In honor of
Black History Month, Councilmember Yvette Simpson and the Cincinnati Human
Relations Commission (CHRC) will feature Mrs. P. Jeane
Goings, Wednesday, February 25, 1:00 PM - 2:00 PM, at Cincinnati City Hall, 801 Plum Street, Room 115, First Floor.
Learn about the barriers this trailblazer has broken and discuss the work that
remains to be done. The community is invited to bring your lunch and
converse with this Black living legend.
This event is FREE and OPEN
to the public.
Immediately
following the discussion, Mrs. Goings will be presented with a Resolution from
the City in City Council Chambers. Join us for this remarkable occasion.
About Mrs. P. Jeane Goings
P. Jeane Goings was born in Louisville,
Kentucky, the daughter of a former Kentucky state
representative and a teacher. She moved to Cincinnati
in 1954 after earning a master’s degree in social work from the University of Pennsylvania and fell in love with and
married William Goings, a local pharmacist and World War II Army veteran. Ms.
Goings and her husband moved to Kennedy
Heights more than 50
years ago. They were among the first African-American families to venture into
the neighborhood that actively courted integration amid the civil rights
struggles of the late 1950s. They raised three children, all of whom are
successful adults who followed the family’s lead of service to others, religion
and education.
Ms. Goings encountered racism on her first job in Cincinnati in the 1950s when she discovered
that the agency for which she worked was using inequitable pay scales that were
based on both the race and gender of its employees. She fought to bring about
change. After this job, she served as Director of Social Services for
Children’s Home, Inc. of Cincinnati
for more than 20 years and was instrumental in placing over 1,000 children in
caring homes with an eye toward bridging racial constraints.
During the 1960’s, P. Jeane Goings, along with her husband, was instrumental in
founding the Kennedy Heights Community Council, which is actively involved in
Block Watch and zoning issues, advocating for good neighborhood schools, and
bridging racial differences. She was among the core group who founded the Kennedy Heights Arts
Center more than 10 years
ago. This group raised $40,000 needed to match a $50,000 grant from the City of
Cincinnati to
secure the old Kennedy mansion on Montgomery
Road and to ensure development of a future arts
center that continues to thrive to this day.
Ms.
Goings, the only President of the YWCA Board of Directors to serve three terms,
became involved in 1977 through her participation in the committee that
established the first battered women shelter in our community and was
instrumental in helping to launch and complete the YWCA’s capital campaign that
made a new and expanded shelter for battered women and the renovation of the
YWCA’s historic downtown headquarters possible.
Ms. Goings lives by the motto “To those whom much is given, much is expected.”
For nearly 55 years, she has tirelessly given her time to dozens of Cincinnati
boards and community organizations, including The Wellness Community of Greater
Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky, YWCA, League of Women Voters, NAACP, Charter
Party, Mental Health Northwest, Interfaith Hospitality Network, Maple Knoll
Village, Cincinnati Links, Hamilton County Children’s Service Commission, and
the Caring Place, a Kennedy Heights church coalition helping people who need
food, clothing, furniture, rent or utility assistance.
She has received numerous awards for her commitment to service, including the
YWCA Racial Justice Award, the Urban League’s Glorifying the Lions Award, The
Wellness Community Award, the Kennedy Heights Arts Center’s Kennedy Award,
Cincinnati Enquirer “Woman of the Year” Award, the NAACP Black Family Award,
and the inclusion of her name on the National Wall of Tolerance, which is part
of the Civil Rights Memorial in Montgomery, Alabama.
About the Cincinnati
Human Relations Commission
CHRC was
established in November of 1943 as The Mayor's Friendly Relations Committee.
The goal was to appoint a committee that represented various racial, industrial
and religious groups to make sure all groups felt a part of their communities
and supported one another in the city of Cincinnati.
As time passed the name was changed
to CHRC and the mission grew to target a much larger issue, discrimination.
Thus, the agency's mission is "to help our community to overcome
prejudice and discrimination, build mutual respect and understanding, and to
become more harmonious and cohesive."
The Cincinnati Human Relations
Commission is a non-profit organization. For additional information on how you
can support CHRC and its programs, please contact Executive Director, Ericka
King-Betts, PhD at 513-352-3237.
