A support group, a religious group, a political group, a civic-minded group. The Amity Birthday Club, believed to be the first association of African Americans in Humboldt County, could rightfully claim all of these titles.

In 1952, when Margaret Neloms proposed the idea and Mary Watkins set out to make that notion a reality, it’s likely that nearly all of Eureka’s black residents knew one another. The Redwood Curtain, as many have named the cause of Humboldt County’s relative isolation, worked not only to slow the arrival of the railroad and the Redwood Highway, but to limit the region’s racial diversity as well.

Margaret Neloms (left) and Myrtle Oneal at the February 9, 1975 Amity Birthday Club Scholarship Tea in Eureka. Photos via The Humboldt Historian.

The 1940 census shows just forty-five black people living in Eureka and fifty-two in the unincorporated areas of Humboldt County. By 1950, eighty-six African Americans called Humboldt County home while the number living in Eureka was unspecified. Humboldt County’s African American residents to this day account for less than 1 percent of the area’s residents. Unlike other areas of the country. Eureka had no racially segregated neighborhoods — with the exception of its 19th century Chinatown, which, as many know, was shamefully eliminated in 1885. The inadvertent shooting death of Eureka City Councilman David Kendall, caught in the crossfire of a Tong war, prompted city leaders to demand the exportation of all the North Coast’s Chinese residents.

The few African Americans who chose to make the North Coast their home in the first half of the 20th century had their housing choices limited only by desire and income. Yet, all was not equal. More than a decade would pass after the Amity Birthday Club’s founding before tbe Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 became the law of the land. And, while the North Coast’s white population may have been visibly accepting, the area was not without incidents of racism.

‘Nothing But White People’

Those of color who braved a move to the predominantly white North Coast may have found themselves feeling a little hesitant about such a change. Dorothy Taylor, who joined the Amity Birthday Club just months after its organization, recalled the trepidation she felt when she and her husband moved from Louisiana to Eureka. Dorothy recalled she and her late husband, Herbert, were convinced by Herbert’s cousin, Tom Woods, that jobs were aplenty in Humboldt County and coming here would be a good idea. moved west in 1943.

“Jobs were hard to find and wages were terrible (in Louisiana),” Dorothy said.

When they arrived. Herb, some may recall as the long-time pastor of the Fields Landing church, quickly got a job working on the railroad for what Dorothy described as “very low wages.” In time and with the effect of World War II, he snagged a job at the shipyards, where he worked until its closure following the end of the war.

But Dorothy remembered the transition wasn’t an easy one.

“I had never been away from home. When we got here, there was nothing but white people,” she said.

Although she missed her home and family. Herb’s cousin and his wife were welcoming and before long Dorothy settled down and accepted her new home.

In an April 10, 1984 interview with the Times-Standard, long-time Eureka City Councilman Jim Howard, then sixty-eight, perhaps best capsulated the climate of growing up black on the North Coast. Howard had been in this area since he was six months old.

“We were the only black family here for a who good many years. Unless I was looking in the mirror, the only other blacks I saw were family,” the Georgia native joked.

A Club Begins

With the Amity Birthday Club’s founding in 1952, the community’s African American women had a vehicle for regular gatherings to share prayer and socialize. According to a one-page history of the club, “The name Amity was selected because it means friendship, harmony, and warm-heartedness.”

In 1992, long-time Humboldt County resident Ina Harris, one of three white women invited to join the Amity Birthday Club in the late 1960s, donated the club’s records to the Humboldt County Historical Society. Inside the box is a treasure of history and a glimpse into those who were invited to join, the meaning of their club, and its role in a climate where racial diversity was nearly nonexistent.

Membership in the club was much prized . The group’s numbers were kept at twelve or thirteen and joining was strictly an invitation-only affair. The women would gather at each other’s homes on the second Sunday of most every month for an evening of prayer, music, discussion, and, of course, celebration of one another’s birthdays. Charter members were Gertrude Woods, Beulah Hughes, Mamie Turk, Lillian Collins, Edith Howard, Zelma Gilmore, Mary E. Watkins, and Margaret Neloms. They first gathered on Eebruary 10, 1952, at the home of Margaret Neloms. Dorothy Taylor, who still lives in Eureka, said she was invited in the fall of 1952 to join by one of the club’s charter members, Mamie Turk.

Prayer, Friendship

It would be a mistake to underestimate the religious focus of the Amity Birthday Club’s monthly meetings. Sessions began with a song and ended with a Friendship Circle — friends linking hands in a circle to pray for each other’s well being until they met again. An agenda for the meetings included in the club’s collection, notes that singing of a hymn, the recitation of the Lord’s Prayer, and a devotional with responsive reading would begin the meeting. Various business matters, including the program, would follow. The Friendship Circle, another hymn, and a prayer would conclude the meeting.

“We’d open with a song and prayer and close with a song,” Dorothy recalled, — and a particular blessing: “May the Lord watch between me and thee while we are absent from one another.”

“And we needed it, too,” Ina Harris said.

Only after the meeting was adjoumed would the members hold their namesake birthday celebration. There was a birthday cake, a card signed by all the members and, at least in later years, $5 to spend as the member pleased.

An integral part of the monthly gathering was the program. Those assigned to develop a program for that month would either prompt discussion on a particular topic or person or would invite guest speakers. Ina recalled one such discussion surrounding the great contralto Marian Anderson’s difficulties with a 1939 Easter Sunday performance in Washington, D.C. The Daughters of the American Revolution had prohibited Anderson from appearing in its Constitution Hall because she was black. First lady Eleanor Roosevelt publicly protested with an immediate resignation from the DAR and arrangements were made later for Anderson to sing at the Lincoln Memorial. An estimated 35,000 people attended the concert,

Helping Others

Club members raised money for both local and distant causes.

“The first year, our project to raise money was getting people to write their names on quilt blocks,” a 1978 history of the group states. “They were embroidered by the members, when the quilt was finished it was raffled off, with the proceeds going into a scholarship fund for the Piney Woods College in Mississippi.”

Just two years later that same school — now known as Piney Woods Country Life School — would reach national attention when the school’s founder. Dr. Laurence Jones, was the featured and unsuspecting special guest on the popular 1950s television show. This is Your Life. The show’s host was so impressed with the school that he urged viewers to send in $1 each to support the black boarding secondary school. In a short time, $700,000 in donations had arrived, setting up an endowment whose earnings today cover one-half of the annual operating expenses.

The Amity Birthday Club’s records provide no clear explanation about why Piney Woods College was chosen nor who was the lucky quilt winner. The local newspapers did take note of the Amity Birthday Club’s first anniversary. The presence of Eureka Mayor Robert Madsen and his wife at the February 1953 celebration in Runeberg Hall may have prompted that attention.

According to one account, “A huge birthday cake was the centerpiece for tables decorated with flowers and punch, chicken salad, and other delicacies were served. A five-piece band furnished music for the occasion. Madsen voiced his appreciation of the club, the only Negro organization in the city, and praised the principles upon which it operates. He also commended the members as good citizens in his Sunday night radio broadcast, ‘This is Your City’.”

Handcrafted and decorated booklets serve as mileposts for the organization’s evolution. Created for each year, the colorful records note the officers and committee chairs, the schedule of meetings for the year, and birthdays and anniversaries of members, as well as addresses and telephone numbers.

For most years, members did not meet in July and gathered in August for a picnic. The booklets of later years would note that the August picnic was a joint gathering with the local chapter of the NAACP, which got its own start in 1954.

Joining the NAACP

Many Amity Birthday Club members were also active in the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. Nearly all of the husbands of early Amity Birthday Club members held active positions in the local chapter of the NAACP. and several Amity Birthday Club members had their own impact on the local chapter of the national organization. On February 18, 1956, the Humboldt Times reported that Robert Neloms would be installed as the president of the Eureka branch of the NAACP on the following Sunday. Herbert Taylor would be vice president, and E. J. Oneal, husband of Amity Birthday Club member Myrtle Oneal, would be treasurer. Board members included Myrtle Oneal and Vinnie Lenor, both Amity Birthday Club members.

The Amity Birthday Club’s Certificate of Life Membership from the NAACP

Herbert Taylor would go on to head up the local chapter in 1958, according to a March 12, 1958 report in the Eureka Independent. Executive Committee members at that time included Dorothy Taylor, Jim and Edith Howard, and E. J. Oneal. Ruth Beck, a white woman, served as NAACP secretary in 1967 and 1968. Benesta L. McMillan held the same job from 1973 to 1975. while Jim Howard, husband of Amity Birthday Club charter member Edith Howard, served as president of the local chapter for five years, from 1969 to 1973.

Amity Birthday Club members took great pride in their ability to become life members of the NAACP in 1957. In the March 1957 issue of Crisis, the national magazine of the NAACP, a photo of seven of the Amity Birthday Club members is featured among those who joined for life, a feat that cost $500. The Amity Birthday Club collection at the Humboldt County Historical Society includes the group’s Ceriificate of Life Membership from the NAACP, a glimmering plaque noting the club’s life membership and signed by the national association president, chairman of the board, treasurer, secretary, and two co-chairmen.

Three years later, the local chapter of the NAACP would again make the association’s magazine.

The Eureka chapter’s Freedom Seal Committee and other offices exceeded their FFF quota in 1959. The Fight for Freedom (FFF) Campaign strove to see the fulfillment of the Emancipation Proclamation of 1863 be achieved by its 100th anniversary on January 1, 1963. Dorothy Taylor, Lucy Jones, Myrtle Oneal. and Edith Howard, all Amity Birthday Club members, were among those whose accomplishments were noted.

New Members

At least ten Amity Birthday Club members were listed on the November 1, 1968 membership list for the local NAACP chapter. Integration of the Amity Birthday Club came not long after the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr.’s message of the need for unity and peace among all God’s children — black or white. Ina Harris, Ruth Beck, and Bemice Stegeman. all white, were invited to join the Amity Birthday Club in 1968, and each maintained their membership for many years.

“Ruth and Bemice and I had been active in NAACP,” Ina said. “We were just thrilled to be invited. It was a very high social privilege.”

Of the three women invited to join in 1968. Ina Harris and Ruth Beck remain in Eureka. Ruth, who resides at SunBridge Care Center, may be more familiar to some long-time Humboldt County residents as the miracle angel of the North Coast children with polio.

During a recent encounter, Ina asked Dorothy Taylor whether inviting the white women in had changed the club. “I don’t think it made any difference,” Dorothy said. “It added strength to the club. We enjoyed having y’all, too.”

“I remember how scared I was at that first meeting,” Ina recalled. She said she remembered thinking why would they want me to join? But. it was an invitation she was quick to accept. And that created memories and friendships that have lasted through the decades.The pattern of inviting women to join the Amity Birthday Club appeared to have been a means to control the size of the group rather than a tool of exclusivity.

“Aside from Benesta (McMillan), none of the rest of us were very high falootin’,” Ina said. Ina fondly remembers Benesta, who joined the Amity Birthday Club not long after being transferred to the area in 1972. A clipping from September of that year reports that Benesta was the new operations supervisor of the Social Security district office in Eureka.

Myrtle Oneal, Zollie Sanders, Clara Nichols, Queen Washington. Alice Crosby, Marge Palms, Otelia Collins, Pearl Davis, Marge Hill, Marjorie Robinson. Zelma Gilmore, Clara Nichols. Vinnie Lenor, Mabel Ayers, Lillian Collins, and Erma Anderson are the other members whose names frequent the club’s records.

Money for Scholarships

Each December, club members would gather with their guests for the annual dinner held in a local restaurant. Members’ husbands were often, but not always, the privileged guests. In the club’s later years much energy was directed to raising monies for college scholarships. For a few years, the funds — raised through painstaking effort — were given to Humboldt State University students. Later, the scholarships were redirected to College of the Redwoods. The criterion was not strictly academics, but designed for those who “were struggling to get an education.” Some recipients were the first in their families to get a college education, others were single parents attempting to better their situation through education. All were, no doubt, grateful for the financial boost. The club’s preference was, according to a newspaper account, “a minority person or lower income Caucasian whose gradepoints are average and is struggling to acquire an education.”

Donations, bake sales, rummage sales, and food basket sales all helped bolster the club’s scholarship fund. While the effort to raise money for Amity Birthday Club scholarships was extremely serious, some of the means chosen provided a little diversion for the members. Twice a year. White Elephant auctions promised surprises and money for the effort. Ina recalls members would find something they had had around the house for quite some time, would put it in a box, wrap it up, and bring it to the meeting. Other members would bid for the mysterious contents. Usually, Ina said, it was “things you would never throw out, but didn’t know what to do with.”

The objects occasionally would do double-duty in the fund-raising world — an item purchased at one meeting might show up at the next auction, re-wrapped and again generating bids.

In February 1975. club members decided to begin holding annual Scholarship Teas — gatherings that prompted coverage in the Times-Standard and are remembered fondly by surviving members. Many of the teas were held at the YWCA — now owned by College of the Redwoods and known as the Ricks House — on the northwest corner of Eighth and H streets in Eureka. These gatherings not only honored students who were receiving the club’s scholarships, but provided an opportunity to raise money for future scholarships. Photos of those events, some of which ended up in the Times-Standard, showed members handing the scholarships to chosen students. The ladies would plan months in advance to properly honor those chosen for scholarships. “Everyone pitched in and helped,” Ina said. “Everyone worked so hard to make it a success.”

Dressed in their finest outfits, members would gather before tables laden with baked goods and silver tea services. “I have nothing but good memories of that,” Ina said.

What Remains

Good memories are nearly all that’s left of the Amity Birthday Club. In the early 1980s, several members moved away and those remaining opted not to keep up the gatherings. The emotional connections, however, still remain. Several former members gathered recently at Ocean View Cemetery in Eureka with the passing of an early Amity Birthday Club member, Myrtle Oneal. Friends and former club members joyfully greeted one another and fondly remembered Myrtle’s many kindnesses and her role as the first African American to serve on the Humboldt County Grand Jury.

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The story above was originally printed in the Summer 2000 issue of the Humboldt Historian, a journal of the Humboldt County Historical Society. It is reprinted here with permission. The Humboldt County Historical Society is a nonprofit organization devoted to archiving, preserving and sharing Humboldt County’s rich history. You can become a member and receive a year’s worth of new issues of The Humboldt Historian at this link.

Thomas Patrick Roscoe (Tom), the youngest of three boys, was born on October 3, 1957 to Charles (Jim) and Mary Patricia (Trish) Roscoe in Eureka. He passed away peacefully, his brothers and sisters-in-law by his side, on June 13, 2024 in Eureka, due to complications from a heart condition. Tom was the quintessential artist who wove creativity into every aspect of his life, from his beautiful theatre sets, gardens, wonderful edible delights, to his legendary pies. His quick wit and clever turn of phrase were unmatched.

Tom spent his entire life in Eureka and discovered his passion for artistic creation through theatre while attending Eureka Senior High School. It was during these years Tom met his best friend, Ray Gutierrez, whose love and support he treasured throughout his life. They pulled many all-nighters over the years painting and finishing sets, laughing and getting punch drunk from lack of sleep.

Tom pursued his craft while attending Humboldt State University, fine tuning his art in set design, stage construction, masks and prosthetics for plays. Tom went on to become the resident set designer for the Ferndale Repertory Theatre. Some of the fan favorites, and most beautiful, were his sets for the fairy tale plays put on every year at FRT. Many who had attended the Sleeping Beauty/Briar Rose play still remember his stunning artistic work on that set. During this time of his life, Tom met his partner Dennis Macy and they enjoyed many wonderful years together before Dennis passed.

Years later Tom became a founding member of Redwood Curtain Theatre along with a second love, Clint Rebik. Along with other members, casts and crew, they went on to produce some of the best theatre on the North Coast. The absolute joy of Tom’s life were the years he spent with the shining light that was Clint. Tom got a kick out of Clint being the wedding officiant of two of Tom’s nieces and one nephew. He was devastated by Clint’s sudden illness and death in 2021.

Tom was preceded in death by his father, Charles (Jim) Roscoe and his mother, Mary Patricia (Trish) Roscoe along with his first life partner Dennis Macy.

He is survived by his loving family: brothers James (Kimberley) Roscoe of Bayside and Robert (Debbie) Roscoe of Davis; His nephews Daniel (Anais) Roscoe, Michael (Christany) Roscoe, and Mathew Roscoe; nieces Sara (Charles) Roscoe Smith and Lauren (Michael) Roscoe Worrell, all of whom he loved very much. Great nieces and nephews are Elanora, Winnie, Stanley and Hugo Roscoe, Aurelia and Giovanna Roscoe, and Nathan and Arthur Smith, and Jensen and Kieran Worrell. His extended family include his cousins Lee (Bill) Roscoe-Bragg and family, Jack (Gwen) Roscoe and family, Cate (Lauren Wendt) Roscoe, Michael (Carla) McNamara and family, Patty (Richard) McNamara Harper and family, along with Clint Rebik’s sons Matt Jioras-Rebik and Alex Jioras-Rebik.

There will be a private gathering to honor his life at a later date.

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PREVIOUSLY

• NoHum School Board Votes to ‘Dismiss’ Arcata High School Principal; Teachers and Community Members Shocked
• ‘It is Great to Be a Tiger’: Arcata High Principal Ron Perry Issues Statement to School Community
• NoHum Union School Board Provides ‘Deeply Unsatisfying’ Statement on Reassigning Arcata High Principal Ron Perry

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Ron Perry hasn’t said much publicly since the Northern Humboldt Union High School District’s Board of Trustees unceremoniously demoted him on March 12.

In a move that stunned and outraged many in the Arcata High School community, the board voted in closed session to accept the recommendation of district Superintendent Roger Macdonald and reassign Perry from his role as principal, a job he’d held for less than two years, to an unidentified teaching position starting next school year.

Public outcry has been vociferous, with students, parents, staff and community members overflowing subsequent board meetings to voice their disapproval and demand an explanation. More than 1,000 people signed an online petition urging trustees to reinstate Perry. And a group of five women — all parents of current or former AHS students — launched a GoFundMe campaign and are using the proceeds to pay former Humboldt County District Attorney Paul Gallegos as he challenges the board’s decision on legal grounds. They’ve dubbed themselves “Eye of the Tiger: Guardians of Arcata High School.”

Through it all, Perry has mostly stayed above the fray, at least publicly. Three days after the board’s contentious decision he released a public statement encouraging unity and a shared focus on student empowerment. Perry closed his statement with the message, “It’s great to be a Tiger.”

Behind the scenes, however, Perry was reeling. In documents obtained by the Outpost, Perry acknowledged that his immediate response to news of his imminent demotion was “angry disbelief.”

‘The experiences of the past several weeks have shocked me and turned my world upside down.’
–Ron Perry

In an April 22 letter to Superintendent Macdonald, Perry wrote, “The experiences of the past several weeks have shocked me and turned my world upside down.”

In his first interview since the board’s decision, Perry told the Outpost that he has accepted a position teaching U.S. History and AP U.S. History next year at Eureka High School, where he previously worked for nearly 18 years, teaching social science courses and filling various other roles (wrestling coach, department chair, student activities director) from 1994 through 2012.

“It’s a great fit for me, because there’s so many people I’m still really, really tight with in Eureka City Schools that I love and respect,” he said. “So it’s a great place to land.”

Still, Perry remains upset at the way things went down in Arcata. He said Macdonald caught him completely off guard when he came into his office on March 1 and informed him that he planned to recommend demotion to the board of trustees. 

Perry said that during his time as principal, he and Macdonald met weekly to discuss current initiatives, analyze data, reflect on recent professional development trainings and talk about ways to improve. Macdonald would often ask him what he needed and how he could help. In January they’d driven together to Sacramento and back, and there was no indication that such a move was forthcoming.

“We did have extended periods of time together, Roger and I, and he never brought it up,” Perry said. “And so that was disappointing to me, and that’s one of the reasons why I was so incredulous. I was incredulous and surprised.”

Asked if Macdonald explained his reasoning during that March 1 meeting, Perry said he mostly remembers his own reaction.

“At the time, I was angry and I perhaps dominated the conversation,” he explained. Over the following days and weeks, he said, Macdonald offered “a lot of different rationales” for his decision. “Roger has said, you know, he respects me and he likes me and he wants me … to continue to contribute to [the Northern Humboldt Union High School District]. He just perhaps doesn’t see eye-to-eye on the way I approach things. … Essentially it comes down to the fact that I wasn’t doing things the way he wanted me to.” 

In his six-page April 22 letter to Macdonald, Perry gets into some specifics, referring to a range of allegations that Macdonald levied in a memo to Perry about events that had taken place since that March 1 meeting in Perry’s office. (The Outpost has not seen Macdonald’s memo; the superintendent said privacy laws prevent him from releasing it.)

‘I continue to believe that the decision to reassign me was a mistake, and I am not alone.’
–Ron Perry

“Yes, I responded with angry disbelief when I was informed that I would not be the Principal of Arcata High School in the coming year … ,” Perry’s response letter says. “I was saddened not only personally but also for the campus community, which may not benefit from the developments our team was prepared to implement in the coming year. … I continue to believe that the decision to [re]assign me was a mistake, and I am not alone.”

Perry defends his tenure as principal at length and says he disagrees with a variety of assertions made by Macdonald: that Perry admitted to not receiving professional development; that he “evaded” a professional consultant; that he doesn’t see curricular leadership as an essential part of his role as principal; that he has ignored issues pertaining to the bathrooms, parking lots and attendance; that he does not pay attention in meetings; and that he failed to grow and improve over the past two years.

“I am a dedicated professional who enjoys the work and embraces the challenge of improvement … ,” Perry says in his letter. “No one is perfect, and I have made mistakes. We all do. I pride myself in the work I have put into becoming a better principal in all parts of the job.”

Perry told the Outpost that when he wrote that letter, he was still hopeful — albeit doubtful — that the board might reconsider its decision and hire him back as principal. He had yet to apply for the job with Eureka City Schools.

Macdonald told the Outpost via email that he and the board are limited by law in what they can say about personnel decisions, but his general practice when making such decisions is to meet with the affected employee privately to notify them about what he plans to recommend to the board, and to give the employee an opportunity to either respond or resign.

“I cannot comment specifically on any conversations that I had with Mr. Perry regarding his employment as they were confidential conversations, but I did follow my usual practice,” Macdonald explained via email. 

Letter of Reprimand

While both Macdonald and the board have steadfastly refrained from publicly offering evidence or explanations for their decision, citing legal protections for confidential personnel matters, last month the district released to the North Coast Journal a letter of reprimand that Macdonald sent to Perry on Aug. 1, 2023. 

According to the letter, two investigations conducted during Perry’s first year as principal — the 2022-2023 school year — found that Perry was not following the law and that he had “displayed a lack of knowledge of relevant District policies and procedures.”

The investigations were launched in response to a pair of complaints from parents. In the first case, Perry suspended a student without knowing what that student had been accused of and without offering a legally mandated pre-suspension conference, according to Macdonald’s letter. The letter also says Perry “abdicated responsibility for the disciplinary action to the district office” and that he declared he “did not know or read school board policies as that was not [his] job.”

The investigation into the second matter found that Perry responded in “a very lackadaisical and haphazard manner” when a parent reported concerns that his child was threatening to kill a specific teacher. 

‘You have shown a lack in basic skills necessary for a school administrator … ‘
–Letter of reprimand

“Both incidents demonstrate a lack of understanding of the laws you must implement in your position and the relevant District board policies and procedures and poor judgment,” the reprimand letter says. “Moreover, you have shown a lack in basic skills necessary for a school administrator, including parent communication and basic investigation procedures.”

Macdonald says in the letter that if such behavior continues, he will have to consider disciplinary action “including suspension or dismissal.”

In a phone interview earlier this week, Perry said the release of that disciplinary letter bothered him because he felt it gave the public a false impression of the reasoning behind his demotion. 

“I would argue that it wasn’t [due to] the things that were released in the letter,” he said. The student incidents in question had occurred nearly a year prior to the disciplinary letter, during Perry’s first months on the job, and Perry believed that he and his team had subsequently addressed Macdonald’s concerns and resolved any outstanding issues. And so, while he disagreed with both the tone and the substance of the letter, he chose not to write a response to be placed in his personnel file. 

“I [was] confident in my abilities — and my team’s abilities — to respond to these issues and fix it,” he said.

I asked Macdonald why this disciplinary letter was released publicly, despite being part of Perry’s personnel file. 

“In this case,” he responded, “the District consulted with legal counsel and determined that Mr. Perry’s privacy interest in certain records did not outweigh the public interest in disclosure, given the ongoing allegations of impropriety regarding his release [from his principal position].”

He cited various court cases as precedent, adding, “In short, in California it is now settled law that well-founded complaints against public employees are matters of public concern.”

Tigers Fight Back

Perry poses with a “Continuation Education Options” educator-of-the-year award in 2019. | Photo via NHUHSD.

Lisa Hansen is the main organizer behind “Eye of the Tiger: Guardians of Arcata High School.” She and her fellow team members — Diana Cavinta, Sue Moore, Sue Reeser and Jan Schmidt — have been among the most vocal defenders of Perry, and they’ve raised a variety of objections and concerns about the manner in which the board decided his fate.

In statements made at subsequent meetings, and in Gallegos’ letters to the district’s legal counsel on their behalf, the “Eye of the Tiger” guardians have alleged that at the March 12 meeting the Board of Trustees failed to abide by California’s open meetings law, the Brown Act, by not clearly identifying on the agenda that they’d be considering Perry’s dismissal in closed session, thus giving the public an opportunity to weigh in.

They also allege that Trustee Theresa Grosjean, who abstained from the vote to dismiss Perry, nonetheless violated conflict-of-interest rules in the Political Reform Act by participating in the closed-session deliberations beforehand. (Grosjean’s supervisor at her place of employment is Julie Perry, Ron’s wife.)

In response letters, attorneys with School and College Legal Services of California (SCLS), the firm representing the district, say these arguments lack merit. The board followed the explicit language of the Brown Act, they say, and there has been no evidence that Grosjean participated in the board’s deliberations.

But the legal battle remains active, with Gallegos and SCLS exchanging letters. Initially, the “Eye of the Tiger” team aimed to force the board to rescind its decision and reinstate Perry as principal. Now that Perry has accepted a position at Eureka High, Hansen says their goal is to improve the board’s procedures and to shine a light on the administrative deficiencies and injustices that led to his departure. 

In pursuit of their mission, the team has conducted interviews, researched previous board decisions and even questioned the qualifications of Kristin Ferderber, a middle school principal in Salinas who has been hired to replace Perry. They’ve also amassed dozens of documents, including letters of support for Perry, procedure manuals, board correspondence, emails, voicemails, testimonials and more.

Addressing Macdonald’s 2023 disciplinary letter, Hansen said their team has been contacted by a parents whose complaint led to one of the investigations, and this parent blames other members of the AHS administration employees in the district office, not Perry, for mishandling matters.

Hansen and her team say Perry never got the support he needed to succeed. They argue that under Macdonald’s leadership, the district stopped conducting staff surveys; that Arcata High School has fewer administrators per student than other schools in the district; that the board is disproportionately filled with trustees from McKinleyville; that Macdonald and his team didn’t exhaust all administrative remedies before dismissing Perry; and that the board failed to consult with important stakeholders (the Arcata High site council, its students, parents/guardians, etc.) before making its decision.

Public Outcry

The first board meeting after Perry’s dismissal, held in the Arcata High library on April 9, overflowed with Perry supporters, including students, staff members and parents, who demanded answers, decried the board’s “mistake” and sang Perry’s praises. 

Dressed in orange and black as a unified show of support, they described Perry as a dedicated, compassionate and capable leader who cares deeply about student success and shows up to more student events than any principal in recent memory.

“He encourages us, cheers us on, helps us get to class on time and, most of all, puts his heart, soul and NBA Finals-worthy announcing voice into everything he does,” said Melanie Luh, Arcata High’s associated student body president.

‘I have never encountered a stronger natural leader nor anyone with more passion and loyalty for Arcata High School.’
–Lisa Hansen

During her own turn, Hansen said she has “never encountered a stronger natural leader nor anyone with more passion and loyalty for Arcata High School.”

When the board cut off public comment after just 20 minutes, with the room still packed, attendees were angered, and as reported in the Mad River Union, supporters chanted Perry’s name when they eventually left the venue. At last weekend’s Arcata High graduation ceremony, Perry received a standing ovation from students and other community members.

“It’s been said that I have many friends,” Perry said by phone earlier this week, “but I would prefer [to say] I’ve earned the respect and friendship of many quality people.” 

He acknowledged that he was an at-will employee, meaning Macdonald and the board were entitled to fire him for virtually any reason at all. But he sees the public response over the past three months — and last weekend in particular — as vindication.

“The argument of the collective masses, whether it be parents, students or teachers, was they just that they disagree [with the board’s decision], and I think that the last week’s events are testimony to the fact that they are likely correct.”

Macdonald said that while he “most definitely” considers the opinions and experiences of the school community when making personnel decisions, the diversity of opinions may not be fully reflected by the apparently unified voices at recent board meetings.

“I receive feedback every day from staff, parents and students regarding the performance and effectiveness of our site principals,” Macdonald said. As for the disciplinary letter from 2023, Macdonald said he released it because he was legally obligated to do so, not as a personal attack on Perry. He even agreed with Perry on this: The incidents referenced in the letter do not represent the totality of his reasoning for recommending dismissal.

“While there’s a lot of attention on that one document, decisions like this aren’t made based on one incident or one document,” he said.

Ron Perry’s Final Principal’s Report

The NHUHSD Board of Trustees met again this past Tuesday, and at the outset, one of the trustees pulled an item off of the consent calendar. The item called for the board to accept the latest batch of principal’s reports, which are typically routine updates about progress on school goals.

But Clerk-Trustee JoAnn Moore flagged Perry’s report for discussion.

“I have been coming to board meetings for more than 17 years, pretty regularly. … ,” she said. “I have never seen a principal’s report that was submitted for Arcata High like this before. Ever. For somebody who taught history, the amount of self-serving and disinformation that was in that report is remarkable.”

In particular, she called attention to Perry’s closing paragraph, where he says, “The decisions and actions of the board and superintendent have exacerbated the sense of toxicity amongst staff, students and families this spring. The overwhelming flow of messages voicing opposition to these decisions is testimony to the depth and degree of the emotions in our community and the feeling that significant errors were made.”

Fellow trustee and Board President Natalie Giannini called out another paragraph, one in which, under a section for reporting on progress toward meeting equity goals, Perry notes that Arcata High finally has a new scoreboard, which he says “creates more equity between our athletic programs at AHS and those at MHS.”

Giannini felt that was inappropriate. 

“I think it’s really frustrating to see the AHS principal’s report put a scoreboard under equity … ,” she said. “To use [that section of the report] to make a final dig was, I feel like, insulting to that work, and that really upset me.”

Grosjean was upset by the report, too.

“For me, the accusation that we are fully responsible for any toxicity in this district is super disingenuous,” she said, and she suggested that his comments reflect “a selfish need to get the last word.”

The board wound up voting 4-1 not to accept Perry’s final report.

Clearly, while Perry has moved on to a new district, the Arcata High community remains divided and destabilized by the events of the past few months. 

Hansen said she found the board’s decision not to accept Perry’s final principal’s report “crazy,” saying it offered accurate information and valid evidence about the current state of affairs.

Reached by phone Friday morning, Perry said he considers everything in that report factual and based on the feedback he’s received from members of the school community. Comments that “might be seen as critical by some are what we need to hear in order to move our school forward,” he said.

In our initial interview earlier this week, Perry said he is “coming to grips” with what has happened and where he wound up.

“The opportunity to go back to Eureka is is a great, great thing,” he said. “But more importantly, I’ve been reaffirmed with the opinions of people who matter more than that of one individual — or the collection of five individuals. You know, the people I love and respect have voiced their opinion that this was an error.”

Message from Northern Humboldt Union High School District Superintendent Roger Macdonald:

June 21, 2024

Good afternoon Arcata High School Community,

Please join me in welcoming Kristin Ferderber as the Arcata High School Principal effective July 1, 2024. Ms. Ferderber has made Humboldt County a regular family vacation spot for years and is excited to make it her home.

Kristin Ferderber. Photo via the Spreckles Union School District.

I want to thank the screening and interview committee that helped make this important decision. Our team was made up of fourteen faculty, staff and administrators and one very involved parent. All made important contributions along the way and were in consensus in recommending Ms. Ferderber.

Ms. Ferderber stood out with her confidence, personality and experience. She was able to answer all of our questions with examples of how she has led and taught in the past. Her references all shared that she displayed the same “can do” attitude that we saw in her two interviews and confirmed that she does have the varied and exceptional skills that we witnessed.

Ms. Ferderber has just completed the school year as a middle school principal in Salinas. She has also served as a high school Dean of Students and taught high school English, ELD, Journalism and Leadership. As you might expect, she also took on leadership roles such as Department Chair and WASC Coordinator.

Ms. Ferderber was able to join our admin team earlier this week for some of our professional development and was able to meet some Arcata High staff as well. I will work with her on a transition to our District, which will include extensive onboarding over the summer. Ms. Ferderber is looking forward to engaging with our community and we will have events planned starting in August for you to meet, greet and get to know her.

I am grateful for the feedback and encouragement that I have received from so many of you and am impressed with all of the work being done to end the year on a positive note across the District as we prepare for the coming school year.

Wishing you all the very best over the summer holiday.

Roger Macdonald

Superintendent

Press release from the Humboldt County Superior Court:

HUMBOLDT COUNTY CIVIL GRAND JURY NEEDS MORE APPLICANTS!!!

The Superior Court has received some applications since April, but we are still short! WE NEED MORE MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC WILLING TO SERVE ON THE 2024/2025 HUMBOLDT COUNTY CIVIL GRAND JURY. PLEASE APPLY AND HELP SERVE YOUR LOCAL COMMUNITY’S INTERESTS! Your public service is needed and will be greatly appreciated!!

The Humboldt Superior Court empanels 19 citizens to act as an independent body of the judicial system each fiscal year (term: July 1-June 30). The Court also encourages citizens to apply and be considered to serve as alternates if and when vacancies occur during the term of service. The Court accepts applications from citizens representing a broad cross-section of the Humboldt County community. The Civil Grand Jury is currently meeting in-person one day a week and via Zoom one day a week (their weekly meeting schedule and time commitment may vary from 10-30 hours).

The primary work of the civil grand jury is to investigate and review citizen complaints concerning the operations of city and county government as well as other tax supported and non-profit agencies and districts. Based on these reviews, the grand jury publishes its findings and reports recommending constructive actions to improve the quality and effectiveness of our local government. The civil grand jury does not review or consider criminal indictments.

For more information and the application process, please visit the Court’s web site at:

(this link)

or, contact Administration at 269-1245 with any questions you may have.

You may also download, complete, and email a Civil Grand Jury Questionnaire to: GrandJuryApps@humboldtcourt.ca.gov or we can email you an application. Thank you for your interest in serving your local community!

With College Cove in the background, a garden of (real) native plants below and symbols sprinkled throughout, David Josiah Lawson’s image will overlook the university where he would have graduated in 2019.

Watching community members add paint to the north-facing wall of the D Street Neighborhood Center in Arcata on Thursday afternoon, Charmaine Lawson, Josiah’s mom, said she can’t imagine a better place for the mural. 

“Everyone can see. It’s right above his university, and he would ride his skateboard down from campus to Safeway,” she said. “I feel like his footsteps, his memory, his vision, his light – everything is being shown right here.”

Written across the mural, in Josiah’s own handwriting, are the familiar words: “Justice for David Josiah Lawson.”

Seeing those words is a heavy thing, Charmaine said.

“It should be ‘Honoring the Life of David Josiah Lawson,’” she said. “It’s heartbreaking for me to see the words ‘Justice for David Josiah Lawson’ after seven years.”

Josiah was killed by stabbing at a college party in Arcata in April 2017, and no one has been convicted in connection with the killing. The Lawson family has fought tirelessly to see justice and keep Josiah’s story alive over the seven years since.

“For those people that know what truly happened and can shed some more light to what really took place that night… they’re out there, and they’re going to come forward,” Charmaine said. “If they still live here in Humboldt County, they’re going to see this and they’re going to be like: ‘Wow, this was unfair.’”

The mural is one result of a 2021 settlement agreement between the Lawson family and the City of Arcata. Charmaine expressed gratitude to the City of Arcata, and particularly Arcata City Manager Karen Diemer, for supporting the mural.

Project leader Benjamin Funke said that the mural is a community effort, start to finish. It’s a collaboration between the Lawson family, the NAACP Eureka Chapter, the City of Arcata, the Rotary Club of Arcata Sunrise and REBOUND, a DreamMaker project of the Ink People. 

“I think it’s really important to the spirit of the piece – it’s about bringing this community together, and that’s why it’s at a community center. This location is just perfect,” Funke said. 

“Every student that goes to school here, and every student that will go to school here, is going to be able to see this mural and ask who Josiah Lawson was. That story is never gonna go away. It’s gonna live.”

From location to process to the actual image, just about every element of the mural is symbolic.

The content itself is intentional down to each brushstroke. The design’s focus is the widely recognizable photo of Josiah – the one used on posters calling for justice – redrawn for the mural by his aunt. Because it was the natural environment that drew Josiah to Humboldt, he sits before College Cove and is framed by redwoods on either side. 

“When you see it, you’re like, ‘Oh, I’ve been to that space before!’ and so that helps humanize Josiah,’” Funke said. “I think it’s going to have a much more uplifting, more celebratory feeling to it than what we’re used to seeing as his image in the public eye.”

A dreamy skateboarder made of cloud zooms through the sky, because Josiah loved skateboarding. And the team plans to add a message from Charmaine in a facsimile of her handwriting somewhere on the mural. That message will convey that the artwork is “not just for DJ – this is for every missing and murdered person in Humboldt County,” Charmaine said.

“For me, this is just a small token for my son but a bigger token for those families who are seeking justice.”

Planted along the bottom of the wall will be a garden of native flower- and fruit-bearing plants, supplied and maintained by Arcata Rotary. Charmaine said she likes to imagine people coming to pick a berry and talk to Josiah.

Though progress is moving quickly, the team said they’ll be working on the mural at least through the weekend. Community members are invited to come pick up a paintbrush and climb aboard the aerial lifts to help finish it up. 

“It’s an honor to get to work on a project like this,” said Blake Reagan, one of the muralists working on the piece. “There’s a lot of feelings involved. I try to express joy in my work, but sometimes art is more than joy. Art can be in memory of people. Art can question justice. Art has a big spirit, and hopefully this mural encompasses a few of the purposes for murals.”

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Have you, like us, been wondering what happened to the bears removed from the tree by Pierson’s last week? Or if the bears spotted out for a sunset stroll in Arcata on Saturday were the same urban ursidae as the family in the tree?

It’s been a bears-filled couple weeks around here, so Peter Tira, information officer with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, hopped on the phone with the Outpost to provide a much-needed situation report.

First off, yes – the urban bears camped out in the Pierson’s tree and spotted hopping over the Pho Hoang fence are the same mother and cub. The pair are now in Samoa.

Bears have one of the best senses of smell in the animal kingdom (seven times greater than a bloodhound!), so Tira said that peninsula residents should secure any and all potential smelly attractions: garbage should be tightly lidded, pet food (even chicken feed) kept inside, bird feeders emptied and fruit trees monitored for fallen bear treats.

“We don’t want to see these bears any more comfortable than they already are in urban areas,” Tira said, “we want them to make their way back to the wild.”

After removing the bears from their tree perch on the morning of June 10, CA Fish & Wildlife deposited the family in forested habitat about 30 miles away, according to Tira. The sow (mom) was collared, and Fish & Wildlife’s Northern Region headquarters has been tracking the family’s movements since.

Over the course of last week, the bears crossed Highway 299 near Blue Lake, followed the river to Arcata – making it to Northtown by Saturday evening – and followed the curve of Humboldt Bay out to Manila.

On Tuesday night, the mother bear was struck by a vehicle on the Samoa Peninsula around 10 p.m. The driver reported the incident, including that the bear they hit was collared, and Tira said the sow is injured but still mobile. The cub remains unharmed.

So, why have these bears taken to the urban coastal lifestyle? Simple: They’ve learned that Eureka, Arcata and even more sparsely populated communities like Samoa are hotspots for free food.

“It’s a lot more calories for a lot less work,” Tira said, adding that while bears catching on to the easy snackings of developed areas is common in California, the pair’s return to town is not what Fish & Wildlife wanted to see happen.

If mother and cub become an ongoing problem, Fish & Wildlife will remove them to wild habitat (again), according to Tira.

Sightings can be reported to the Fish & Wildlife Northern Region headquarters at (530) 225-2300 or askregion1@wildlife.ca.gov.

Pictures can also be sent to the Outpost at lostcoastoutpost@gmail.com.