As a community activist, past president of the NAACP and corporate director at Emerson Electric Company, I have had the pleasure of working with Mr. James H. Buford in the St. Louis area for a good number of years.
He is a native St. Louisian, president and chief executive officer of the Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis.
During the 1970s, Emerson called on Mr. Buford to assist us in resolving a serious problem. Minority high school students were behind non-minority students in clerical skills. Jo Harmon, myself and other corporate managers, in keeping with President Johnson’s Plan for Progress and the company’s EEO Policy, involved Mr. Buford’s skills in establishing a specialized clerical training school at the Urban League. Many young people in St. Louis have benefited from that program.
The St. Louis Public Svhools’ Board of Education is blessed to have Mr. Buford join them. The board, Ms. Clinkscale and Superintendent Creg Williams together will make a difference.
God bless them all.
Rev. James F. DeClue
St. Louis