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[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E55]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
HONORING MR. WILLIAM ASTOR KIRK
______
HON. BENNIE G. THOMPSON
of mississippi
in the house of representatives
Wednesday, January 16, 2019
Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi. Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor Mr.
William Astor Kirk on his great contributions to civil rights activism.
Raised in the East Texas town of Harleton, William began his journey
to higher education at Wiley College, a historically black college
located in Pittsburg, Texas. He transferred and continued his
trajectory at the prestigious Howard University in Washington, earning
both his bachelor's and master's degrees in Political Science. He then
pursued his doctorate at the University of Texas. He also completed
postgraduate studies at the London School of Economics and Political
Science in England as a Fulbright scholar. He later served as a
regional director of the U.S. Office of Economic Opportunity and as an
adjunct associate professor of organization theory in the Graduate
School of Management and Technology at the University of Maryland. He
was founder and CEO of the Organization Management Services
Corporation.
Kirk, also a United Methodist layperson, served as a director of the
public affairs department of the Board of Church and Society of the
United Methodist Church from 1961 to 1966 and as the board's interim
top executive in 1987 and 1988. He played a historic role in ending
institutional segregation in the United Methodist Church.
Overcoming discrimination was a fight he knew well. He had earned a
doctorate in political science at the University of Texas at Austin--
the university's first Ph.D. awarded to an African-American.
Kirk also led Huston-Tillotson students in various protests against
segregated public facilities in Austin during that era, and he was said
to be instrumental in the desegregation of the city's library and other
facilities.
He was known as a complete gentleman, a person who believed in
forgiving and in not allowing bitterness to define his life.
Before his death, Kirk had prepared an omnibus resolution to end
discrimination against sexual minorities, to be presented at the 2012
General Conference of The United Methodist Church.
William Astor Kirk died on Friday, August 12, 2011, at 89 years of
age. He and his wife Vivian, who died in 2010, had been members of
Foundry United Methodist Church in Washington since 1984, and he served
in many leadership roles. He is survived by his son, William A. Kirk,
Jr., his late daughter Marie Kirk Dunn, daughter-in-law Hillary, his
late son-in-law Reginald Dunn, and four granddaughters Ayanna, Jenelle,
Allison and Stefanie.
Madam Speaker, today I honor the life of Mr. William Astor Kirk for
his many contributions to ending discriminatory practices in the United
Methodist Church as well as throughout the City of Austin. William made
a career of serving others, and his work had a direct and positive
influence on the lives of literally thousands.
____________________