The Royal Vagabonds, Inc. and the Royal Vagabonds Foundation, Inc. hosted the third annual Celebration of Leadership Luncheon recently at the Renaissance St. Louis Airport Hotel.
More than 600 people attended the event, with proceeds benefitting scholarships for deserving college-bound seniors throughout the metro area. The foundation has awarded nearly $50,000 in scholarships to local high school students.
Foundation board President Joseph DuBose Jr. said he believes it’s better to build children than repair adults.
“We’re trying to put some money on the front end,” DuBose said, “so we don’t have to put it in on the back end.”
In celebration of Black History Month and the 250th anniversary of the founding of the City of St. Louis, local pioneers in leadership and extraordinary African-American trailblazers were honored for their contributions to the city.
William H. Danforth, M.D., and David Steward were the first recipients of the inaugural Excellence in Diversity and Inclusion Award. Danforth is chancellor emeritus of Washington University and Steward is founder and chairman of World Wide Technology, Inc., the largest black-owned business in the country.
The award is named for the late civil rights leader and physician R. Jerome Williams Sr., M.D. Williams was a member of the Royal Vagabonds and served on the foundation board and Leadership Luncheon Committee. The award will be presented annually to two distinguished leaders (one African American and one non-African American) who have made an impact in the St. Louis community.
“Everywhere Dr. Williams went, he was raising money for some cause,” Ida Goodwin Woolfolk said of Williams, who died last March. “He would stand on the top of your shoes until you said, ‘Yes.’ It was like buying insurance so that the insurance man doesn’t call you anymore.”
Woolfolk served as mistress of ceremony. Her quick-witted sense of humor kept the crowd entertained during the nearly four-hour-long program.
Dr. Danforth said he first became involved in the Civil Rights Movement long after Williams organized doctors and other professionals in protesting the discriminatory practices at Jefferson Bank and Trust Co. in 1963.
“I didn’t even know where the Jefferson Bank was,” Dr. Danforth said.
Pioneering civil rights attorney Frankie Muse Freeman and former Congressman William L. “Bill” Clay Sr. were the recipients of the Lifetime Achievement Award. Even with his own illustrious political career as the state’s first African American elected to Congress, Clay could not resist singing Freeman’s praises.
“The award is even more significant because I’m being placed in a cherished circle with a superstar in the Civil Rights Movement,” Clay said of Freeman.
Extraordinary African-American trailblazers were honored for their leadership, innovation and initiatives in furthering a diverse, impartial and inclusive environment in the St. Louis community. Seventy individuals, organizations and churches were recognized in several categories, including Donald M. Suggs, president of the St. Louis American Foundation and publisher and executive editor of The St. Louis American newspaper.
President and CEO of Ameren Illinois Richard Mark, who received a trailblazer award for excellence in business, spoke on behalf of all the honorees. Mark stated that leadership takes various forms, glancing around the room at the honorees.
“But the one thing that extraordinary leaders all have common,” Mark said, “leaders make things better than they were.”
The Royal Vagabonds, Inc. has a current membership of over 130. Founded in 1930, the Royal Vagabonds, Inc. was organized by a small group of black professionals and businessmen because of limited social and intellectual opportunities for “men of color.” The group provides services, resources, and monetary contributions to individuals and organizations that help improve the lives of those in need.
For more information regarding scholarship opportunities, contact the Royal Vagabonds by email info@royalvagabondfoundation.org or phone at 314-882-3419.
