Howard University

Joseph Carrington Howard, who grew up as a member of Payne Memorial A.M.E. Church and later served as a deacon there, died of a heart attack Monday in Washington. He was 83. Mr. Harrington was raised in Northwest Baltimore and graduated from Frederick Douglass Senior High School in 1941. After receiving a bachelor's degree in sociology and romance languages from Howard University, he graduated cum laude from its School of Religion. He later earned a doctorate from Syracuse University. At the University of Baltimore he taught religion and served as assistant to the president in the early 1970s.

CAROLYN AMONITTI STUBBS was born in Philadelphia, PA, the daughter of the late George J. and Thomaseenia H. Amonitti, on March 23, 1929. Carolyn departed this lie early in the morning on Good Friday, April 6, 2007. Carolyn was christened and confirmed at the Church of the Annunciation in Philadelphia and graduated from Philadelphia High School for Girls. She attended Howard University, and Morgan State College, where she earned her Bachelor of Arts degree and Master of Arts degree, both in English.

Toni MorrisonBorn as Chloe Anthony Wofford in Ohio in 1931, both Morrison's maternal and paternal family were sharcroppers.When Morrison was 2 years old her family's landlord wanted to raise the rent and so set fire to their apartment while they were still in it.She later graduated from Howard University and later returned to teach English.Morrison wrote "Beloved," a book based on a true story about a woman who kills one of her children to protect it from slavery. The book has recently been released as a motion picture.

Mazie Odelle Rea, 71, assistant principalMazie Odelle Rea, a retired educator, died Sept. 13 of cancer at Gilchrist Center for Hospice Care in Towson. The longtime Northwest Baltimore resident was 71.Mrs. Rea's career as a teacher, counselor and assistant principal began at Baltimore's Booker T. Washington High School in 1949 and ended in 1986, when she retired as assistant principal of Johnnycake Junior High School in Baltimore County.She taught English at Carver Vocational-Technical Senior High School and was a guidance counselor at Patapsco, Southwestern and Western high schools.

WASHINGTON -- The pale face of college humor will soon be changing.Next month, after two years and two Chris Rock comedy workshops, Howard University plans to launch a humor magazine in the fearlessly satirical spirit of the Harvard Lampoon."

Rosa Pryor wanted to make a difference.A decade ago, after having several heart attacks and leaving the work she loved, "I felt that there was something missing," says Pryor, whom many know as "Rambling Rose," the byline for her weekly entertainment column in the Baltimore Afro-American.The thing is, the former singer, promoter and manager wasn't a rich woman. After a divorce, she'd worked hard to raise four kids. All she had was a passion for music and a desire to help her community.In her small, West Baltimore apartment, where the walls are filled with certificates of appreciation, Pryor, now 54, recalls that a friend suggested she start a scholarship fund.

February, the birth month of Babe Ruth and four presidents, to the rest of the English-speaking world is still a reminder of Charles Dickens' arrival. Nowadays, even in Russia, Dickens supposedly outsells Dostoevsky. The least schooled, the least intellectual of major novelists, Dickens in his 14 serialized works etched both individual types and whole sections of society.To Norrie Epstein, he is not just a timeless artist but "England's greatest novelist."Her chronological evaluation -- or assortment of interviews with Fred Kaplan, Phyllis Rose, Jonathan Yardley, Roger Rosenblatt and others; plus pictured objects, literary insights, stray facts -- forms "The Friendly Dickens" (Viking, 428 pages, $26.95)

THE STORY is textbook Americana, as old as the republic.Jose D. Vargas is Loyola College's first Rhodes scholar, a big honor for the small Baltimore institution.But his achievements and ambitions are also noble.Mr. Vargas is an immigrant from the Dominican Republic who has been in this country eight years.He graduated from Magruder High School in Gaithersburg and became interested in science as he taught himself English. He plans to become a doctor and help fill a need for bilingual physicians in his adopted country.

WASHINGTON -- The fractures begin in his skull, travel down his spine, radiate toward his ribs, shoot through his legs and then stop. By this time, he is dead.This is what researchers know about a life now called Burial 171. The pile of bones belongs to an African man who died in New York City more than 200 years ago -- one of 427 skeletons that researchers are studying in a laboratory at Howard University.Here, in a climate-controlled room, researchers are piecing together history from what is believed to be the oldest collection of remains from enslaved Africans in North America.

As a teacher at Howard University, Mary Swift rose through the ranks to associate professor of biochemistry, only to see her career reach a dead end after 23 years.Now the Laurel woman is suing the university, claiming racial and sexual discrimination. Swift is white, her employer is the largest predominantly black university in the country.In a suit filed late last month in Montgomery County Circuit Court, Swift said the Washington, university twice promoted black men with fewer qualifications to positions she had sought.

BOSTON -- One-hundredth of a second. That's virtually nothing flat. But it represents the world to Joel Brown. The former Woodlawn High and Ohio State star ran his fastest 60-meter high hurdles race of the winter season - a 7.54 performance in the final of the USA Indoor Track and Field Championships last night at the Reggie Lewis Track and Field Center - only to look up at the giant scoreboard after crossing the finish line to see that he had been...

Rebecca Evangeline Howard Davis, a retired pharmacist, died of diabetes Jan. 13 at Sinai Hospital. The Ashburton resident was 77. A Baltimore native, the former Rebecca Evangeline Howard was the eighth child in a family of 10. She grew up on Madison Avenue and later Baker Street and was a 1948 honors graduate of Frederick Douglass High School. At age 14 she took a job as a part-time clerk at Greene's Drug Store at McCulloh and Laurens streets, where she developed a lasting love of pharmacology.

When death came quietly for Gen. Oliver Otis Howard in 1909, a veteran warrior, he was sitting in a chair in his Burlington, Vt., home. His passing at age 79 also marked the death of the last surviving Union commander who had fought in the Civil War. At his death, he was more than four decades removed from the bloody battlefields of the Civil War, which in part conspired to shape his destiny. An obituary in The Sun said, "Including General Howard's services in the Indian wars, he was probably in more engagements than any other officer in the United States Army."

CAROLYN AMONITTI STUBBS was born in Philadelphia, PA, the daughter of the late George J. and Thomaseenia H. Amonitti, on March 23, 1929. Carolyn departed this lie early in the morning on Good Friday, April 6, 2007. Carolyn was christened and confirmed at the Church of the Annunciation in Philadelphia and graduated from Philadelphia High School for Girls. She attended Howard University, and Morgan State College, where she earned her Bachelor of Arts degree and Master of Arts degree, both in English.

After a courageous battle with gastric cancer, DAVID A. FRANKS was called to be with God on Thursday, February 8, 2007. Born in 1929 in Washington, DC, David was the second child of David R. and Lela Franks. He was raised and educated in Washington and graduated from Dunbar High School in 1947. In 1951 he earned a BS degree from Howard University, majoring in mathematics with a minor in physics. He earned a MS degree in mathematics from Howard University in 1952 and received a fellowship from the University of Illinois to continue his graduate studies in its doctoral program.

Joseph Carrington Howard, who grew up as a member of Payne Memorial A.M.E. Church and later served as a deacon there, died of a heart attack Monday in Washington. He was 83. Mr. Harrington was raised in Northwest Baltimore and graduated from Frederick Douglass Senior High School in 1941. After receiving a bachelor's degree in sociology and romance languages from Howard University, he graduated cum laude from its School of Religion. He later earned a doctorate from Syracuse University. At the University of Baltimore he taught religion and served as assistant to the president in the early 1970s.

When talking about poet Lucille Clifton this week, two of her colleagues quoted the same line from her poem "won't you celebrate with me": "come celebrate / with me that everyday / something has tried to kill me / and has failed." In the past five years, Clifton, 70, has survived a kidney transplant, two types of cancer and the deaths of two of her children. But she is still on the literary scene writing, teaching and reading. "I think her will is very strong," said Michael Glaser, a friend and fellow poet.

When talking about poet Lucille Clifton this week, two of her colleagues quoted the same line from her poem "won't you celebrate with me": "come celebrate / with me that everyday / something has tried to kill me / and has failed." In the past five years, Clifton, 70, has survived a kidney transplant, two types of cancer and the deaths of two of her children. But she still is on the literary scene, writing, teaching and reading. "I think her will is very strong," said Michael Glaser, a friend and fellow poet.

On Saturday, Feb 11, 2006, ANNA JULIA WOODHOUSE HARDEN (age 96), adored daughter of the late John Woodhouse and Mary Katharine Locks Woodhouse, the cherished widow of the late K. Albert Harden, M.D, Dean Emeritus of Howard University Medical School, devoted mother of the late Katharine Harden Fairley, loving grandmother of Lauren Fairley-Wright and husband Mark, the dear and caring great grandmother of Hevin and Martina Wright. Also survived by four loyal first cousins, Helena H. Hairston, Mabel H. Dennis of Baltimore, Maryland, the honorable Anne Gladwin of New York, and Edith Mitchell of Beaufort, South Carolina, two successive generations of cousins and many other friends.

Boyd K. Rutherford Occupation Secretary of the Maryland Department of General Services, which manages state properties In the news Late last month, the White House announced that Rutherford was nominated by President Bush to be assistant secretary for administration in the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The position requires Senate confirmation. Career highlights An attorney, Rutherford has worked for several law firms and was counsel to Mitsubishi Motor Sales of America and an associate in Tydings & Rosenberg LLP. He has held federal positions previously, including associate administrator in the Office of Performance Improvement for the U.S. General Services Administration in 2002-2003.