TO THE CHAPTER INVISIBLE
honored by their alma mater with Dis- tinguished Alumni Service Awards, the university’s highest achievement for IU alumni. He established the Big Broth- ers Big Sisters of South-Central Indiana. He was honored with a humanitarian award from the Big Ten Conference in 2011. The George Taliaferro Sport Association (GTSA), a campus organiza- tion dedicated to diversity and inclusion in sports on IU’s Bloomington campus is named in his honor. He was also a 2010 recipient of the Thomas A. Brady Lifetime Sports Achievement Award. A Life Member of Kappa Alpha Psi ® , Brother Taliaferro is survived by his wife, Viola (Jones) Taliaferro, a former Monroe County circuit court judge in Bloomington; daughters, Donna Talia- ferro, Linda Harvey, Renée Buckner and Terri Johnson; a brother, Rozell; seven grandchildren; and two great-grandchil- dren. IU President Michael A. McRobbie ordered all flags on the Bloomington campus lowered to half-staff through 2018 Homecoming Weekend. In addi- tion, Taliaferro’s number “44” replaced the traditional logo on the IU football players’ helmets for its Homecoming game against the University of Iowa. Prior to the start of the game, a special tribute video was played in Taliaferro’s honor and a moment of silence was observed.
Dr. Harry George Johns 1921–2018 Educator, WWII Veteran
and Larry Doby in major league base- ball, Chuck Cooper, Nat Clifton, and Earl Lloyd in professional basketball, Bill Willis (Zeta 1945), Marion Motley, Woody Strode and Kenny Washington in the modern era of professional football) that integrated major professional sports. After retiring from the professional football in 1955, Taliaferro earned a graduate degree in social work from Howard University in 1962. He took a position as an Assistant Professor of So- cial Work at the University of Maryland from 1966-1968. In 1970, he moved to nearby Morgan State University as the Dean of Students. He returned to Bloomington and his alma mater when he held various positions including as a special assistant to the President, the IUPUI chancellor, and the dean of School of Social Work. During his professional career at IU, Taliaferro is credited with championing diversity and multicultural activities and ensuring minority students did not face the ugly bigotry and disenfranchisement he expe- rienced as an undergraduate student. Among his many football and other achievements included selection to first team All-Time for Indiana University’s Football Team, elections to the College Football Hall of Fame in 1981 and to the Indiana University Athletic Hall of Fame in 1991 respectively. Taliaferro and his wife, also an IU graduate, were both
Dr. Harry George Johns entered the Chapter Invisible on March 19, 2018 at the
age of 96. Johns was
born in Alli- ance, OH on December
7, 1921, to the late Ewing and Iona (nee Huskey) Johns. After graduating from Alliance High School in 1940, he attended historic Wilberforce University. Exactly, one week after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, Johns joined the fraternity as a 1941 initiate of the Wilberforce University Chapter, the Delta of Kappa Alpha Psi ® . In addition to the fraternity, Johns was a member of the school’s ROTC program. In 1943, he enlisted in the United States Army and completed basic training at Fort Sill, OK. After receiving artillery training, Johns attended infantry school at Fort Benning, GA. In 1944, Johns was part of the all-Black 999 th Field Artillery Battalion Colored Division which became a part of an attachment to General George S. Patton’s Third Army and helped allied forces break through German lines of defense at Saint Lo, France. Their troop was an important part of the ground force led by General Patton and was one of the few all-Black divisions in the United States Army during World War II. Follow- ing General Patton through France and then Germany, Corporal Harry Johns and his battalion faced continuous combat for nine months and 22 days. After Honorable Discharge, Johns returned to Wilberforce University and graduated with a B.S. degree in Com- merce. He subsequently earned an M.S. degree in business from The Columbia University Graduate School of Business. Johns also attended the University of Omaha, West Virginia State University, and ShrivenhamAmerican University in
Taliaferro honored at the 80 th Grand Chapter Meeting by Grand Polemarch Murray.
Publishing achievement for 105 years
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