People | Esther M Lee African American Heritage Center

Faith P. Strong

by Lou64JLL | Dec 8, 2024 | Music, People

The Strong Sisters as they appeared on the popular Black Exposure program in 1990.
(Rev. Jean Marie Strong – Ella Strong Capers; on keyboard Faith Strong)

Faith P. Strong – Musician

October 3, 1938 – March 29, 2023

Faith Strong was born in Aliquippa, Pa. Faith was a devoted musician who started studying music at the age of 5. Her studies included piano, organ, voice, arranging and writing. She attended the Conservatory of Music of Bethlehem as a child and continued to grow under her music teacher Miss Fitch of Liberty High School and Mr. Snyder both of Bethlehem, Pa.

At the age of 9, she was the youngest musician ever elected to be voted into a position at Second Baptist Church of Bethlehem, Pa. She played for many choirs during her lifetime, Senior, Mass, Youth and Children’s choirs. She also played for the Community Gospel Chorus of Bethlehem, where the late Mr. and Mrs. Oscar Tarboro were the founders. Also, The Zionett’s and Pearls of Joy of Allentown, St. James AME Zion church choirs founded by the late Mrs. Beth Beville and daughter, Dr. Joanne Spencer.

Many concerts and cantata’s were held for the Central Baptist Association, under Mrs. Esther M. Lee of Bethlehem, PA.

One of the most memorable highlights of her life was when Mr. Tom Morgan organized the 1000 Voice Choir of the 250th Anniversary of Bethlehem Sings asked if she would participate as one of four conductors. She was humbled and honored. She worked for Western Electric of Allentown until her retirement and part of the Pioneers.

She traveled a great deal during her lifetime spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ through music when asked. She assisted her sister, Rev. Jean Strong with her ministry during her pastorate at the 2nd Traditional Missionary Baptist Church in Bethlehem, Pa. from 2003 until 2013 until its closing. Faith also recorded “You’ll Never Walk Alone” with Evangelist Rosie Wallace Brown, First Church of Love, Faith and Deliverance, Philadelphia, PA

She was not only a musician but a singer and song writer. She was a major part of the Strong Sisters recently renamed the “Strong Sisters plus one” when her niece Patricia joined.

Her father, Rev. Eugene Strong Sr., was a well-known baritone singer as well. He held many benefit concerts in the Lehigh Valley.

Rev. Roberts and the Bethlehem Community Civic League

by Lou64JLL | Nov 16, 2024 | Organizations, People

Wakefield Roberts, a North Carolina native, worked with migrant workers in Adams County during the mid-1950s after serving with the Army’s 82nd Airborne Division during the Korean War.

By 1956, Rev. Roberts was transferred to St. John AME Zion Church on Bethlehem’s South Side. After leaving the parish in 1966, Roberts went on to serve as executive director of the Community Action Committee of the Lehigh Valley, working with Pat Levin, the then executive director of Allentown’s Community Services for Children.

“We are all grateful for his vision,” Levin said.

Roberts would go on to help found the Bethlehem Community Civic League, which strove to eliminate discrimination in housing, employment and education. He also worked with the Colored Voters Association and the Elks.

Esther Lee, then president of the Bethlehem NAACP said Roberts was a visionary who worked diligently to advance race relations in the Lehigh Valley before the civil rights movement drew national attention during the 1960s.

“Roberts always tried to push all of us to be better,” Lee said. “A lot of what we have today would not have been possible without his efforts.”

Lane Family

by Lou64JLL | Nov 10, 2024 | People, People Firsts

Abraham Lane b. 1861 – d. 1906
Abraham was Bethlehem’s first black businessman, a well-known caterer and owner of properties in South Bethlehem. He also ran a tea room in the 500 block of Cherokee Street. Abraham had the property at 627 Cherokee Street built in 1890.

Abraham (Abram) Lane was born July 26, 1861, in Piney Grove, Sampson County, North Carolina to Richard and Lavinia (nee Cox) Lane. His siblings were a sister Caroline and a brother Robert. Abraham married Clara Brown in 1885 in Philadelphia. They had nine children, 7 boys and two girls. All were baptized at the Cathedral Church of the Nativity, 321 Wyandotte Street, Bethlehem, PA.

We don’t the means by which he arrived in Bethlehem, but by 1880 or maybe before, Abraham as a young man, was working as a servant for E. P. Wilbur, the industrialist / banker and nephew of Lehigh Valley railroad founder Asa Packer of Jim Thorpe, PA. Clara lived in Jim Thorpe at the time and it is known since Abraham accompnaied E. P. Wilbur on his trips to visit his uncle Asa, that the two met.

Children of Abraham and Clara:
Richard Henry Lane**
b. 1886 – d. ? – Dining Car Waiter
Aaron Faucett Lane**
b. 1887 – d. 1964 – Waiter on ships
Abraham Lane II*
b. 1891 – d. 1970 – Waiter (upstate New York)
William Thurston Lane*
b. 1893 – d. 1977 – Waiter at Hotel Bethlehem
Robert Julius Lane*
b. 1895 – d. 1980 – Waiter at Hotel Bethlehem
Albert Victor Lane*
b. 1898 – d. 1943 – Waiter
Clara Isabella Lane
b. 1899 – d. 1936 – School Teacher, Atlantic City, NJ
Lavinia Lane
b. 1902 – d. 2001 – Cook
Walter Lane*
b. 1904 – d. 1984 – Waiter and Red Cap

** Shown in photo Richard and Aaron
(boys with dresses)
* All enlisted in WWI and WWII

Clara Lane, 1940s. Wife of Abraham Lane.

Abraham Lane

Aaron Lane

Richard and Aaron Lane

Clara lane (daughter) with her students.

Hiram Bradley

by Lou64JLL | Jul 28, 2022 | People, People Firsts

Interview with Herbert Bradley, Hiram Bradley’s great grandson.

Herbert Bradley shares that his great-grandfather, Hiram Bradley (1814-1881), was the first Black person to arrive in Bethlehem in 1860, from Powhattan County, Virginia. He was an indentured servant to Tinsley Jeter, one of South Bethlehem’s leading entrepreneurs.

He wed Rachel Emma Walsh on June 25, 1862, at a Presbyterian Church on the outskirts of Lehigh, Pennsylvania. They had eight children all who were baptized at the Pro Cathedral Church of the Nativity. In fact, Alfred Tinsley and Mary Jeter, the Bradley’s first children, were the fourth and fifth persons baptized in the newly consecrated Church of the Nativity, in 1865.

Hiram was himself baptized in 1877, with Tinsley Jeter standing as sponsor. Many of the children of these early Black families of Nativity later left Bethlehem to follow education and work in other places; others were instrumental in the founding of St. John African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, at 718 Pawnee Street, Bethlehem, PA, where they could worship and exercise leadership uninhibited; others, such as the descendants of Abram and Clara Lane, are now multi-generational parishioners of the Cathedral. Hiram also worked for Bethlehem Steel.

Herbert Bradley’s father’s name is Herbert Frank Bradley and worked at Bethlehem Steel and the Bethlehem Hotel. His mother’s name is Leila, from Easton, Pa.

The Bradley Children:
Alfred Tinsley Bradley – b. 1863 – d. 1929 -Stableman
Mary Jeter Bradley – b. 1864
Harry Bradley – b. 1866 – Driver
Hiram Bradley, Jr. – b. 1868
Elizabeth Bradley – b. 1871
Emma Theresa – b. 1874 – d. 1885
Frank Herbert Bradley- b. 1878 – d. 1965 Steelworker
Robert Bradley – b. 1878 Coachman/Steelworker
Joseph Montgomery Bradley – b. 1884 – d.1885

Vivian Butts

by Lou64JLL | Jul 28, 2022 | People, People Firsts

(Catherine) Vivian Williams Butts was the daughter of the late Wendell Curtis Williams and the late Catherine Lily Ruth Irene Spruill Williams. She was born October 5, 1933, in Fentress (Chesapeake), VA.

Vivian was educated in the Pasquotank County/Elizabeth City, NC school system. She graduated from P.W. Moore High School in 1952 and the State Teachers College (now known as Elizabeth City State University) in 1956 with a BS in Elementary Education.

She was preceded in death by her husband, Raymond Earl Butts Sr., whom she married on Dec. 24, 1956. Prior to relocating to the Lehigh Valley in 1956, Vivian had traveled to the area with her family during summers in the 1940s, working as a seasonal farmworker picking tomatoes, potatoes, apples and peaches.

Early in her career, Vivian worked at the former Hutt & Wasserman Hat Factory at 12th and Vultee streets in Allentown, PA. In 1957, she began working for Western Electric in Allentown, sealing electronic radio tubes. Vivian worked there for 5 ½ years, until her sister-in-law, Antonia, talked her into applying for a position with the Bethlehem Police Department in 1963. Both were to apply, but Antonia did not, and Vivian did. In September 1964, Vivian joined the Bethlehem Police Department as a Juvenile Officer, becoming the city’s first African American female police officer. As part of her work, she completed courses in “arrest techniques, handling children, major police problems, sex crimes, first aid, narcotics, driver training, effective speech and juvenile delinquency.” She also attended seminars on alcoholism and human relations. When the department brought in experts from Northwestern University to train patrolmen for improved accident investigations, Vivian—who at that point had never investigated an accident in her life—received the top grade. She served in the department’s juvenile aid division until it was disbanded in 1976 and the department transitioned to neighborhood team policing. She was promoted to sergeant in 1980 and served until her retirement in 1989 after 25 years of service.

Vivian was a member of the St. Paul Baptist Church, where she served as a trustee for many years. She was also a member of the church’s Missionary Society, co-founder of the Tuesday morning Bible Study, and a founding member of the Flower Club.

Her lifelong commitment to community service included her roles as a member of the Northampton County Diversity Committee and a member of the Advisory Committee to the Northampton County Human Relations Commission, a member of the Bethlehem YWCA Racial Justice Committee and Church Women United, a life member of the NAACP, where she served as membership chair of the Bethlehem branch for more than 30 years, and a longtime board member of the J.F. Goodwin Scholarship Fund. She was also a member of the Jubilee Christian Bowling League and at one point volunteered for a local theater group. She was elected as an inaugural member of the board of directors of the South Terrace Area Neighborhood Center (now the South Bethlehem Neighborhood Center) and a frequent attendee at the annual Martin Luther King, Jr. march in South Bethlehem and on one occasion picketed outside Liberty High School with her longtime friend, Esther M. Lee, to protest the suspension of only one of two students (a minority female) for fighting.

Ever the “big sister,” Vivian was always looking out for her brothers. At some point, several of her brothers (and at least one nephew) lived with Vivian and her family upon moving to the Lehigh Valley. Vivian was extremely family-oriented and always ready to travel to a family reunion or gathering, point out a relation, or brag about the accomplishments of any member of her extended family. She also loved games and enjoyed playing cards and board games, working crosswords and Sudoku puzzles.

Ada Brady

by Lou64JLL | Jul 26, 2022 | Churches, Educators, People

Ada Pauline Brady of Bethlehem, PA, was born in Newport News, VA, in 1922. Ada was the daughter of the late Redmond Brady and Julia (Jones) Brady-Williams. Ada was reared in Bethlehem and is a graduate of Liberty High School. She received her Bachelors Degree in Social Work from Hampton University and a K-3 Teaching Certificate from Bank Street College of Education. She worked as a Social Worker in New York City and was an elementary teacher in the Bethlehem School District for 21 years.

Ada was a community activist, serving with South Bethlehem Neighborhood Center, Bethlehem Branch NAACP and Church Women United. A devout Christian and active member of St. John A.M.E. Zion Church, she served as organist and Minister of Music, Class Leader, Trustee, Missionary and sang in two church choirs. She also served as the Local Life Members Chair of the Women’s Home and Overseas Missionary Society.