Jimmy Hurd has served as a minister with the Churches of Christ for 32 years, serving churches in Seattle, WA, Southfield, MI and Rancho Cordova, CA.

He is a graduate of Seattle Pacific University and the University of Washington. After completing his master’s degree in health administration, he entered the field of hospital administration in 1981. He began his ministry career in 1988.

He has had over 30 years of effective leadership and administrative experience with churches, hospitals, nonprofit, government and military organizations.  He previously served as a diversity instructor for the Red Cross and the Boeing Company. He assisted in developing a diversity plan for Rochester College, Rochester, Michigan.

His wife (of 42 years) Jacqui is a registered nurse and has served in the Veterans Affairs Health System for over 30 years. They are the parents of two children and have two grandchildren.

Thanks to Club Member Isaac McNally for arranging this program!

Key Points:

Jimmy moved to Seattle in 1963 from Tennessee as his father wanted Jimmy and his brother to have better upbringing than him and his brothers.  Jimmy lived in Central District but he (at grade 7) and his older brother (at grade 10) were volunteered to be bused to and attended Hamilton High School and Lincoln High School.

Jimmy wanted us to be aware and think about several aspects about race:

• Race is a created idea.  There is no genetically identical traits for a race.
• As demonstrated in Jane Elliott’s blue eyed vs brown eyed experiment, how stereotypes affected third grade students’ behavior and emotion.
• Our concept of race has been historically shaped by:
  • Social Darwinism – Europeans were the most evolved.
  • Eugenics – Human race would improve if interracial marriage was prohibited.
  • Colonialism – In addition to economic benefits, the occupiers had the duties to civilize and uplift the other culture.
• Institutional racism existed in Seattle. In 1936, Seattle Home Ownership Association had a map of favorable and non-favorable neighborhoods for home loans.
• Housing covenants are still on property titles in some neighborhoods even though not legally enforceable.  It may be difficult to redact the housing covenants from titles but the most important is in the hearts, not documents.

Watch the April 8, 2021 program here. Passcode: .28gcK6K

Summary written by Club Member Michelle Lee.

Barack Obama said in 2016 that the presidency does not change who you are, but magnifies who you are.  However, it did change Chester Arthur, the 21^st President.

Scott wrote about Arthur because his presidency and the 1870-80 period are crucial to shape the America as we see today.  Also, that period has some similarities to the current times – technology gap, large corporations/super rich are bending government policies and immigrants are changing America.

Arthur was born in Vermont, because of his father’s abolition belief, his family moved town to town in Vermont and finally to NY.  As a young lawyer, he helped to desegregate the street cars in NYC, 100 years before Rosa Parks.

However, in the pursuit of power and wealth, he became a machine politician.  For example, he got a cut from the public custom house’s confiscations which was legal at the time.

In 1880, he was nominated as the VP to James Garfield due to his association with the Eastern Stalwart fraction of the Republican Party.

In July 1881, Garfield was shot in Washington, DC.  As Garfield was dying in the White House, Arthur struggled to face the reality.  People thought he was unqualified to be the president and he was accused of murdering Garfield.  In fear of his own life, he avoided the public.

At this time, Julia Sand, a literate woman who has an interest in politics, wrote letters to Arthur asking him not to resign and use the presidency to show the good quality of his soul. Arthur ultimately became a respected president who championed civil service reform and rebuilt US Navy.  Julia Sand continued to write to Arthur till 1883.  Ashamed of his career before presidency, Arthur burnt many of his papers–the letters from Julia Sand were saved, but were lost for almost 100 years.

Our speaker, Scott Greenberger, is the author of The Unexpected President: The Life and Times of Chester Arthur. Scott was a newspaper reporter for twelve years, first at the Austin American-Statesman and then at the Boston Globe. He’s also written for the New York Times, the Washington Post, Politico, and GQ. Greenberger has a bachelor’s degree in history from Yale University and a master’s degree in international relations from George Washington University. He lives in Takoma Park, Maryland. Greenberger is coauthor, with former Senator Tom Daschle and Jeanne Lambrew, of the New York Times bestseller Critical: What We Can Do about the Health Care Crisis. Greenberger is currently the executive editor of Stateline, a news website funded by the Pew Charitable Trusts that covers state politics and policy for dozens of U.S. newspapers. He lives in Takoma Park, Maryland. His book, “The Unexpected President: The Life and Times of Chester A. Arthur,” is available here.