Paul Collins - WKTV Journal

By Joanne Bailey-Boorsma
joanne@wktv.org

It can be a challenge to open a business in any era and that was especially true for an African American in the early to mid 1900s, but Herman E. Curtis defied those odds to open one of the first, and very successful, African American businesses in the City of Wyoming.

According to his grandson, Michael Curtis, who came to the WKTV studios to share his grandfather’s story through VOICES, Herman E. Curtis was a man of many talents, a pilot, a boat captain, and a well-known band leader with several groups in Michigan and surrounding states.

Curtis decided to add to that list and become a businessman. This was not an easy task for an African American as the banks were not as willing to give loans to those who were not white.

Michael Curtis, a board member of the Grand Rapids African American Museum and Archives, shares the story of his grandfather’s business with resident and Kent County Commissioner Monica Sparks. (WKTV)

“He got himself a white business partner,” said Curtis, who serves as a board member at the Grand Rapids African American Museum and Archives. “So the business partner would go to the bank and to help get the loan, Herman added ‘ma’ to his last name, making it Curtisma.”

The business partner would bring the papers to Herman, who would sign them, Curtis said. The business partner would then take everything back to the bank with bank officials never actually meeting Herman.

Herman would open the General Paint and Body Shop across from the former GM plant on 36th Street and Buchanan. While the business is no longer around, the building at 3818 Buchanan is still there.

Herman E. Curtis was a man who had many positions including being a pioneer businessman, opening the General Paint and Body Shop in Wyoming. (Supplied/Michael Curtis)

The General Paint and Body Shop was known for painting logos and images on trucks and trailers. Today that has mostly been replaced with decals. But back in the 1940s and 1950s, a lot of the work was done by hand and Herman’s shop along with another Ranco, which operated out of the same building, were famous for what they did. The owners of Ranco were Randy Brown and local artist Paul Collins.

“When we started, people were astonished that we could do this,” Collins said during a phone interview. “They had never done business with black folks before.”

Collins said they realized they were paving the way in breaking down stereotypes and building new business relationships between whites and blacks.

“I remember there was an Oldsmobile dealer who wanted to get some promotions painted on his windows,” Collins said. “We went there and he said he couldn’t believe that color boys could do such work.

“We made him a deal and told him if he let us paint the windows, if he didn’t like it, he didn’t have to pay for it. He gave us a chance and I even painted an image of him in one of the windows.”

Needless to say, the car dealership owner loved what he saw. Collins and Brown would become famous for their work and meet people such as Rich DeVos and Jay VanAndel. The business connections opened up doors for Collins to move on to become a full-time artist and Brown and him closed their business.

Herman E. Curtis also became very well respected in the community for his work and in fact, there was a street off of Hall near the U.S. 131 interchange that was named Herman E.Curtis. The street is now gone, but you can look back at old street maps to see it. Herman also was immortalized in the book “Bud, Not Buddy,” which was written by another grandchild, Christopher Paul Curtis. The book received numerous awards including an ALA Coretta Scott King Award and is used in educational curriculum.

For more about African American owned businesses and life in Grand Rapids, visit the Grand Rapids African American Museum and Archives, 87 Monroe Center NW. GRAAMA’s website is graama.org.

Paul Collins was one of the speakers at the South High School 100th Anniversary Celebration.

On Sept. 10 approximately two hundred South High School alumni gathered at the old South High School Auditorium to celebrate the 100^th anniversary of the completion of the first year of school.

South High School opened on Sept. 7, 1915 and was formally dedicated in January of 1916. For decades it was the “shining star” of the Grand Rapids Public School System.

Special Guests included:

Third Ward Commissioner Senita Lenear, who presented a Proclamation from the City of Grand Rapids on behalf of Grand Rapids Mayor Rosalynn Bliss.

Superintendent of GRPS Teresa Weatherall Neal spoke about the current status of the Grand Rapids Public Schools. Superintendent Neal attended what became South Middle school after the high school closed in 1968.

World Renowned artist Paul Collins spoke about his work and South’s rich history rearing students in an integrated atmosphere that was essentially color-blind. One of his paintings hangs in old Churm Hall depicting the life of President Gerald R. Ford’s years at the school. His work can be seen in an Art Gallery at Marge’s Donut Den.

1969 South High School graduate Michael B. Johnson, offered a stirring rendition of “There Is A Balm In Gilead” and led alumni in the singing of the school Alma Mater, “Hail to South.”

The SHS Spirit Award was presented to five former students for their contributions to keeping the “spirit” of South High alive.

Those honored included:

1958 – Jim Atkinson, President of the South High Varsity Club

And four alumni involved in the “Buy a Bomber” campaign which saw South High students raise over $375,000 in 1943 and buy a B-17 Bomber they named, The Spirit of South High School –

1947 – Arthur Blackport – the instigator of South’s involvement in the campaign.

1944 – David Dutcher – Co-chairman of the “Buy a Bomber” campaign.

1962 – Joe Rogers – Former Veteran who discovered the military report that explained the fate of the bomber.

1962 – Sandra Dieleman Warren, who brought the story to life in the non-fiction book, “We Bought A WWII Bomber; The Untold Story of a Michigan High School, a B-17 Bomber & The Blue Ridge Parkway.”

The program concluded with the legacy of South High School presented by1962 graduate, Sandra Dieleman Warren, who took the alumni on a journey through the History of South High School and highlighted a few of its outstanding graduates who include:

1919 – John Hannah – longest reigning President of Michigan State University (28 years)

1931 – President Gerald R. Ford

1938 – Mike Murphy – Basketball Coach – Won 7 City Championships, 2012 Inductee into the Grand Rapids Hall of Fame & at 96 still beats alumni at golf!

1939 – Jane Baessler Doyle – WWII Women’s Airforce Service Pilot (WASP) and Congressional Medal of Honor recipient.

1946 – Clare Fischer – Grammy Award winning composer, arranger, band leader and session musician who worked with the likes of Prince, Celine Dion, The Jackson’s, Dizzy Gillespie & Herbie Hancock, to name a few.

1959 – Jim Cash, screenwriter of movies such as “Top Gun,” “Secret of My Success,” “Turner & Hooch,” “Dick Tracy,” “Legal Eagles” and “Anaconda.”

1962 – Dan Houston, artist who has developed a huge international following among interior decorators and lovers of contemporary art.

1966 – Al Green – Gospel & Pop singer boasting more than 20 million records sold, a multiple Grammy Award Winner, 2014 Kennedy Center Honoree, and Master Performer named to Rolling Stone Magazines “100 Greatest Artists of ALL TIME List.”

South High School closed in 1968 to comply with Federal Desegregation orders. Ironically, from opening day in 1915 to 1968, throughout its staff and students, South High School was well-integrated.

South High School was known for its tremendous school spirit, evident today through its alumni who, even though the school closed forty-eight years ago, still gather monthly for breakfast at the New Beginnings restaurant and the last Tuesday of every month for an afternoon at Marge’s Donut Den in Wyoming; school spirit that also sees the Varsity Club meeting once a year and in 1990 saw the creation of an annual Alumni Scholarship presented to two worthy Grand Rapids Public Schools seniors to attend Grand Rapids Community College.

South High School closed in 1968 and opened that same fall as South Middle School until 1979. In 1982 it reopened as the Grand Rapids Job Corps Center, which was renamed in 2004 to the Gerald R. Ford Job Corps Center.

Today, the Mission Statement which opened the school in 1915, continues: “…to be a school which trains it’s pupils as far as a school may, to perform justly, skillfully and magnanimously all the offices of both public and private, of peace and war, as far as the national endowment of each pupil will permit.

South High School – 1915 to 1968 – The Spirit Lives On!