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Rev. Dr. Sadie S. Mitchell
Rev. Dr. Sadie S. Mitchell
Born	Sadie Alberta Stridiron; January 4, 1921 (age 103); Philadelphia
Education	1938: Overbrook H.S. 1942: BS Ed, Temple 1968: MS Ed. Admin., Penn 1978: EdD, Nova University 1990: MDiv, Lutheran Theological, Philadelphia
Years active	1942–1981: Philadelphia Public Schools 1987–present: Episcopal Diocese of Pennsylvania
Spouse(s)	Charles Thomas Mitchell, Jr.; (1907–1976)
Religion	Episcopal
Church	African Episcopal Church of St. Thomas
Ordained	1987: Deacon; 1988: Priest
Title	Clergy (retired)

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The Rev. Dr. Sadie S. Mitchell (née Sadie Alberta Stridiron; born 4 January 1921) is an American civic leader in Philadelphia, known for her advocacy for children, particularly in connection to anti-poverty, racial equality, and education.^[1]^[2]^[3]^[4]^[5]^[6]^[7]

Career[edit]

bio

Educator in urban public schools[edit]

Before becoming a priest, the Rev. Dr. Mitchell had spent 39 years, from 1942 to 1981, as an educator in the Philadelphia public schools. She spent much of her career as an administrator, notably as:

Leadership in urban public schools[edit]

1968–1969: Principal of the Henry Longfellow Elementary School
1969–1972: Principal of the Paul Lawrence Dunbar School
1973–1980: Principal of Joseph C. Ferguson Elementary School, which, in 1977, had 950 students

In 1975, while working as a school administrator, she co-founded, with three other public school administrators, the Black Women's Educational Alliance in Philadelphia. The other three co-founders were (i) Florence H. Scott, EdD, (ii) Gwendolyn Gates-Hewlett, EdD (née Gwendolyn Gates; 1928–1983), and (iii) Leontine Scott (née Leontine G. Dillon; 1928–2011), granddaughter of the African American artist, Frank Joseph Dillon (1856–1954), of Mount Holly, New Jersey. The organization, which endures today (as of 2024), was founded with 36 charter members.^[8] In 2016, there were four chapters: the Philadelphia chapter, the Montgomery County chapter, a New Jersey chapter, and the National Board, the governing body of all chapters.

Episcopal priesthood[edit]

Mitchell became an ordained deacon in the Episcopal church in 1987 and a priest in 1988. In 1990, Mitchell earned a Master of Divinity, from the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia. Her ordinations transpired in the same diocese that, 13 years earlier, had ordained the first female Episcopal priests, who became known as the "Philadelphia Eleven."

1988–1989: Priest intern Diocese of Pennsylvania (St. Mark's)
1989–1990: Old Swedes Church (Christ Church), Upper Merion, serving as Pastor
1990–1992: Church of St. Luke and The Epiphany, serving as Assistant to the Rector, the Reverend Canon Charles Luther Lewis Poindexter (1932–2014).^[9]
1992–19??: Associate Priest at the African Episcopal Church of St. Thomas in Philadelphia, is now retired.

In 1990, The Rev. Dr. Mitchell was part of a group of Philadelphia ministers, lawyers, and civic leaders, including Senator Arlen Specter, who decried, on the basis of civil rights, the actions of Philadelphia law enforcement, who, on May 13, 1985, as a means for evicting armed MOVE protesters who were holed up in fortified row houses at 6221 Osage Avenue in the Cobbs Creek neighborhood of West Philadelphia, dropped a bomb on one of the row houses which resulted in 11 deaths (John Africa, five other adults, and five children aged 7 to 13) the destruction of 61 homes that left 250 homeless. The Rev. Dr. Mitchell, more vocally criticized the lack of response on several levels, particularly the refusal by the U.S. Department of Justice, led by John R. Dunne, to hold hearings and by the lack of reparations of those left homeless.^[10]^[11]

Secondary education[edit]

1938: Graduated, Overbrook High School at 59th Street and Lancaster Avenue in the Overbrook neighborhood of West Philadelphia^[12]

Higher eduation[edit]

Affiliations[edit]

National[edit]

Member, National Association for the Advancement of Colored People

Member, Delta Sigma Theta (chaplain since 1988)

Episcopal Diocese of Pennsylvania[edit]

1991-1995: Member, Family Services Board

Member, Philadelphia Theological Institute

2008–present: Honorary member of the Board of Trustees, Episcopal Community Services

2010–present: Anti-Racism Team

Other[edit]

1988–1994: Secretary, Bethesda Court Personal Care Institution, Philadelphia

Member, American Academy of Religion

Member, Society of Biblical Literature

Publications[edit]

"The design and implementation of a program to reduce the number of dropouts in inner city schools," by Samuel P. Beard, Jr., Sadie S. Mitchell & Walter H. Scott, Washington D.C.: Educational Resources Information Center, May 1, 1978; OCLC 256232675

Samuel Payce Beard, Jr., EdD (1922–2005) earned a Doctor of Education through the National EdD Program for Educational Leaders at Nova Southeastern University in 1980.

Walter H. Scott, EdD (born 18 September 1919) earned a Doctor of Education through the National EdD Program for Educational Leaders at Nova Southeastern University in 1979. From at least 1969, Scott had been a long-time principal at West Philadelphia High School. In the 1960s, he had been principal at Harding Junior High School.

Selected family[edit]

Addresses[edit]

1921: 2235 W. Oxford Street, in the Sharswood neighborhood of North Philadelphia.^[13] Her mother, Lucinda Stridiron, had been living with her father and mother (Sadie's maternal grandparents), John Henry Clifton (1867–1921) and Sarah (Sallie) Rebecca Carter (maiden; 1869–1934)
1930: 405 N. 53rd Street (owned), between Parrish & Ogden Streets, in the Haddington, Philadelphia neighborhood of West Philadelphia, less than 2 miles south of Fairmount Park
1938: 405 N. 53rd Street^[12]
1940: 405 N. 53rd Street (owned)
1976: 5510 Locust Street, Philadelphia (Charles T. Mitchell obit)

Parents[edit]

Rev. Mitchell's parents, Joseph Alphonso Stridiron (1888–1955) and Lucinda Gertrude Clifton (maiden; 1900–1956) married February 12, 1918, at the Crucifixion Episcopal Church (Episcopal) at Bainbridge and Eighth Streets in South Philadelphia. Rev. Mitchell (née Sadie Alberta Stridiron) was born January 4, 1921. She was baptized April 17, 1921, at the Church of the Crucifixion by the Rev. Robert Henry Tabb (1874–1951), church rector. Sadie's sister and three brothers were also baptized there.

Late husband[edit]

The Rev. Dr. Sadie S. Mitchell married Charles Thomas Mitchell, Jr. (1906–1976), August 19, 1946, in Philadelphia. He, too, was a civic leader in Philadelphia.

Mitchell was an organizer, around 1941, of the Philadelphia Municipal Recreation Teachers Association, a local of the AFL, and, in 1953, was its President.

In the 1960s, he served as Field Director of the Philadelphia Anti-Poverty Action Committee (PAAC), an initiative established February 22, 1965, by Mayor James H. J. Tate. Charles T. Mitchell, in his youth, had been star basketball player for Howard University.

In Philadelphia, he played in a black basketball league – with the Scholastics, the Philadelphia Giants, and the Quaker City Elks. He coached the Peerless team and was a referee in the league for many years. For 32 years, from 1928, Charlie Mitchell, Jr. (aka "Charley Mitchell" or "Mitch"), was Supervisor of the Seger Recreation Center at 10th and Lombard Streets in the Washington Square West neighborhood of Center City.

In 1928, the City of Philadelphia, Department of Welfare, Bureau of Recreation, appointed Mitchell as supervisor of the Seger Recreation Center, a position he held until 1952.

In 1952, Mitchell was Acting District Supervisor, Department of Recreation, City of Philadelphia. This was when he became highly involved in helping handicapped children, notably those with cerebral palsy, as well as those with intellectual disabilities. The United Cerebral Palsy Association of Philadelphia and Vicinity designated an annual award in Mitchell's name, The Charles T. Mitchell, Jr., Award, the associations highest award for a client. Notable recipients include:

1979: Christina (Cricket) Schindler (born abt. 1953), born without fully developed arms and legs, Schindler was a leader of the Cerebral Palsy Association's social recreation and bowling programs.

1980: William Paul Wright (1923–2006) and wife of 26 years, Nancy Wright (né Nancy Ann Dalgleish; 1930–2003). The Wrights, despite both having cerebral palsy and in wheelchairs, William has been a gardener, using special equipment, at the Morris Arboretum since 1963

Beginning 1954, Mitchell became District Supervisor, Department of Recreation, City of Philadelphia, for West Philadelphia and Germantown.

Mitchell was a life member of the NAACP and former board member.

Mitchell was a life member of the Quaker City Elks No. 720, of which, from about 1945 to 1947, he was Exalted Ruler (basically, the CEO of Lodge 720) and National Youth Director. In 1945, Lodge 720 was the second largest African American Elks Lodge in the country.^[a]

From 1955 to 1961, Mitchell was President of Philadelphia County Chapter, Pennsylvania Association of the Arc of the United States, then called the National Association for Retarded Children. When he was elected, there were 1,600 members, of which less that 1 percent were African American. In 1961, he became Vice President of the Pennsylvania Association of Retarded Children (PARK) and was Chairman of its Recreation Committee. ARC of Pennsylvania has established an award in Mitchell's name: the Charles T. Mitchell, Jr. Humanitarian Award.

Selected recipients:

1996: Elmer MacDonald Matter (born 1919)

Joe MacDonald (né Joseph MacDonald), CEO (until 2016) of Growth Horizons, Inc. (formerly known as the Philadelphia Center for Developmental Services)

Mitchell retired in 1971.^[14]

“

Charley Mitchell, the Seger Recreation Center principal and erstwhile basketball promoter, is beating the drum for a musical program to be held Thursday night in the interests of inter-racial relations at 1920 Rittenhouse Square

”

— Art Morrow, Philadelphia Inquirer, 1945^[15]

Mitchell was known in Philadelphia as an exponent – an influential sports impresario – of track and field events, basketball, and baseball.^[16] Seger Park, in 1976, was renamed Charles T. Mitchell, Jr., Playground. But, because the neighboring community had gotten used to calling the playground Seger Park, it was difficult to enforce the new name. A compromise was reached with the ordinance of April 18, 1977, that designated the newer, one-story building within Charles T. Mitchell, Jr. Playground, the Charles M. Seger Recreation Building.^[17]^[b]

Philadelaphia basketball teams[edit]

Southwest Scholastics of Philadelphia
Philadelphia Giants, Danny McClellan, coach
Quaker City Elks – Mitch was a guard on the team from about 1927 to 1929
Peerless Athletic Club of New Castle, Mitch was coach
Philadelphia Toppers, Mitch was coach in 1942 whe Wilmeth Sidat-Singh was on the team
Big Y (Christian Street YMCA)
Philadelphia Panthers was a semi-pro team. Notable players included Charles "Tarzan" Cooper, Jackie Bethards, and Billy Yancey
Philadelphia Americans, owned by Jules Aronson (né Jules Ephraim Aronson; 1879–1947)
Philadelphia Sphas

Other teams that played the Philadelphia league[edit]

Atlantic City Vandals
Atlantic City Buccaneers
Baltimore Mets
Commonwealth Big Five of Harlem, debuted in 1922
Ct. C
Leondi
Renaissance
New York Original Celtics
Baltimore Athenians
New York Renaissance Big Five (aka the "Rens" or the "Gothamites") debuted 1923
Washington, D.C., Elks (Columbia Lodge No. 85)
Pittsburgh Ritz Club
New York Violets
Wilmington Blue Bombers
Pittsburgh Scholastics

Basketball venues[edit]

Philadelphia – New Broadway Athletic Center, at Broad and Christian Streets (1927)
Palais Royal Court – at Broad and Bainbridge Streets
Scenic Auditorium

The basketball events charged admission, generally 75¢ to $1, and often featured dancing before and after.

Other family[edit]

The Rev. Dr. Sadie S. Mitchell's maternal aunt, Florence Ramos C. Ramos (née Florence H. Clifton; 1902–1985) spent her entire career, 43 years (from 1924 to 1967), teaching 1st and 2nd grade at the Singerly School (later known as the Douglass-Singerly School) at 22nd and Norris Streets in Philadelphia. Rev. Mitchell's grandfather, John Henry Clifton (1867–1921), was also an educator who, among other things, taught at the Octavius V. Catto School, then located on Lombard Street, near South 20th Street (south side of Lombard Street, west of 20th). The building for the Catto School was erected sometime after 1878 and closed in 1910.^[18]

Evorn "Ronnie" Gilmore Stridiron Stewart (née Evorn Gilmore; 1928–2013), wife of Rev. Mitchell's cousin, Clifton Thomas Maxwell Stridiron, Sr. (1923–1979), taught high school English and French in Bowie, Maryland, before accepting the position of librarian at the Brownsville Children's Library in Brooklyn.^[c] Ronnie eventually moved to Philadelphia, where she had a long career as a librarian with the Philadelphia public schools.

Notes and references[edit]

Notes[edit]

^ The Quaker City Elks Lodge No. 720, IBPOEW (the Black Elks) was an fraternal organization for African American men. The Elks Lodge, nationally, was founded in 1868 New York City as an all-white organization and was notoriously segregated, officially, until 1976. The the first Black Elks Lodge was founded in 1897 in Cincinnati. Philadelphia's Lodge 720 was founded in 1926 and in 1945 was the reportedly the second largest African American Elks Lodge in the country. In 1930, Lodge No. 720 erected a home at 1943 Christian Street. ("Elks Open New Home Sunday," by W. Rollo Wilson, The Pittsburgh Courier, August 9, 1930, pg. 8, retrieved Septemger 22, 2017, via newspapers.com at www.newspapers.com/image/40068447/) Other notable African American Elks Lodges included Columbia Lodge No. 85 of Washington, D.C.. IBPOEW, nationally, has been credited as the largest African American fraternal organization in the world; though, other organizations, at differing times and criteria, have made the same claim: the Knights of Peter Claver, Alpha Phi Alpha, Kappa Alpha Psi, Omega Psi Phi.
^ Seger Park (often misspelled as Segar) was established in 1921 in the 7th Ward and was named after Charles M. Seger (1848–1919), an active and influential long-time Philadelphia City Council member at the turn of the 20th century. Seger, before his death, had sponsored an ordinance that would condemn properties, some that he himself owned, for the creation of a park. The ordinance, sponsored by Charles Benjamin Hall (1862–1937), passed in 1920, after Seger's death. By way of Philadelphia City ordinance of July 26, 1976, Seger Park, as a whole, was renamed The Charles T. Mitchell, Jr., Playground.
^ The Brownsville Children's Library of Brooklyn was in the Brownsville, Brooklyn neighborhood. It was designed by William Tubby in a Jacobethan style to look like a fairy tale castle. Financed by Andrew Carnegie, it opened in 1914 and was among the first free-standing children's libraries in the nation. It is now the Stone Avenue branch library in Brownsville.

References[edit]

^ "Sadie Stridiron Mitchell," Marquis Who's Who (online item, no date); OCLC 4779116075
^ "Sadie Stridiron Mitchell," Who's Who in America, Marquis Who's Who
53rd ed. (1999); OCLC 40048997
^ "Sadie Stridiron Mitchell," Who's Who of American Women, Marquis Who's Who
^ "Sadie Stridiron Mitchell," Who's Who Among African Americans (earlier editions published as Who's Who Among Black Americans), Marquis Who's Who (Gale)
      9th ed. (1996); OCLC 33399231
    10th ed. (1997); OCLC 37703684
    11th ed. (1998); OCLC 39673643
    12th ed. (1999); OCLC 42360907
    13th ed. (2000); OCLC 44872712
    14th ed. (2001); OCLC 47723340
    15th ed. (2002); OCLC 50076815
    16th ed. (2003); OCLC 52385421
    17th ed. (2004); OCLC 55127562
    18th ed. (2005); OCLC 60495202
    19th ed. (2006); OCLC 66530140
    20th ed. (2007); OCLC 183424196
^ "Sadie Stridiron Mitchell," Who's Who Among Black Americans, Marquis Who's Who; ISSN 0362-5753
8th ed. (1994); OCLC 29241908
^ "Sadie Stridiron Mitchell," Who's Who in the East, Marquis Who's Who
26th ed. (1996); OCLC 36144490
^ "Sadie Stridiron Mitchell," Who's Who in Religion, Marquis Who's Who; ISSN 0160-3728
4th ed. (1992); OCLC 632433745
^ "'Evening of Elegance' Honors Leading Ladies," M. Patricia Clifford, Philadelphia Tribune, March 23, 2010, sec. B, pps. 8 & 9 (retrieved September 21, 2017, via ProQuest at search.proquest.com/docview/89148290)
^ Episcopal Women: Gender, Spirituality, and Commitment in an American Mainline Denomination (Note 27), Catherine Magill Prelinger, PhD (ed.) (née Catherine Magill; 1925–1991), Oxford University Press (1992), pg. 237; OCLC 476007190
^ "U.S. May Not Reopen MOVE Investigation," Courier-Post (Camden, New Jersey), May 9, 1990 (retrieved September 18, 2017, via newspapers.com at www.newspapers.com/image/182544704)
^ "Afflicted Tots Find Charlie Lending a Helping Hand," by Don Haskin (né Donald L. Haskin; born 1945), Philadelphia Daily News, August 18, 1969, pg. 4 (retrieved September 21, 2017, via newspapers.com at www.newspapers.com/image/184882317)
^ ^a ^b "Sadie A. Stridiron," Record (high school yearbook), Overbrook High School (June 1938), pg. 73 (retrieved September 21, 2017, via ancestry.com)
^ Crucifixion Episcopal Church, Baptisms, "Sadie Alberta Stridiron," baptized April 17, 1921, Pennsylvania and New Jersey, Church and Town Records, 1669–1999, pps. 76 & 77 (top) (accessed via ancestry.com)
^ "Obituaries: C. Mitchell, Recreation Supervisor," Philadelphia Inquirer, January 4, 1976 (retrieved September 14, 2017, via newspapers.com at www.newspapers.com/image/173338743)
^ "This and That," by Art Morrow (né Arthur Richard Harcourt Morrow; 1906–1986), Philadelphia Inquirer, January 9, 1945, pg. 9 (retrieved September 21, 2017, via newspapers.com at www.newspapers.com/image/171752675)
^ Charles T. Mitchell Jr. to Art Carter, January 17, 1942, in Arthur M. "Art" Carter, 1911–1988, papers at Howard University, box 170-6, folder 15
Referenced in Negro League Baseball: The Rise and Ruin of a Black Institution, by Neil Lanctot, (2004), pg. 402, Note 6; OCLC 724716487
^ "What's in a Name? The Charles T. Mitchell, Jr. Playground," by Alina Josan, Archivist, Fairmount Park Historic Resource Archives, March 21, 2016 (retrieved September 21, 2017 via Tumblr at philaparkandrec.tumblr.com/post/141437521349)
^ "Elementary Teacher Florence Ramos," by Jim Nicholson, Philadelphia Daily News, February 27, 1985 (retrieved September 15, 2017, via newspapers.com at www.newspapers.com/image/185993596)