By Ann Mary Quarandillo

Julia Britton Hooks ( 1852-1942) attended Berea from 1870-74.

Julia Britton Hooks, who attended Berea and was the first African American faculty member of the school, was honored with the second annual John G. Fee Award at Berea’s Founders’ Day celebration on October 25. Ten descendants, including grandson Benjamin Hooks, retired director of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), accepted the awards for the Hooks family.

"Founders’ Day is a way to call our attention to Berea’s past, while focusing on the enduring impact of the College," says College President Larry D. Shinn. This impact is celebrated by the John G. Fee Award, which honors early Berea alumni who gave distinguished service to their community, especially in the field of education, and who reflect the ideas of Berea founder Rev. John G. Fee as evidenced in the College’s motto "God has made of one blood all peoples of the earth."

Julia Britton Hooks (1852-1942) attended Berea from 1870-74. Born in Frankfort, Ky., she was a musical prodigy who began playing piano publicly at age five, and at age 18 joined Berea’s faculty, teaching instrumental music from 1870-72. Her sister, Dr. Mary E. Britton, also attended Berea, and became a physician in Lexington, Ky. Julia eventually moved to Memphis where she married Charles Hooks.

She was very politically active, and was a charter member (1909) of the NAACP, the world’s largest and oldest civil rights organization. Benjamin Hooks remembered her as "born to rebel," and recalled several instances from his youth when she was arrested for disobeying Jim Crow laws. Her descendants have been active educators, businesspeople, and public servants.

Benjamin Hooks, a distinguished professor of political science at the University of Memphis spoke to the Berea students.

"What trials, what travails, what tribulations we have seen, yet my grandmother had this great sense of duty, and of education," Hooks says. She founded the Hooks School of Music in Memphis, teaching harmony to blues legend W. C. Handy, and opened the Hooks Cottage School in her home. She also founded an Orphans and Old Folks Home, partially funded through her benefit concerts. Her concern for all people in need in the city of Memphis earned her the title "The Angel of Beale Street."

Benjamin L. Hooks is a distinguished professor of political science at the University of Memphis and an ordained minister. A leader of the civil rights movement, he served as national executive director of the NAACP from 1977-92. He was the first African-American elected to a judgeship in Tennessee and the first appointed to the Federal Communications Commission.

The John G. Fee Awards, which were presented to the families of each Hooks grandchild, were designed and handcrafted by Berea College Woodcraft and Berea artist Ken Gastineau. Each walnut box features a cast-bronze medallion of the African "sankofa" symbol, a bird looking back over its shoulder. The symbol, derived from the Akan people of Ghana, represents the need to look back in order to learn and understand.

Benjamin Hooks called on Berea students to learn from his grandmother and the legacy of Berea College. "Thank God for Julia Ann Amanda Moorehead Britton Werles Hooks,"
he said, "and for the man who founded this school, his legacy, and for his belief in the fact that we are all children of one God. And so to you young people of Berea College, a great heritage has been passed, a great legacy is yours . . . and I hope that we all will leave here today, determined to do our best to uphold the best standards of living."