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WADSWORTH-YOUNG.COM

Our next 

reunion dates

Washington, DC

July 21-24, 2022

Host: Cecile Green & Jasmine Wadsworth 

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WADSWORTH-YOUNG.COM

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our scholarship fund

Scholarship fund

About

About

Mission

The Wadsworth Reunion was established to celebrate the life of our foreparents. We promote this celebration by coming together biennially as a family to share in our family histories and stories. Through our established communication processes the Reunion shall maintain a liaison among all known family members to foster continued growth of this Family. 

By-Laws 

Family Members and Dues 

 

All descendants of Scott and Harriet Wadsworth are considered to be members of the W adswoth Reunion Family. Family friends are welcome to participate in and promote the Family Reunion activities. 

 

Wadsworth Family Reunion dues are $20.00 per year per family. Dues may be sent to the Reunion Treasurer or paid at the reunion meeting. 

 

Officers 

The designated officers of this organization shall be a Chairman, Vice-Chairman, Secretary, Corresponding Secretary, Treasurer, Chaplain, assistant Chaplain and Historian. All officers are elected during the current Family Reunion Meeting. The terms of office are two (2) years, there are no limits on the number of terms an officer may hold. 

 

Duties of the Officers 

Chairman - The Chairman shall preside over the Family Reunion Meeting, also initiate polices and procedures for consideration by the Wadsworth Reunion Family. The Chairman shall perform the duties customarily associated with this Office. 

Vice-Chairman - The Vice-Chairman shall serve as Chairperson of committee(s) set forth by the organization. The Vice-Chairman shall preside over the election of officers at the Reunion Meeting, also the Vice-Chairman shall Perform all the duties of the Chairman in the absence of the Chairman, unless otherwise agreed upon. 

Secretary - The Secretary shall keep a record of all proceedings and transactions of the Family Reunion and other meetings as designated by the Chairman. The Secretary shall prepare a typed copy of the Meeting Minutes for distribution within sixty days of the close of the Reunion Meeting. 

The Corresponding Secretary - The Corresponding Secretary shall received, document and disperse all correspondence received by the Family Reunion to the appropriate person(s) with a copy to the Chairman. The Corresponding Secretary shall assist the Secretary when appropriate and shall perform the duties of the Secretary in their absence. 

 

Treasurer - The Treasurer shall be responsible for the financial transactions of the Family Reunion. The Treasurer shall document all receipts, expenditures and balances. The Treasurer shall present a formal report at the Reunion Meeting and make quarterly reports to the Chairman or as deemed necessary by the Chairman. In the absence of the Treasurer the Secretary and/or Corresponding Secretary shall assume the role of treasurer. The Treasurer shall prepare a typed report for distribution within ninety days of the close of the Reunion Meeting. 

 

Chaplain - The Chaplain shall conduct all devotional activities for the Family Reunion and serve the Family in other capacities as required. 

Assistant Chaplain - The Assistant Chaplain shall assist the Chaplain as required and shall assume the duties of the Chaplain in their absence. 

Historian - The Historian shall be responsible for receiving and documenting Wadsworth's Family historical information. The Historian shall present an overview of the Family's archives during the Reunion Meeting. 

Adopted: July 20, 1996 

Current Officers

Officers an Members
Kat Brown
Chair
Erinn Harris
Co-Chair
Jasmine Wadsworth
Secretary
Toni Green
Treasurer

Committee Members

Cecile Green
Reunion
Jasmine Wadsworth
Reunion
Carla Long
Births/Deaths
Ron Stratten
Historian
Dawn Toler
Communications

History

History

In the beginning…

Scott Wadsworth (1837-1915) marries Harriet Young (1840- 1906)

 

Origin of the Family Reunion

The Wadsworth family reunion was founded by Odie- Wadsworth-Blackmon in 1958

The first Wadsworth reunion was held in Indianapolis at Bridwell Farm. It was through the foresight of Odie and the rest of the Wadsworth family that the reunion was established. In attendance were Lena Rankin of Shephard, Tennessee,

Lizzy and Johnny Streeter of Detroit, Michigan and he Wadsworth family and friends.

 

Odie always enjoyed visiting Tennessee and Alabama and all the relatives in those areas. Louise and Eunice were her special cousins. Whenever families came to Indianapolis she always had an outdoor picnic. This was a way for family members and friends to get together.

 

Family members came every summer Tennessee, Illinois, Michigan, California, New York and other states. Some came to visit, and others were just passing through.

 

After Odie passed away, Rita Wadsworth- Cage took over the reunion responsibilities, feeling the need to continue the family get-togethers.

 

In 1972, the formal family reunion was resumed. The reunion was held in Indianapolis, Indiana at Northeast Way Park. Families from Ohio, California, Michigan, Illinois, Tennessee, Nebraska and Indiana attended.

 

The second reunion was held in Chattanooga, Tennessee (1994) and has continued ever since with invitations from

other cities attending the reunion. It was voted to meet every two years instead of every year.

1994- Chattanooga, TN

1996- Minneapolis, MN

1998- Redondo Beach, CA

2000- Birmingham, AL

2002- Indianapolis, IN

2004- Philadelphia, PA

2006- Las Vegas, NV

2008- Omaha, NE

2010- Seattle, WA

2012- Chattanooga, TN

2014- Caribbean Cruise

2016- Detroit, MI

2018- San Francisco, CA

2020- Washington, DC

2022- Atlanta, GA

Wadsworth Family Song

(Sung to the tune of We Are Soldiers in the Army)

We are family- the Wadsworth family,

We’re bonded together- although we are far apart

The bond will hold- our families love together,

It will hold us- until we die.

 

We are family- the Wadsworth family,

We come together- on this reunion day.

To share our love- and be with one another.

We’re glad to be one- big family.

We are family- the Wadsworth family.

We stand up tall- and hold our heads up high.

Our hearts are filled- with precious memories

Of our Wadsworth family.

 

By Stella Williams

 

Wadsworth Family Prayer

Lord, years and years ago you planted our seed,

You chose Scott and Harriet for this giant tree.

With strong branches, blooming flowers and small leaves,

We are thankful to be part of the Wadsworth family tree.

You watched over us through the storm and the rain,

Generation to generation you helped lighten our pain.

You nurtured us with love, patience, and lots of sunshine,

We thank you Lord for you master mind.

 

We pray that we have grown in every way,

Truthful and straightforward through the years.

If by fate some failed on life’s highway,

You were always there to understand and forgive.

 

Dear Lord, in some kind way,

Let our dear ones in heaven smile with us today.

Without you Our Heavenly Father we would not be,

Because only God can make a tree. Amen.

 

By Stella Williams

Future Reunion 

Cities

Atlanta, GA 2024

Future Sites

Family Crest

Meeting Minutes

Meeting Minutes

Wadsworth - Young Family Reunion Meeting Minutes

Reunion Dates July 19th to July 22nd 2018 in San Francisco, CA

 

Call to order

Meeting was called to order by James Wilder

 

Review & Approval of minutes from last meeting

Minutes from the 2016 reunion were read by Jessica Wadsworth and approved

 

Financial Report 

At this time, $1420 in account. $420 was carried over from Detroit and $500 to San Francisco committee. Toni stated there is a cushion for future reunions. 

Cecile stated dues are $20 per family, $10 for solo attending family, ages 75+ pay no dues. Dues will only be collected from family who attends reunion.

Payment options:

Make checks payable to: Wadsworth Family Reunion

 

Venmo: Toni-Green-1

 

Old Business/New Business

  1. Genealogy (Ron Stratten/Bridget Hughes)

Email: Strats1@sbcglobal.net

Address: 3751 VIA Picante La Mesa, CA 91941

-ancestry.com updates: Toni asked about membership for ancestry.com, Ron stated he will always keep it up to date. Treasurer pays registration, family is responsible for DNA tests if interested. For access as an editor, let Ron know so he can add you. 

-Toni brought family book from Indiana, Margie began books formally and family is appreciative of that. Jennifer asked how to get a copy, Ron stated we can make a copy. Toni stated she can make copies if information is given to her. Cecile volunteered to collect information. James suggested make copies and send to family to make corrections. Final outcome: give updates to Ron, Ron will give to Cecile to organize and give to Toni to print.

 

Historian Committee:

Sara Jane- Toni Green/Andrew Green

Wm. Addison Rankin - Angela Yohannes-Rankin

Mary Emma - Clarence Daniels

Eunice - James Wilder

Warren Hill - Wanda Cohill

Zachariah - Carla Long

B. Birth & Bereavement Committee (Carla Long)

Bereavement- Harriett (last name?), Stella Williams, Devon Ross, and Iola Wadsworth 

Births: Azra Aksoy, daughter of Jennifer Aksoy (Wadsworth) born in 2016

Carla stated she may be missing information since she is not on Facebook, please be sure to send information to her as it becomes available. 

Toni suggested we have a photo slideshow for D.C. reunion. Agreed on, email  photos to Toni, include birth, branch and death date for each photo sent. Allison agreed to put slideshow together. 

C. Scholarship Committee (Yvonne/Ann/Sheron)

-Current balance is $5,944.03. Received $1,100 is donations. Recipient this year was Amber Watkins who attends UCLA, majoring in Sociology and African American Studies. She is the daughter of Noreena Pugh and granddaughter or Wanda Cohill (Wadsworth).

-Arthur Green raffled a blanket for the scholarship during the reunion. A runner was also raffled, with funds going towards the scholarship. 

-Easier method of paying was also discussed. Zelle, PayPal..? Money is accepted year round and due May 1st, Sheron stated new application will reflect new due date. 

-James asked how many candidates and Sheron stated one for this cycle. 

-James was recognized by Jerome for always donating to the fund.

All Scholarship donations can be addressed to the following:

Helen Wadsworth Stratten Family Reunion Scholarship Fund

304 Green Meadow Road 

Indianapolis, IN 46229 

D. Communications (Erinn Harris)

No updates this year

 

E. Reunion Host Lessons Learned (Nicole Scott)

-Nicole Scott discussed how Helen Wadsworth dreamed of having a reunion in San Francisco and acknowledged the local committee. 

-Conference calls were weekly 

-Many paid registration early and reserved room at the same time.

 

-$500 seed money helps a lot

-Rooms were secured early by Yvonne

-Wanted branches to spend time together and mingle. The reunion was kmodeled after exploration days on cruises. 

-Yvonne stated the registration forms have too much information, sometimes people would put their own name instead of individually. Yvonne stated she will go over form to simplify. She also state until you host a reunion, you don’t appreciate the reunions, young people need to partner. She thanks family for coming to San Francisco. 

 

F. Speakers: Fred M. Green and Jennifer Aksoy (Wadsworth) discussed their careers.

 

Fred M. Green: 

Fred Green completed high school in 1960 and afterwards worked in a dining car on the train. Fred Douglas Green was his grandfather who married a Rankin so he is cousins 2 ways. He is an Engineer. Since he could not attend Alabama nor Auburn he moved to St. Paul Minnesota for school. Worked for 3M while attending school, it was a supportive environment and it took 5 years to get his degree in Mechanical Engineering. Told VP about experiences during interviews. Began working at Honeywell. Received his MBA from St. Thomas in St. Paul. Ran a plant for 3-4 years. Started a company, fell out with co-owner. At the time, only a few black owned companies of NASDAQ, his being one! Sold company. 

 

Lessons from Fred:

  1. Never underestimate competition

  2. Ownership is better than a salary

  3. When you see changed happening, get ahead and change it

  4. Know when to hold them and when to fold them

 

Jennifer Aksoy (Wadsworth):

Jennifer is on the Warren Hill Wadsworth branch. Grew up in Portland, OR. Went to college at UNLV, left after one year. Father told her about California Maritime Academy where she eventually graduated from. First job out was at Ports America in Oakland, CA. Was told she would not last 3 months 1. She was black and 2. She was a woman. She ended up staying 5 years. She works in vessel operations and logistics. Father suggested moving to Texas and now she managed Port of Houston. Toni asked why her field isn’t widely known to people of color. Herbert Wadsworth was asked to speak as well and discussed his education, experience and different fields in the maritime field. He is an engineer as well. 

G. Future Reunion Planning                                                    

2020 – Washington D. C. (Cecile Green and Jasmine Wadsworth)   

2022 – Atlanta, GA (Angie Brown)

2024 – Houston, TX (Jennifer Wadsworth and James Wilder)

 

Cecile Green and Jasmine Wadsworth discussed the Washington D.C. reunion. Toni stated we needed the dates ASAP. They stated July 16th-July 20th tentatively. Winifred suggested buddies for those who don’t do digital. Yvonne suggested an extension to the reunion and Toni suggested setting room block for 1 week and official reunion agenda for 4 days. 

 

Elections 

Presided over by Andrew Green

Chair: Angie Brown – katabrown@comcast.net

V. President: Erinn Harris – erinnh785722@sbcglobal.net

Secretary: Jasmine Wadsworth —jasmine_wadsworth@hotmail.com

Treasurer: Toni Green – tonigreen20@gmail.com

Asst. Treasurer: Ceci Green – cgreen@gmail.com

Historian: Ron Stratten - strats1@sbcglobal.net

Asst. Historian: Nicole Wilson – 413nicole5@gmail.com

Chaplain: Randy Meriwether – happy1918.fm@gmail.com

Communications: Dawn Barnett – dstoler@ymail.com 

Communications  Asst. – Matthew Barnett

 

Adjournment

Adjourned the meeting at 11:00am

Minutes submitted by:  Jessica Wadsworth

THINGS TO DO IN WASHINGTON, DC!

Things To Do
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Family Dinner
Museum
Family Voices

Family Voices

Family Member: Fredrick Marcellus Green

Descendent of: Sarah Jane Wadsworth

Date: Saturday, July 21, 2018

Place: San Francisco CA

 

Scott Wadsworth and Harriet Young had twelve kids of which one was Sarah Jane. Sarah married Augustus Green, who had four children and one was Frederick Douglas Green. He married Mary Rankin. The Greens are cousins two ways - Green's and Rankin's. Fred & Mary had four boys of which one was my father, Arthur Green.

 

I wanted to be an engineer, but the schools in Alabama were segregated so I could not attend the University of Alabama or the University of Auburn. I moved to St Paul, MN to attend the University of MN. St. Paul was the home of two major railroad companies that ran from Chicago to Seattle. I had worked as a dining car waiter during the summers when I was in high school so I knew I would be able to work and attend school if I moved to the Twin Cities.

 

I got a job at 3M company as a lab technician in the Central Research Pilot Plant. We had the job of figuring how to manufacture products that the chemist had developed. 3M was supportive of their employees completing their education, which meant I could go to school in the morning and work in the afternoon from 1-9pm.

 

It took me five years to get my degree in Mechanical Engineering. During the last half of my senior year I started interviewing within 3M for other positions. After what seemed like never ending interviews, I noticed I had not seen any African Americans at the company. I asked my boss what was the company's position on hiring Affirmative Action. He said he did not know, which let me know that 3M did not have one.

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A few weeks later I was told to go see the Corporate VP of Human Resources. I made my way to the corporate headquarters and to the executive floor to meet the VP. He wanted to know why I was raising questions about affirmative action. I told him about my experience interviewing and I was concerned about my future employment at 3M. The next week I got an interview schedule that took me to Chicago and Texas where 3M had large plants that employed black people.

 

After this experience I felt I should interview outside of 3M. I took a job at Honeywell as a manufacturing engineer. I was always interested in manufacturing management and had taken all of my elective courses in management. Honeywell had a very formal system and it would have taken me 10 to 15 years to get into management. I moved to Control Data which was growing very fast and promotions could come quickly to those with potential.

 

While at Control Data, I started an MBA program at St Thomas University in St. Paul. We had to write a business plan and present it to the instructor and the class. I wrote a plan for a Data Processing Company. After the presentation the instructor said he thought it was good and he knew of someone who might be interested in investing. I partnered with a friend and we made the pitch to the investor. He was interested and so we started Dynamic Data Services. We worked in the business at night and kept our day jobs. 

 

The business was selling data processing resources (keypunching, key to tape and to key disk) to large companies that had peak times and needed assistance. Month end closing for companies and banks. We started by using the equipment of a school that provided data entry training. We used the equipment at night when classes were not being held. The business grew rapidly and we got our own building and 

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equipment. I resigned from Control Data to work in the business full time. After a year or so, my partner and I had a falling out because I thought I was doing more than my share.  We had a small board of directors that was made up of the investor and a couple of other members. I thought it was apparent and the board knew who made the company function - me! My partner had been working the board so when the showdown came, they picked him to run the business. I was out of the business and out of a job.

 

I learned the first of four very important lessons that have guided me throughout my career.  

 

Lesson #1: Never underestimate the competition.

 

An opening to run a plant at Control Data became available during this period. I interviewed and with the assistance of some friends I had in the company, I was offered the job. I ran this particular plant for 3 years. During this time, I got a call from an African American gentleman, named Luther Prince, whose company manufactured power supplies. He was an MIT trained brilliant electrical engineer. He said he was looking for someone to join his company and my name kept coming up. I met him and after some discussion I told him that I was happy with my career at Control Data.

 

Shortly after this meeting I was sent to Los Angeles for about a year to turn around a plant. Shortly after I returned to the Twin Cities a job running Control Data's Government Division became available. This was a $300M business. The job came down to two people, me and the guy whose mess I had to clean up in LA. Of course, you know who got the job, he did!

 

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Control Data was not ready to give this level of responsibility to a black man. A short time after the decision was announced I got a call from Luther Prince again. He wanted to know what it would take for me to join his company. I told him I wanted some ownership. He said that was not an issue. I left Control Data. And wouldn't you know, a couple of weeks after they offered the job to the "other guy", I get a call and was told they had made a mistake and wanted me to consider taking the position.

 

The company I joined was Ault Incorporated. 

 

Lesson #2: Ownership is usually better than a salary.

 

As I said, Luther Prince, was the owner of Ault. Luther had developed the concept of external power supplies which means moving the power to the outside of the device you are powering. Your portable computer is an example of this concept. Basically, it is your power cord that you plug into the wall. 

 

Luther and I worked for a couple of months laying out a new business plan then started to execute. 

 

When I joined the company, it had sales of $3M dollars a year. Within a couple of years, we had grown the business to $10M. We got a contract to power the IBM PC and the Texas Instrument 994. These two contracts took us to over $18M. Luther and I decided to take the company public on the NASDAQ. There have been only a couple of black owned companies listed on the NASDAQ.

 

Both the Texas Instrument  and the IBM computers did not do well in the marketplace and we loss the business.  Luther and I had different 

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visions of what to do. He wanted to shrink the business back to very small, I felt that we had built all of this infrastructure and we should grow.

 

Remembering what happened to me in my first business, I made sure that the board understood what I wanted to do. They chose my options. Luther was very angry and he sold his stock in the company and left.

 

I took the business to the telecom industry where we had success and started to grow again. After a couple of years, I started to get calls from customers in Silicon Valley saying they could buy products in Asia for 1/2 of what we were charging.

 

Lesson #3: When you see things changing, get out in front of it and manage it!

 

I made a trip to Asia so I could understand what was happening. After that trip it was clear to me that we could not beat their prices so we started an Ault Korea. After some years we started a business in China. And, to hedge my bets, we also started a plant in Thailand at the same time as the business expanded to China.

 

During this time the telecom industry exploded and the company grew to about $90M and close to 1000 employees. We did engineering, sales and short run manufacturing out of Minneapolis. After about 5-6 years the telecom industry collapsed and the company fell to a $50M. Again, we got out in front of the change and moved the company to the medical device market and began to rebuild.

 

 

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When the business was down other companies approached us about selling. After evaluating offers, we decided to sell. 

 

Lesson #4: Know when to hold em', know when to fold em', and take your money off the table!

 

We had a 35-year run, 25 of which I was with the company and in charge of 20 of those years.

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