Local civil rights leader Caribel Washington dies [The Pantagraph, Bloomington, Ill.]

Dec. 28--BLOOMINGTON -- Caribel Washington, leader of the fight to desegregate Twin City eateries, the first Bloomington resident to receive the Studs Terkel Humanities Award, and the first president of the Black History Project, died Monday just a month short of her 98th birthday.

"She was a gallant lady," said Merlin Kennedy, also a Twin City civil rights leader. "She was very progressive in civil rights."

Washington, who was black, was hired at State Farm Insurance Cos. as a custodian and elevator operator in 1946, before the company allowed blacks as secretaries. Kennedy and fellow civil rights leader Ralph Smith worked with State Farm leaders to offer night classes to improve minorities' skills, a movement that led the company to hire minorities for other positions.

Washington worked in maintenance for 15 years before transferring to a secretarial job, a position she held until her retirement in 1979.

"She was articulate and pressed for improvement in race relations," said Smith. "She was very clear about her responsibilities ... but determined to see progress made."

An active member of Wayman AME Church, Washington served in every capacity "except pastor and usher," said her long-time caregiver and church elder Delores Laverne Howard.

"She knew so much about the church," said Howard. "We suffered a great loss; we didn't tap into the history and her memory before she left."

Washington tried to keep black history alive in the Twin Cities. She headed a 1993 archaeological dig at 806 N. Center St., the former site of Wayman AME.

She also was president of the Bloomington Normal Black History Project, which recorded the oral histories of several black Twin City residents. The McLean County Museum of History serves as the repository for the project. Transcripts of the taped interviews, including one with Washington, are available at www.mchistory.org/mcmh_exhibit_blck_hist_proj.html.

"Any subject you could come up with, she'd have some insight," said Howard.

Born in Streator, Washington lived most of her life in Bloomington, graduating from Bloomington High School during the Depression. She worked in a Works Progress Administration educational program for preschool children before joining State Farm.

In 1977, she was one of the first three Bloomington residents to earn the Dr. Martin Luther King Award from the Bloomington Human Relations Commission. In 1999, then-Mayor Judy Markowitz of Bloomington nominated Washington for the Studs Terkel Humanities Award, which recognizes those who have "championed the humanities in their communities."

Her funeral arrangements will be handled by Kibler-Brady-Ruestman Memorial Home, Bloomington.

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