TO THE CHAPTER INVISIBLE
William I. Gore, Jr. 1937–2017 Milwaukee Mental Health Professional, Community Leader
C ecelia Gore said of her father, William Ira Gore, Jr., “In all of his work, fostering and improving community was a common thread. I think a lot of his work was related to ensuring that the community, particularly the African American community, had access to quality resources and support.” His work focused on the minority communi- ties of Milwaukee, Wisconsin and on bring change and diversity to both the Milwaukee police and fire departments. A native of South Carolina, Brother Gore was a longtime resident of Mil- waukee. A proud Morehouse Man and Kappa Man, Brother Gore Jr. entered the Chapter Invisible at the age of 83 on May 27, 2017. Born on July 30, 1933 in Conway, South Carolina, Gore was the son of a A.M.E. minister father and a school teacher mother. After graduating from Columbia South Carolina’s Booker T.
Washington High School as the class valedictorian, Gore traveled to Atlanta, Georgia to attend Morehouse College. While at Morehouse College, he joined the fraternity as a 1952 initiate of the Pi of Kappa Alpha Psi ® at he Morehouse College. He graduated in 1954 with a bachelor of science in economics and political science. In 1956, Gore was honorably discharged from U.S. Army where he served as a radio operator. He returned to Atlanta to pursue a master’s degree from the Atlanta University (now Clark-Atlanta University) School of Social Work. In 1958, Brother Gore and his family moved to the city of Milwaukee where he would live for the remainder of his life. He started his professional career as an adult probation officer. He worked for Milwaukee County for over 30 years, including 17 years as Director of Psychi- atric Social Services at The Milwaukee County Mental Health Complex. He
was the first African American to head a Professional Discipline Department in Milwaukee County. During his time at the Milwaukee County Mental Health Complex, Brother Gore continually worked to increase access of the com- munity’s mental health services to the poor. He also created career opportuni- ties for minorities at Milwaukee County Mental Health. Another achievement of Gore was to push mental health programs to neighborhoods by using community-based mental health centers and indigenous workers as mental health assistants. “It allowed people from the neighbor- hood to also work in these places,” he told a local newspaper. “And that gave physiological as well as physical access to the people.”
In 1973, he become the second African American to join the Milwaukee Fire
Publishing achievement for more than 100 years
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