Above, a photo inside the Post of the late Capt. David Ramsay, who was killed in action during Vietnam in 1970. The accomplished pilot won numerous awards and was only the 47th African American to attend West Point. Seth Daniel photo
Membership and activities at many veterans’ posts around the city have gradually faded over recent years, but new leadership of the Ladies Auxiliary at the Ramsay/Toy VFW Post #8772 on Woodrow Avenue is looking at reviving their organization, which has its roots as the first all-Black veterans post in the United States created after the First World War.
The Post bears the name of two Boston men— Capt. David Ramsay, a fighter pilot who was killed in action in Vietnam in 1970, and Patrick E. Toy, a prominent jazz musician who died of the Spanish flu in 1918 while serving in the US Navy off the coast of South Africa.
As part of the transition, Marie Carrington, the long-time VFW Ladies Auxiliary member and president, recently stepped aside after more than 20 years at the helm but not before cultivating a sense of mission at the post.
“It’s time, and I have nurtured folks for the past two to three years,” she said during a recent interview on site. “We have a new board and they’re younger and that’s the best part. I have a new regime stepping up to the plate and there’s youth there and energy and they’ll get a lot of support from the past officers. I’m so pleased with that.”
Combining the young and the experienced at the Ramsay/Toy Post: (sitting) Past Post Commander Alfonzia Courtney, Auxiliary leaders Marie Carrington and Sellamena Coleman. (Standing) New Jr. Vice President Deidra Pride and President Jackie Hodge. Seth Daniel photo
The original VFW post with its Ladies Auxiliary was formed in 1922 after Sgt. Charles Lewis, Sr., had come back from service in World War I. His efforts to fraternize with other veterans failed at first because he was denied full membership to any post because he was Black. So he took things in hands and established the first Black VFW Post in the country in Roxbury and named it after Patrick Toy.
In 2007, the post merged with a veterans post named for Capt. Ramsay, who grew up near Melnea Cass Boulevard, graduated from English High, School, and was the 74th Black man to be enrolled at West Point Military Academy – after he had already served in the Air Force. He was one of the first African Americans to be appointed to the elite USAF Thunderbirds. After his death in action in Vietnam on Aug. 17, 1970, a park in the South End was named in his memory.
Past Commander Alfonzia Courtney and Auxiliary member Sellamena Coleman, along with Carrington, will continue to assist as the transition unfolds.
They recalled that the Auxiliary once met in a basement on Cunningham Street, then in Carrington’s home (her late husband John was the long-time chaplain of the Post). In the early 1970s, the organization took possession of54 Woodrow Ave., a three-decker a few steps away from where the Fairmount Line rail tracks cut through the neighborhood today.
“They were going to demolish it,” recalled Courtney. “We all joined in and came after work and took down the partitions to make it a VFW hall…A lot of the members initially were policemen that were veterans. The membership grew fast, but it’s begun to whittle down…It’s too bad.”
The Auxiliary’s new leaders, all of whom have connections to the Post through its history, include President Jackie Hodge, Sr. Vice President Stephanie Greene, Jr., Vice President Deidra Pride, Chaplain Lynn McCall, and Secretary Cheryl Brown-Greene.
Pride is the daughter of former long-time member Tally Smith, and Brown-Greene is related to the late Ruth Brown – who was an Auxiliary member and the first Black statewide president of the Massachusetts Ladies VFW Auxiliary.
“The Auxiliary is very supportive of the Post,” Courtney said. “I’ll be honest, if it wasn’t for the Auxiliary we might have fallen on the fire, but they were always there to lift us up. If we got behind on the light bill or something they would come through for us. It’s not easy running a place like this.
“Right now, we’re trying to come up with enough funds to build a new hall here, and it’s tough when you’re a non-profit organization. One of these days I hope to live long enough to see a new building.”
Carrington said that in its heyday, the Post and Auxiliary were very active, serving the community and its veterans. They sent send young people to summer camp, held school supply drives, wrote letters for veterans’ services, and travelled to West Point annually in honor of Capt. Ramsay.
They also did fun things like take a bus trip to Florida and attend bingo socials together. For eight years, the Makanda Project jazz group performed every Sunday night in the Post with concerts open to the public in a very intimate setting.
A major annual undertaking was a dinner for senior citizens at Christmastime at the St. Joseph’s Church Recreation Hall, the Carver Den on Talbot Avenue, and at the Post itself.
“My job was to arrange for MBTA buses to pick up the seniors and take them to the locations,” said Carrington. “We cooked all day long and people really looked forward to it. We had endless energy, and I wish I had that now. Every month there was something we were doing. We’ve done a lot of good things and try to still do a lot, but we can only do so much because folks aren’t young anymore.”
And that’s where new leadership has come into play. They are hoping to get involved with the local schools and there is a gala planned on Sept. 26 in the Syria Temple Hall at 89 Norfolk St. The Post’s backyard was recently upgraded, and more positive things seem to be happening every month in the Woodrow Avenue headquarters.
Carrington is confident that there can be a new beginning for an organization that over time has been part of the lives of so many in and around Dorchester.
“We want to go along with the progress of the Ladies Auxiliary VFW,” she noted. “I am here to help them and share our knowledge with them. It’s going to be a dynamite year, and I know that for a fact.”
“Patrick E. Toy gave his life in service to his country and Sgt. Charles Lewis Sr. returned home determined to ensure that Black veterans would be treated with dignity and respect.”
Past Post Commander Alfonzia Courtney, Auxiliary leaders Marie Carrington and Sellamena Coleman. Seth Daniel photo
Said Post Secretary Brown-Greene in a statement. “Capt. David Ramsay exemplified excellence, courage, and leadership in a new generation of military service. Together, their stories remind us that the history of our nation is also the history of ordinary men and women who demonstrated extraordinary courage.
“This legacy continues through the work of the Ramsay/Toy VFW Posts, ensuring that their service, sacrifice, and contributions to our nation and our community will never be forgotten.”
For more information on the gala or to get tickets contact Deidra Pride at 617-833-7331 or Jackie Hodge at 617-962-0442.
