Pittsburgh, PA – The late Frank E. Bolden and the late Charles “Teenie” Harris were honored today as the 2009 Spirit of King Award recipients during a ceremony today at the Kingsley Center in East Liberty.
The Port Authority, in association with the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Kingsley Association, has presented the “Spirit of King” Award annually since 1989 to honor lifetime achievements by local citizens who pursued human rights and equality in the spirit of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Since 1989, 32 Pittsburgh area citizens have been honored with the Spirit of King Award.
Born December 24, 1912, Frank E. Bolden grew up in nearby Washington, Pennsylvania and went on to attend the University of Pittsburgh. Upon graduation, he joined the staff of The Pittsburgh Courier where he would work for the next 27 years.
During that time, Mr. Bolden became one of the first two African-American Accredited World War II correspondents assigned to cover the activation of the 93rd and 92nd Infantry Divisions at Fort Huachuca, Arizona.
In 1962, Mr. Bolden left Pittsburgh to take a position with the New York Times before joining the National Broadcasting Company (NBC) as a news reporter. He then returned to Pittsburgh and was hired by the Pittsburgh Board of Education as the Associate Director of Information Services and Community Relations to promote the system’s desegregation plan.
Following his retirement from the Pittsburgh Public Schools in 1978, he became the Senior Archivist for the Honorable K. Leroy Irvis, Speaker of the House, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
Mr. Bolden has received numerous awards including the Distinguished Past Lt. Governor of District 6Kiwanis Award (1979); Pittsburgh City Council’s Outstanding Historian and Journalist Award (1991); Pittsburgh Press Club’s President’s Lifetime Achievement in Journalism Award (1997); Long Island University’s George Polk Career Award in Journalism (1998); Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania’s History Maker’s Award in Arts and Letters (1998); Point Park University Doctor of Laws Honorary Degree(2000); National Negro Publisher’s Association Lifetime Achievement Award(2002); Tuskegee Airmen’s Heritage Award (2002) and National Association of Black Journalists Legacy Award (2003).
Mr. Bolden lived with his wife Nancy in Squirrel Hill until he passed away August 28, 2003.
Charles “Teenie” Harris was born in Pittsburgh on July 2, 1908 and lived in the Hill District with his family. In the years that followed, Mr. Harris developed a strong interest in photography and purchased his first professional camera. He eventually accepted a freelance position as a photographer for the Washington, DC-based Flash! Magazine in 1929 and then in 1938, he opened his own photography studio on Centre Avenue in the Hill District known as the Harris Studio.
In 1936, Mr. Harris accepted a freelance position with The Pittsburgh Courier, one of the country’s most widely read African-American newspapers and a powerful voice for African-Americans and other minorities in their struggle to end discrimination at home and throughout the world. Mr. Harris used his position with The Pittsburgh Courier to spotlight the many positive aspects of the African-American community that became the inspiration for many of his finest and most remembered photos.
In 1941, Mr. Harris accepted a full-time position as the staff photographer with the Courier, where he worked until his retirement from the newspaper in 1975. During his illustrious career, Mr. Harris took more than 80,000 photos. His primary focus was to recreate Pittsburgh on film. Many well-known celebrities and dignitaries such as President John F. Kennedy, Joe Louis, Roberto Clemente, Duke Ellington, and Lena Horne were photographed by Mr. Harris.
Mr. Harris passed away June 12, 1998. His work is a testament to his talent and to his life. Today, his negatives are stored in the Teenie Harris Archives of Pittsburgh’s Carnegie Museum of Art.
The names of Frank E. Bolden and Charles “Teenie” Harris will be added to those of previous ‘Spirit of King’ recipients on a bronze plaque in the Wilhelmina Byrd-Brown Parklet adjacent to the Authority’s Martin Luther King, Jr. East Busway.