Along the Way: A life’s journey from segregated South to discrimination in North

Deseree Liddell at the age of 96 has publish her memoir, “The Higher You Climb, the Broader the View: From the Jim Crow South to a Thriving Northern Community” and will appear a book signing from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Skeels-Matthews Community Center at 4378 Skeels Street in Ravenna on Saturday, Aug. 6.

Written with the help of Mary Louise Ruehr, a former editorial staff member at the Record-Courier, the memoir looks back at her remarkable life that began in segregated Mississippi. Eventually she and her husband moved north, becoming part of a migration of an estimated six million African Americans who left the South for the North between 1910 and 1970 in search of a better life.

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According to a press release, Mrs. Liddell wrote the memoir to share with her children’s children what life for Black families in Mississippi was like. Some of the people she remembers were in danger of losing their lives. In the North, her memoir shows, she faced another kind of discrimination and it tells how she survived and fought for more equal treatment of African Americans.

The book is available from the Skeels Community Center for $20 plus for $5 postage and handling. Proceeds will support the Deseree Liddell Minority Scholarship Fund. For more information, write to skeels@fcsohio.org.

KSU alum Matthews, January 6 witness

Sarah Matthews, the former deputy press secretary under President Donald Trump, who testified before the House Committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection, graduated from Kent State University in 2017 with a degree in public relations.

The Stark County native’s father is a director of its Board of Elections and a former chair of the Stark County Republican Party. Matthews corroborated earlier testimony by White House aide Cassidy Hutchison writing on her Twitter account: “Anyone downplaying Cassidy Hutchinson’s role or her access in the West Wing either doesn’t understand how the Trump WH worked or is attempting to discredit her because they’re scared of how damning this testimony is.”

Matthews said Trump’s calling Vice President Pence a coward during the riot was “pouring gasoline on the fire.” She resigned after the Jan. 6 insurrection. The Twitter account for the U.S. House Republicans responded by calling Matthews, “another liar and pawn in Pelosi’s witch hunt.” That response was later deleted.

Matthews served in other capacities including the Trump re-election campaign before being invited by Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany to serve on the White House staff. In a Kent State-originated feature, she complimented the public relations program in KSU’s College of Communication and Information where she received her bachelor’s degree.

The life of Mary Louise Van Dyke

John Picken of Oberlin has sent a very nice tribute regarding the life of Mary Louise Van Dyke, who died last December, six months after the death of her husband, Dr. Don Van Dyke. Both were in their 90s.

While the doctor practiced ophthalmology for nearly 20 years in Kent and at Robinson Memorial Hospital, the Van Dykes were community stalwarts, charter members of the group that brought the American Field Service program to Kent. The doctor was active in Rotary and she was active in the United Church of Christ and its sacred music program.

They relocated to Oberlin in the 1970s after he accepted an invitation from the Oberlin Clinic to practice ophthalmology. Both were Oberlin alumni. The college benefitted hugely from their return because the Van Dykes were so supportive of students. She was an accomplished musician, educator, master weaver, and director of children’s choirs. Her volunteer work included Friends of Oberlin Artist Series; Hymn Society; Coordinator of the Dictionary of American Hymnology at the Oberlin College Library; the Allen Art Museum; the Oberlin Alumni Association and the women’s field hockey teams whose members were sometimes brunch guests at the Van Dykes.

Quaker-inspired Kendal located a retirement center in Oberlin and the Van Dykes were early advocates for it. They chose to reside there when it opened in 1993.

David E. Dix is a former publisher of the Record-Courier.

This article originally appeared on Record-Courier: A life’s journey from segregated South to discrimination in North