made in the classroom about Negroes. James suspension was lifted, and he was transferred to another classroom for history. What happened to the racist teacher in question ? This was 1926, and no action was taken against the defiant racist teacher in question, although Mr. Brown, and Mr. Johnson demanded that teacher be fired. In 1926 Blacks were not employed in any capacity within the Pittsburgh Public Schools buildings under the jurisdiction of said Board of Education.
In 1929, my father received a track scholarship to the University of Pittsburgh. His favorite event was the 220 YD. Low Hurdles, and the 120 High Hurdles Hurdles. My father said in one dual meet against Slippery Rock State Teachers College that he beat the entire Slippery Rock team by himself by participating in the high jump, broad Jump, the 220 yard dash and both hurdle events.
My father was also a member of the University of Pittsburgh Gymnastic team.
My dad stated that when he went out for Pitt's football team in 1929, Pitt's famous all world coach Jock Sutherland informed him that"There is no place on Pitt's football team for colored boys." Even though my father ran track for three more years on scholarship for the Pitt track team, he didn't return to Pitt's stadium until 1948 when he took my brother and I to see Indiana's great George Talifero run and pass all over the Pitt Panthers.
Even with the track scholarship my dad had to drop out of Pitt because of an economic hardship. Then my father began working at the Centre YMCA, where he injured his leg before the start of the 1932 Olympic trials. In 1932 my father was one of the top hurdlers in the USA.
My father also worked as the Assistant Director of the famous Kay Boys Club located at 1908 Wylie Ave. in Pittsburgh's Hill District.
In 1937 through 1941 my father was taught the secret art of Judo by a Japanese Master, which was unheard at the time. He religiously studied the art of Judo, Jutusi, & Akaido. So when World War II broke out the Federal Bureau Of Investigation recruited him into said agency, where he trained troops in the art of self-defense, and the FBI also sent him to their famous Quantico Training facility in Virginia. My father I also worked in Espionage, and Counter-Espionage involving the German American group the Bun and the "House on 92second street etc. He stated that he we was the only colored person working for the FBI in 1942, and none of his classmates at Quantico were colored. My father said he met J.Edgar Hoover and my dad would often ref err to him as the little "Queer, which at that time was a derogatory name for Homosexual.
My dad believed that J.Edgar was a colored man, who despised Negroes.
My father described one incident when he was training troops headed for the Pacific at the Hunt Armory Training Facility in the East Liberty Section of Pittsburgh when a white trooper from Texas said "Sir I can ask you a question " my father said "go ahead soldier" and the trooper said "How did a nigger like you ever get a good job like this." My father then said after he worked over the white trooper that the MP's took him to Shady side Hospital with a broken back, bloody lip, missing teeth and a fractured clavicle.
My dad said part of his training a Quantico consisted of hitting a quarter (25 cent piece ) in the middle of the coin after drawing his pistol from waist high. In another incident he informed me that when he went to pick-up a German American Bun member in West Virginia, that the local sheriff outside of Cabin Creek said " I'm not going to release my prisoner a (white ) man to no Nigger. " My dad my called his people in D.C. and this Sheriff received a call from FBI Headquarters in D.C. stating that if he continued to obstruct an officer of the Federal Bureau Of Investigation that he would be jailed on an obstruction of justice and interfering with the Federal Government in carrying out its statutory duties in War-time. My dad said the prisoner was released immediately by the racist Sheriff, and taken back to Pittsburgh PA.
I asked my dad why did he take up self-defense in the first place. He said that he got tired of coming home with bloody hands, and knuckles. My dad's family had moved to Homewood, and he said the minute he hit East Liberty to make the transfer or like in many cases he had to walk through East Liberty which was like walking in 1940 Mississippi for Colored people.
My father informed me that when the colored citizens complained about getting attacked, assaulted and terrorized the police replied that " If you don't want to get beat stay off of the streets Nigger." Black men and women couldn't walk the streets of East Liberty or Larmier without getting attacked and beaten. My dad stated that he made a plan to counter-attack the Italians and other whites who were giving the colored people hell in the East End section of Pittsburgh PA. My dad got five truck loads of the baddest Black men from the Soho District of the Hill, The Trent street gang, and men from all over the upper, middle and lower Hill. I have a picture of the Soho men boarding one of the trucks who's destination was for Larmier Avenue and vicinity. I have shared this picture with Larry Glasco of the University of Pittsburgh. My friend Steve Cardomone, who's was father was living on Larmier Avenue at the time of the counter-attack by the coloreds, said that his father Steve Sr. told him that those "colored guys came from the Hill and kicked our behinds all over East Liberty and told us if we bothered those colored ladies and men again that they would be back to kick and beat more behind. The police in East Liberty were also caught off guard, and they were also dealt with in an effective manner by the five truck loads of men from the Hill. Mrs Ralph Torrey, a Black lady who livied on one of streets on the present site of Rizenstein School stated those Black men were beating Italians from left to right, and she said finally"we colored citizens could walk the Streets in peace in East Liberty, after the intervention of your dad and those men from the Hill."
It was my dad that led those armed truck loads of Black men from the Hill District, who used the element of surprise in engaging in combat with the white bigots in East Liberty and Larmier. Make no mistake about it my dad was the leader. My dad admired Chief Crazy Horse, Geronimo, Tecumseh, and Chief Joseph. He also said that Chief Joseph should not have given in to the pressure of the whites, and that Chief Joseph should have conducted a guerrilla campaign similar to Geronimo. Furthermore my dad claimed that Chief Joseph had beaten the U.S. Army in three out the five battles he fought against them. My dad often said "your Black Panthers talked a good game, but they very rarely backed up their rhetoric with concrete actions. According to my dad"Talk has always been cheap." Further my dad told me that the great Jim Thorpe was the greatest athlete of the Century, and that his main training consisted of running back and forth to school some twenty miles a day. That's what inspired me to walk, and bicycle six miles one way when I played basketball and ran track at Slippery Rock Area High School, in Slippery Rock , Pa. I thought if it was good for Jim Thorpe it had to be good for me.
My father was a meticulous planner, and a man of action
My father also started working as the Executive Director of Hill City, and Superintendent of the Friendly Service Bureau of the Pittsburgh Police Department, Department of Public Safety, in 1943. I still have his badge number 112, and he could be the first African American in the City of Pittsburgh to head a Department of Public Safety.
There is more to this story and we have just scratched the surface in reference to telling my dad and mom's story in the context of American history.
The late Roland Saunders no kin to blogger Black Buzz says that " Jim helped more people on the Hill than anybody." Roland further stated that "Jim was good man and nobody in their right mind would fool with him."
Hop Kendricks stated in 2001 article editorial in the New Pittsburgh Courier that " How can you have a civil rights memorial/ museum in Pittsburgh, and not include Jim Robinson."
The late Walter Worthington founder of the African/Heritage Classroom at Pitt and life long resident of the Hill " said Jim was the most feared and one of the smartest men in Pittsburgh."
In 1951 I was walking with my dad on Centre Ave in the Hill District section of Pittsburgh on my way to Dr. Blow's office and a man stopped us and said "Jim is that your boy." " I'm going to give him all the money in my pocket because your dad saved my life by sending me to the Workhouse, and Western Penn." That gentlemen gave me seven dollars the most money I had ever received in my life.
My father was nominated for the Pittsburgh Courier Man of the Year in 1945, 1946, 1947, 1948,1949 and 1950. My dad informed me that those fake awards didn't mean anything, and that it is more important as to show how you lead your life and to give back  and; and contribute to your community and society in a positive manner.
*He was also a memeber of the Council of Three Rivers American Indian Center
He was registered as a bona-fide member of the Dakota Sioux Tribe, by Russell Simms, Executive Director of the Council of Three Rivers American Indian Center, INC. on March 22, 1977.
I have a Dakota Sioux I.D. Card also dated March, 22, 1977. My dad was very proud of his Native American and African American Hertiage.
Part II will begin tomorrow with Hill City, (Friendly Service Bureau), The Dunbar Community Center, Life in the Hill Distrcit, and life in Slippery Rock PA, etc. This story also involves Integrating Business's in Butler PA. etc.