Lithonia, GA
Willie and Mary Guthrie moved to Gary over 60 years ago, seeking a superior education for their growing family. Both parents were scholars who attended Clark College in Atlanta but were deterred from graduating due to meager finances. Willie was one of thirteen children and Mary one of eight from a small southern town, Lithonia, Georgia. In the early 1950s, Mary and Willie were homeowners in Lithonia with their three small children but segregation was painful and punitive. Mary was a church pianist and had a beautiful soprano voice. Willie was already a deacon in the church and a respected pillar of the community.
Head north to escape the Klan
After serving in the US Navy, Willie had a thirst for equality. He started a campaign to register Blacks to vote. However, the Ku Klux Klan noticed and threatened violence. They planned to lynch him at a time when those threats were very real. He escaped north, smuggled out of Georgia in the trunk of a friend’s car. Mary and Willie were summarily forced to leave their home, car and possessions behind; but they had their lives, hopes and dreams for their futures ahead. The safety and education, both secular and religious, of their five children were paramount. They expected, demanded, and received excellence.
Gary, Indiana
After first settling in Chicago, Mary and Willie bought a home in the Tarrytown section of Gary in 1955. All of their children attended Alain Leroy Locke (now McCullough) Elementary school and all were honor students in Gary Public Schools, with three of them graduating as Valedictorians and one as Salutatorian. All five are graduates of prestigious institutions such as Howard University, Spelman College, The University of Michigan, and Harvard University. The careers of the five Guthrie children span the gamut from economist and entrepreneurs to law and medicine. Their grandchildren have excelled in business, technology, education, architecture and medicine.
As descendants of Mary and Willie Guthrie, we feel tremendously blessed with a powerful foundation and legacy, which we wish to share with others. We are proud to honor our parents and grandparents with this scholarship fund in their names. “I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Jeremiah 29:11.