Historical Contributions Experience of Elders

At 82 years old, Carl Woods has experienced the range of successes and tribulations of African American professionals. With 37 years in the Movement, Woods has been the "first" African American to hold many Club positions.. He was the first African American professional in the Detroit organization. He was also the first chief professional officer of the Herbert Hoover Boys & Girls Club in St. Louis, Missouri.

Woods was born on September 2, 1919 in Big Stone Gap, Virginia. In his words, he is "82 years old..and going strong!" As a child, there were no Boys Clubs in Big Stone Gap for whites or blacks. So, Woods did not know about Boys Girls Clubs until he graduated from the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor in 1949.

"I went to high school and graduate from Junior College in Rogersville, Tennessee...From there I taught for a brief period in small mining community in Virginia until I was inducted into the Navy.

"After I was discharged from the Navy, I used the GI Bill and went to the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. I graduated from the University of Michigan in 1949...[with a degree in] social science and a minor in physical education.

"I never heard of [the] Boys Clubs until I graduated from the University of Michigan in 1949.... What happened was that one of my instructors knew about the Boys Clubs of Detroit. He [instructor] recommended me to the Executive Director...because they were building a new Club in Detroit...[Al Wright]. I was hired as the physical director [in 1949].

Over the 37 years of his professional career in the Movement, Woods made his home with only two organizations: Boys Clubs of Detroit (now Boys & Girls Clubs of Southeastern Michigan) and the Herbert Hoover Boys & Girls Club in St. Louis, Missouri. He experienced many firsts over these years including being the first African American professional in the Detroit organization as well as the first chief professional officer of the Herbert Hoover Boys & Girls Club.

"I went from a physical director [Bloomer Building Boys Club] to a program director...And then I enrolled in Wayne State University in Detroit to study for my Master's Degree. I received my Master's degree from Wayne State University in 1954. After I received my Master's degree, I was made director of the Winger Building Boys Club in Detroit [from 1955 to 1966].

"In 1952, I took a Boys Club "short" training course at New York University...I was the only black in that class. It was called a study in the administration and management of Boys' Club work...We stayed at the old Sloan YMCA in New York...It was about 3 weeks long.

'Then [in 1966] I was hired by Boys Club of St Louis. The old Sportsman ballpark was being demolished. The Cardinals were building a new stadium downtown and they were going to use the old Sportsman's ballpark to build a new Boys Club in St. Louis. In the process of building a Boys Club, their first job was to find an Executive Director. I was hired as the first executive director of the Herbert Hoover Boys Club...in 1966. I stayed here until I retired in 1986. I was in Boys Clubs for a total of 37 years."

When asked about the challenges of being an African American professional in the Movement, Woods cited many barriers:

lack of African American professionals in the Movement;

locking of African Americans into "program"-related positions;

lack of opportunities for African Americans to gain experience in budget development and board work;

discomfort of white communities with black leadership; and

myth of the inability of blacks to lead and manage.

"While I served as the program director, the physical director, and the director of the Boys Club of Detroit, there were no blacks there at all. So it was a challenge to me when I was employed....as the director of the Winger Building Club. That was a milestone in the Boys Club Movement in Detroit...and, of course, it made the newspaper...[I was] the first black to be hired there in a professional capacity...in the Detroit organization...When I went to the Winger Building, I got my own staff...I had black physical directors, black program directors...we were more or less a pioneer in that area...

"I am pleased to say it appears that the Boys Club in terms of race relations and in terms of hiring blacks the improvement has been considerable over the past few years...When I came into the Movement and I used to go the Administrative Conference and I would be the only black there. This was the old Midwest region, which was one of the largest regions in the Boys Club Movement.

"Well, the big problem that black guys had in the early Boys Club Movement...they didn't have an opportunity to work with Board people because all of the Board people were white. In many instances, the executive director did not share his expertise with his program director if he were black or his physical director. So black guys in a lot of instances did not have the opportunity to learn budgets, to learn methodologies [of] dealing with the public. But, fortunately in my case, I did have the opportunity to be exposed to budget and good administration by the man called Al Wright. He is the person who dealt with me fairly...

"But it was not an uncommon thing to see the executive director or if he were the director, he would damn sure, if he were in the black community, he would be sure to get a black physical director to control the kids and work directly with the kids! You know what I'm saying.

"But it was not uncommon to see...black guys who were physical directors...programs directors...they were put in that position...they were in a position of holding...It was hard to go past that physical director and program director to get up to that executive director.

"There was fear too. A lot of board people thought they could not handle budgets. Blacks could not work with boards...They doubted that blacks could do it... A lot of times communities were not ready to handle a black executive. And I heard that expression more than once. I have even heard that from national people. Because I remember shortly after I received my Master's degree from Wayne State in Detroit, I made it perfectly clear that I wanted to be an executive in the Boys Club. Not just a director, I wanted to be an executive director because I felt that I was ready. And I was told at one time. 'I can understand where you are coming from, but in most communities, they are just not ready'.

"Every year when I would go down to the United Way to make my presentation, I opened my presentation with a simple statement. 'At Herbert Hoover Boys Club which I am the executive director of, we are extremely proud of our accountability and credibility'.... In those two areas this is where whites doubted Black could perform. Over the 20 years.... with the United Way with the budget committees, we had an outstanding record of accountability, accuracy, budget and our credibility. And I harped on that!"

Woods remembered many African Americans who made significant contributions to the Movement. In fact, Woods emphatically stated that "black Boys Club guys have paid their dues!" Even though they did not have the opportunities for high profile positions, their work and their influence on the youth of America should not be discounted.

"There was some blacks in the early Boys Club Movement who were just outstanding...solid in their intellect...were just tremendous...just did not have an opportunity to grow and develop...Danny Swope out of Chicago, just an outstanding guy...Dick Jordan..hell of a guy...Those were two fellas that come to mind right away...Ike Snell...There was "Smitty" [Larry Smith] from down in Durham, NC...The black Boys Club guys have paid their dues. I'll tell you that...

"I knew Herman Prescott. Prescott was from Newport News. When I was in Detroit, Prescott brought two of his youngsters who were outstanding ping pong players...they were nationally rated...These were, of course, black kids. And Prescott came to my Club and his youngsters stayed in my Club...and gave a table tennis exhibition...I am pleased to know that his name is still being remembered, because he was an outstanding Boys Club man...He was a good man.

"There is one black guy whose name I'd like to mention because he was in the Movement before I was, but he was in Cincinnati. His name was Percy Reed. Percy Reed was a Unit Director for the Boys Clubs of Cincinnati. Years and years ago...this was in 1949, 50, 51. He is one of the first black Boys Club professionals that I met.

"Black professionals in the Boys Club Movement has made a tremendous contribution to the Movement for the betterment of kids around this nation."

In conclusion, Woods passionately speaks to contemporary African American professionals. He counsels professionals to continue to destroy the myth of blacks' inability to lead organizations. Regarding budgets, professionals should employ an attention to detail. With all matters of management, credibility is essential. On another note, black professionals, in all of their dedication to the Movement, should not neglect their families.

"...Know how to do budgets, credibility [be credible], and accountability [be accountable] because you are using other people's money. United Ways around the country are being carefully scrutinized and the more they are scrutinized, the more the agency is scrutinized. Therefore, any executive has to be extra careful. But a black guy has to be twice as careful!

"The great disadvantage [of Boys & Girls Club work] is you have a tendency to neglect your family...you put so much time in the [Club]...That is one of the things that someone in the Boys Club Movement should give some thought to...Maybe the Boys Club one day will give all of us guys who retired...they can talk about us...they can give us our trophies and all of that kind of crap...you ought to give something to the women who put up with these men for those 30-to-40 years while they were in the Boys Club Movement!"