Chapter Profile

The first organizational meeting to form a BIG chapter in the Huntsville area was held on July 25, 1989 through efforts of Mary Peoples, an Equal Employment Manager at the U.S. Army Space & Missile Defense Command/Army Forces Strategic Command (formerly called the U.S. Army Strategic Defense Command) who prepared the publicity to announce the meeting. Ms. Peoples had obtained a chapter start-up kit from a colleague who was a national board member.

The meeting was held at St. John AME Church on Church Street at 7:00 p.m. with 20 people from various federal agencies in attendance. These employees were from the Army's Missile Command, Army Strategic Defense Command, Army Corps of Engineers, the Office of Personnel Management and the Marshall Space Flight Center. A special invited guest at this meeting was Mr. Johnny Smith, who gave a briefing on BIG and answered questions from the audience. Mr. Smith, at that time, was the Executive Vice President of National BIG and a member of the Muscle Shoals Area Chapter. At this meeting, temporary officers were selected and they were: President – Arthur Henderson, Secretary – Johnnie Clark and Treasurer – Theodore Dixie.

After several meetings and completion of the chapter bylaws, a nominating committee was elected to present a permanent slate of officers. The slate was presented at the meeting on August 24 and the first permanent officers were: President - Betty McPherson; First Vice President - Arthur Henderson; Second Vice President - James Turnage; Recording Secretary - Johnnie Clark; Corresponding Secretary - Bo Wilkerson; Treasurer - Theodore Dixie; and Parliamentarian - Walter Lacy. Mary Peoples was elected as the Historian.

The Huntsville-Madison County Chapter of BIG was officially charted by national BIG in February 1990. Charter members of the chapter consisted of employees from the U.S. Army Missile Command (currently AMCOM), U.S. Army Strategic Defense Command (now Space and Missile Defense Command/Army Forces Strategic Command (SMDC/ARSTRAT), the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC). Following the chartering of the chapter, letters were sent to these local federal agencies seeking formal recognition as an organization providing assistance and support to EEO programs that furthered employment and advancement opportunities for Black employees. In its recognition letter in June 1990, the Commanding General of the U.S. Army Missile Command granted permission to the chapter to use available conference room space/facilities on Redstone to conduct BIG activities. Currently the chapter is comprised of federal employees in the local area from Department of the Army and Department of Defense installations, and MSFC. The chapter membership also includes city and county government employees, and private sector employees.

Goals

The chapter's goals and objectives include:

1. being an advocate of equal opportunity;
2. eliminating practices of racism and racial discrimination against Blacks in government;
3. promoting professionalism;
4. developing and promoting programs that will enhance ethnic pride and educational opportunities for Blacks in government;
5. establish a mechanism for the gathering and dissemination of information to Blacks in government; and
6. to provide a nonpartisan platform on major issues of local, regional, and national significance that affect Blacks in government.

Initiatives

Future initiatives include:

1. Continued sponsorship of the chapter's Professional Development Training Seminar on an annual basis, with emphasis on bringing in nationally renowned speakers;
2. Sponsoring lunch and learn sessions to educate members on the Federal personnel system and equal employment opportunity directives/regulations;
3. Establishing relationships with local federal, state and municipal agencies to offer assistance in addressing the needs and concerns of Blacks in government and to assist in dissemination of information pertaining to employment opportunities;
4. Increase chapter revenue by 25% and take membership to 100 and finally;
5. Implement monitoring the employment status of Blacks in government with agencies where members are employed.

During its existence, the chapter has sponsored free employment seminars at local churches to provide information to persons seeking employment with government and private sector companies. The chapter also co-sponsored a seminar on Title VII of the Civil Rights Act (Equal Employment Opportunity) with the local NAACP branch with presentations by the staff from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in Birmingham. In 1993, the chapter sponsored its first Professional Development Seminar (PDS) for local federal sector employees, which was a success. The PDS has become an annual event sponsored by the chapter to promote professional development and is open to the general public. Participants at the PDS have included support of local commanders who served as luncheon guest speakers. High-ranking officials from other federal agencies have participated by speaking at banquet events. The chapter has supported Youth Programs developed by the national organization that included an oratorical contest and an information superhighway computer competition. The chapter has also sponsored employment related luncheon programs and banquets with guest speakers from within and outside the government. Presentations on personnel issues and equal employment opportunity have been conducted that served to educate BIG chapter members on employment areas of concern to them.

The chapter was the recipient of the BIG Southeast Region's Chapter of the Year Award in 1994 for successful fund raising, contributions to community programs and recruitment and maintaining the largest chapter membership in the region.