Title
To Celebrate and Recognize the Centennial Birthday of Augusta Leonard Lauderdale and her Lifelong Dedication to Family and Community
Body
WHEREAS, Augusta Leonard Lauderdale was born on January 21, 1925 in a rural community of Hissop, Alabama to Claude Mitchell Leonard and Willie F. Leonard, where she, her parents, and siblings worked picking field cotton as sharecroppers; and
WHEREAS, Augusta graduated the top of her class from J. D. Thompson High School but was unable to attend college due to the systemic denial of resources and educational opportunities for black women; and
WHEREAS, Augusta met her husband and World War II navy veteran, Edward Lauderdale, at a church event and would go on to have three children, Joel, Benjamin, and Sylvia over 48 years of marriage until his passing in 1992; and
WHEREAS, Augusta and her family followed in the footsteps of many people during the Great Migration and left the South in 1955 before settling in Columbus, OH where she worked in the hospital nursey for Ohio State University until she retired in 1984; and
WHEREAS, Augusta has been a pillar in her community for decades, becoming heavily involved in her church of over 65 years, Shiloh Baptist Church, singing in the choir, helping auxiliaries with community outreach, and serving on the Deaconess Board; and
WHEREAS, Augusta has been a beacon of light and rock for her family throughout her 100 years of life, helping raise her only grandchild Adia and always taking the time to spend time with and take care of her three adorable great grandchildren; now, therefore,
BE IT RESOLVED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF COLUMBUS: That this Council hereby celebrates and recognizes the centennial birthday of Augusta Leonard Lauderdale and her lifelong dedication to family and community.