PEORIA MAGAZINE February 2023

member of the YWCA and Peoria Girl Scouts boards and founder of the first 4-H Club for Black girls. Allen’s daughter, Angela Henry, now runs The Traveler Weekly. “My heart fills up every time I drive by (the school),” Henry said. “For our family, it is just the most wonderful and beautiful thing that could happen. She did so much for people, but she never told anyone about it. She just did it.” DR. C. T. VIVIAN PRIMARY SCHOOL, 918 W. FLORENCE AVE. Dr. C. T. Vivian was a renowned author, minister and civil rights leader with strong Peoria ties. Born in Boonville, Missouri, Cordy Tindell Vivian migrated with his mother toMacomb, Illinois as a boy. He graduated from Macomb High School in 1942 and attended Western Illinois University. Vivian’s first job was as recreation director at the Carver Community Center in Peoria, at a time of strict segregation. He participated in the first of many sit-in demonstrations, leading to the successful integration of Barton’s Cafeteria in Peoria in 1947. Vivian went on to study for the ministry at the American Baptist Theological Seminary in Nashville. He and civil rights leaders in Nashville organized sit-ins and other nonviolent action against segregated lunch counters and discrimination at other public accommodations. By 1960, Vivian was working with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., becoming one of King’s closest friends. The famed civil rights leader is

Society, League of Women Voters, District 150 School Board Advisory Committee and Easterseals. Gordon is most known for her work at Tri-County Urban League, which she joined in 1965, working her way up from secretary to director of employment by her 2006 retirement. Gordon’s influence came into play as she campaigned tirelessly to help her daughter, Jehan, win election to the Illinois House of Representatives in 2008 as Peoria’s first Black legislator. “My mother was an ordinary person who did extraordinary things,” said Jehan Gordon-Booth. “I have always been incredibly inspired bymymother’s life and the way she dedicated herself to serving God, her family and the community.” ELISE FORD ALLEN ACADEMY, 1704 W. AIKEN AVE. Elise Ford Allen Academy is named for the founder and longtime publisher of The Traveler Weekly, a newspaper that has given voice to Peoria’s Black commu nity since 1966. Allen also was the first Black woman to run for Peoria mayor. Shewas born in 1921 toDr. Cecil Bruce

Ford, Peoria’s first Black dentist, and Frances Harrison, a well-known seam stress. The mother of 10 children lived to be 100, collectingmany awards along theway includingOutstanding Business Woman from the National Association of UniversityWomen and the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Commemorative Service Leadership Award in 1989. The Peoria NAACP recognized her for Outstanding Community Service. Even while Allen and her husband, James, were busy publishing the newspaper, she found time to serve as president of the Parent Teacher Organizations at Roosevelt Junior High and Manual High School. Each year since 1985, the school has presented the Elise Allen Award to an eighth grade boy and girl for high academic achievement. She was the first Black

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