Celebrating MLK Day: Remembering Kate Lassiter Jones, the “Rosa Parks of Randolph County”

Kate Lassiter Jones was born Katherine Martitia Lilly Lassiter, on 23 November 1906, in the Lassiter Mill area of southwestern Randolph County, North Carolina, now considered part of the historic Strieby district of greater Asheboro. She was one of 12 children of Ulysses Winston Lassiter and his wife Ora Priscilla Kearns Lassiter, and great granddaughter of Miles and Healy (Phillips) Lassiter.[1] She was named for her grandmother, Katherine “Kate” Polk Lassiter, a founding member of Strieby Church and daughter in-law of Miles Lassiter, who was the only African American Quaker in North Carolina when he died in 1850.

Kate was educated first at Strieby. She then attended Columbian Heights High School in Winston-Salem.  She told me she missed her family terribly but understood the great sacrifice they were making to see to it that she got an education, so she was determined not to disappoint them.

After finishing high school, she attended Bricks Junior College, in Enfield, North Carolina, now the Franklinton Conference Center of the United Church of Christ.  During summers she earned money for tuition by going on church sponsored missions to Georgia, Texas, and Louisiana. She earned her degree in Social Work from Schauffler College (loosely affiliated with the Congregational Church and now part of Oberlin University) in Cleveland, Ohio, and another bachelor’s degree in Curriculum and Teaching as well as an M. A. in Rehabilitation Counseling from Columbia University in New York.

Kate’s career was illustrious. serving as: an elementary school teacher at the consolidated Strieby-Salem-Red House School in Randolph County, and in Roxboro, NC; Director of Rehabilitation Services at Beth Israel Medical Center in New York City, and Dean of Women at North Carolina A & T University.

In October 1951, Kate was named the Executive Secretary of the Montclair, New Jersey, YWCA.[2] The announcement appeared in the Montclair Times, wherein she reflected on some of her experiences during World War II. At that time, she was Director of Special Services for the Third Army at Fort Benning, Georgia, in the Division of Recreation; and an Extension Social Worker for the US Army Southeast Region.

At various times, she was director of the Service Clubs at Camp Shelby, in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, and Camp Sibert, in Etowah and St. Clair Counties, Alabama. She received two Army commendations during this time. [3]

Kate was a tireless church worker all her life. She was proud and active member of the Congregational/United Church of Christ.  She was a member of numerous committees, went on endless mission trips, and was active with every congregation she ever belonged to, as she moved around the country.

She was a moderator, trustee, deaconess, and historian of her home congregation, Strieby Congregational United Church of Christ, in the greater Asheboro area of Randolph County.

She also helped organize the fundraising program for the new church building when the historic building was condemned, saying “How can I turn my back on such a towering symbol in my life and see it sag and decay and cease to be?”[6]  Her commitment and dedication would lead to her being ordained a Deaconess in 1988. 

Kate’s dedication was not limited to her vocation as social worker or even her commitment to church and God. Kate was very political. Throughout her eighties and up to her early nineties, Kate would crisscross not only Randolph County, but also North Carolina participating in voter registration drives and was a member of the Executive Committee of the NC State Democratic Party. She would hold fund-raising parties on behalf of candidates she believed in, especially African American candidates, including Harvey Gantt. She was also an alternate delegate for then Governor Jimmy Carter representing the Fourth Congressional District at the 1980 Democratic General Convention.[6]  Her dedication led, in the 1990s, to being given the Kate Hammer Award as North Carolina State Democratic Woman of the Year. 

Kate was involved in many other Randolph County community affairs. She was a President of the Randolph Black Leadership Conference; a member of Leadership Action of the Randolph County Social Services Department; a Vice President of the Eastside Improvement Association; Treasurer of the George Washington Carver School Project. True to her interest in local African American History, she was also a committee member for the Heritage of Randolph County (Volumes 1 & 2), making sure that the stories of local African American families were included.

Over the years she was given the Randolph County Social Service Award, the Randolph County Mental Health Association Award, the Randolph County Commissioners’ Award, and the Randolph County NAACP Service Award, being dubbed The Rosa Parks of Randolph County. 

Kate was married to the love of her life, George “Ikie” Jones, originally of Norlina, Warren County, North Carolina. They had been college sweethearts when they both attended Brick Junior College, in Enfield, Halifax County, North Carolina. Ikie went on to Howard University and the distance proved too difficult for the relationship. Ikie became a dentist moving to Westfield, New Jersey, where he married, raised a family, and was very active in the community, including being the first African American member of the Chamber of Commerce.[7] Kate had married first James Trent, but the marriage ended in divorce. Years later, Kate and Ikie rekindled their friendship and after Ikie was widowed they married, eventually retiring to Asheboro.

Kate lived to see her 100th year. On Thanksgiving Eve, 2006, just three hours before midnight and her 100th birthday, Kate died. [9]

A week later, the family and community gathered at Strieby Church for her funeral, after which she was laid to rest in Strieby Church Cemetery.[10]

At her 99th Birthday celebration, Kate exhorted us, her family and friends, to make our lives be ones of service to others. Those of us who heard her speak that night were profoundly moved and inspired. Indeed, we were and continue to be inspired by her life of service. We the descendants of Strieby Church community work to make that a reality in our lives and for Strieby Cultural Heritage Site to remind us, and all who visit, of the shoulders we stand on, thereby inspiring us to strive to reach ever greater heights.

So, to all headed out on this Martin Luther King Day 2024, for a day of service to members of your community, or family, and those who must carry on with their regular routines, let us not forget, our ancestors, who were giants, and had a “Dream.” We are their “wildest dreams.” May we dream ever wilder dreams for the next generation of giants.

References

[1] See Williams, M. L. (2016). From Hill Town to Strieby: Education and the American Missionary Association in the Uwharrie “Back Country” of Randolph County, North Carolina (Backintyme Publishing, Inc.).

[2] Leader chosen by YWCA. (1951, 11 October). The Montclair Times, p. 37. Retrieved from Newspapers.com.

[3] Ibid.

[4] 6th St. USO program Sunday. (1945, 17 August). Hattiesburg American, p. 4. Retrieved from Newspapers.com.

[5] Kate Lassiter Jones of Asheboro… (1989, 27 July). Charlotte Observer, p. 75. Retrieved from Newspapers.com.

[6] Jones, K. M. L. L. (1972, 24 December). Souvenir Journal for the Dedication of the New Church Building,p. 4. Copy in the possession of the author.

[7]Fourth District delegation all white. (1980, 1 June). Raleigh News and Record, p. 79. Retrieved from Newspapers.com.

[8] Dr. George Jones, 89, longtime Westfield dentist and activist. (1994, 6 February). Asheboro Courier-News, p. 13. Retrieved from Newspapers.com.

[9] Personal knowledge. See also, Kate Trent Jones. U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015.

[10] Personal knowledge.