Title
Honoring and recognizing the dedicated service of Betsy "Ms. Betty" Beaufort, whose determined advocacy on behalf of her South Philadelphia community has strengthened her neighborhood, as well as the City of Philadelphia.
Body
WHEREAS, Betty Beaufort was born and raised on a farm in Cerro Gordo, North Carolina, the oldest of three children, but headed North when she turned eighteen years old in search of opportunity and adventure; and
WHEREAS, Her travels led her first to Baltimore, where she enrolled in the Cortez Peters business college, a satellite campus of the first Black-owned business school in the United States. Founded in Washington, D.C. in 1934, the Cortez Peters schools prepared African Americans for business and civil service. It was at Cortez Peters that one of her teachers changed her name from Betsy to Betty, a name that she preferred and is known by today; and
WHEREAS, After graduating from Cortez Peters, Ms. Betty made her way to her relatives who lived in South Philadelphia. She first stayed with an aunt who lived on S. Garnet Street in the Point Breeze neighborhood of South Philadelphia-the same home that Ms. Betty still lives in today; and
WHEREAS, Ms. Betty worked as a head cashier at both the Navy Yard and Automatic Retailers of America or "ARA"-the company that would eventually become Aramark. She was also married in 1966, gave birth to her son Anthony in 1972, and became a grandmother to Isaiah in 2000; and
WHEREAS, In 1990, Ms. Betty was called to serve God, and left her job at ARA. Though she had no formal nursing training, she began to care for her elderly neighbors, including Ms. Lillian Johnson at 21st & Oakford Streets, and later Ms. Mamie Nichols at 18th & Reed Streets; and
WHEREAS, Ms. Nichols was a long-time community activist who mentored Ms. Betty and helped usher in her community activism. Together, the two women joined with their neighbors to prevent Comcast from converting a local pharmacy into a hub, due to t...
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