--- title: SR 904. Veal I, Reverend Henry; honor collection: bills id: 2025-2026/sr904 cite_as: SR 904, 2025-2026 Regular Session (Ga.) canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sr904 md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sr904.md text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sr904/text source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/73864 date: 2026-03-04 status: passed corpus_version: bills-2026-09-13 license: Public record of the Georgia General Assembly, via LegiScan; see about.md publisher: Georgia Commons, an independent project of Georgia Civic Data. Not the State of Georgia. Not legal advice. up: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026.md previous: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sr903.md next: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sr905.md index: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/index.md omitted: votes and history omitted_chars: 94 omitted_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sr904.md?full=1 bill_number: SR 904 session: 2025-2026 Regular Session session_slug: 2025-2026 chamber: Senate bill_type: resolution status_date: 2026-03-04 last_action: Senate Read and Adopted sponsors: - Emanuel Jones - Sheikh Rahman - Ed Harbison - Nikki Merritt - Randal Mangham - Elena Parent - Kenya Wicks - Tonya Anderson - Gail Davenport - Nan Orrock - Harold Jones - Kim Jackson - Donzella James - RaShaun Kemp text_version: Enrolled has_text: true legiscan_url: https://legiscan.com/GA/bill/SR904/2025 upstream_id: 2128673 summaries_model: claude-sonnet-5 topic_tags: - education history - Georgia Senate resolution - Baldwin County - African American history --- # SR 904. Veal I, Reverend Henry; honor ## Text Senate Resolution 904 By: Senators Jones of the 10th, Rahman of the 5th, Harbison of the 15th, Merritt of the 9th, Mangham of the 55th and others A RESOLUTION Honoring The Masters of Education: Hidden Figures in Education lineage and its founder, Reverend Henry Veal I (1847-1919), for their historic contributions to the State of Georgia and their unparalleled global academic achievements; and for other purposes. WHEREAS, the foundations of this distinguished lineage were established by Reverend Henry Veal I, a man of profound spiritual leadership and civic duty who, following the era of enslavement, took the 1867 Voter Registration Oath in Baldwin County; and WHEREAS, a pillar of the faith community, Reverend Veal served around 1870 as the likely first pastor of Oak Grove Baptist Church and gained prominence as a guest minister at Friendship Baptist Church during the 1882 Baptist Convention, which serves as the hallowed burial location of his distinguished descendants, including WWI Sgt. Henry Veal II, Rev. Henry Veal III, Annie V. Brooks, and Gladys V. Bolden; and WHEREAS, despite the catastrophic Baldwin County Tornado of 1875, Reverend Veal demonstrated exceptional resilience, later becoming a mortgage broker agent to assist citizens in achieving homeownership and being recognized in 1886 for a nine-acre potato crop projected to yield 1,000 bushels; and WHEREAS, this lineage, now known as The Masters of Education: Hidden Figures in Education, has achieved a statistical milestone unparalleled in Georgia history, evolving from a single ancestor to a global powerhouse of scholarship; and WHEREAS, the bedrock of this legacy was formed by the Veal Six siblings, all career educators who each dedicated a minimum of 22 years to the field, totaling 170 years of collective service to the children of Georgia and beyond; and WHEREAS, Milledgeville native Frank R. Veal (1913-1989) expanded this legacy to the highest levels of university administration and global leadership, serving as the President of Paul Quinn College and Allen University as well as as the Pastor of the historic Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina; and WHEREAS, Frank R. Veal's influence reached the national and international stages, serving as a leader at the national level of the NAACP and the international level for the AME Church, and he notably hosted the 1949 Alpha Phi Alpha National Convention, which convened 2,200 members; and WHEREAS, during the era of mandated segregation, Annie Veal Brooks and Juanita Veal Madison navigated systemic barriers by utilizing "Negro Scholarships" from the University of Georgia Regents System to earn Ivy League postgraduate credentials; and WHEREAS, Annie Veal Brooks bridged the gap to the highest echelons of academia by serving as the secretary in the office of Dr. Millie Almy at Columbia University (Teachers College) for a single summer while completing coursework and also attending specialized workshops from Dr. Almy at the University of Cincinnati for a single summer—a legacy of Ivy League excellence that continues through her nephew, Michael E. Veal, a professor at Yale University; and WHEREAS, Mattye Veal Binion exemplified extraordinary resilience by earning her master's degree from the City University of New York (CUNY) during this same period, achieving this academic milestone while managing the responsibilities of marriage and motherhood, having begun her family at age 15; and WHEREAS, the family's academic trajectory reached a global zenith with Tresselyn Douglas Adams, a nine-degree alumnus of Georgia College & State University and a "Double Doctor" (D.N.P. and D.P.A.), who is recognized as the #1 Most Degreed African American Woman in the World and whose unprecedented achievement is currently being submitted to the Guinness Book of World Records; and WHEREAS, this legislative recognition builds upon Senate Resolution 343 (2011), which previously honored members of this family as the "Founders of Education in Georgia." NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE that the members of this body honor the historic legacy of Reverend Henry Veal I and commend The Masters of Education: Hidden Figures in Education lineage for their world-class service to the State of Georgia and beyond. BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Secretary of the Senate is authorized and directed to make an appropriate copy of this resolution available for distribution to the family of The Masters of Education: Hidden Figures in Education. ## Summaries written by Georgia Commons The following was written by claude-sonnet-5 from the text above and is not part of the resolution. Quote the text, not the summary. A Georgia Senate resolution honors Reverend Henry Veal I and his descendants, a family lineage of educators from Baldwin County, for their historic contributions to education in Georgia. ### Plain-language summary This Senate resolution is a ceremonial honor, not a change to Georgia law. It recognizes Reverend Henry Veal I, who took the 1867 Voter Registration Oath in Baldwin County and became a pastor and community leader after the era of enslavement, along with the extended Veal family lineage known as The Masters of Education: Hidden Figures in Education. The resolution recounts the family's history, including six siblings who together served 170 years as educators, descendants who reached leadership roles at colleges, the NAACP, and the AME Church, and a family member pursuing recognition as the most degreed African American woman in the world. It formally commends the family for their contributions to Georgia and directs the Secretary of the Senate to provide a copy of the resolution to the family for distribution. ### What it does - Formally honors Reverend Henry Veal I and his descendants for their historic contributions to education in Georgia. - Commends the broader Veal family lineage, called The Masters of Education: Hidden Figures in Education, for their academic and civic achievements. - Directs the Secretary of the Senate to prepare and distribute a copy of the resolution to the family. - Builds on a prior 2011 Senate resolution that had recognized family members as 'Founders of Education in Georgia.' ### Who it affects This resolution directly names and honors the descendants of Reverend Henry Veal I, including educators, ministers, and academics in the family lineage. It has no regulatory effect on other Georgians, agencies, or businesses. ### Why it matters The resolution carries no legal or financial effect and changes no Georgia law. Its practical impact is symbolic: it creates an official Senate record recognizing the Veal family's history and gives the family a formal copy of that recognition. ### Key provisions - The resolution's whereas clauses recount Reverend Henry Veal I's history, including his 1867 Voter Registration Oath and early ministry in Baldwin County. - It credits the Veal Six siblings with a combined 170 years of service as educators in Georgia. - It notes descendants' roles in national organizations such as the NAACP and the AME Church, and academic achievements including Ivy League credentials. - The resolving clause formally honors the family's legacy and commends their service to Georgia. - A further resolving clause directs the Secretary of the Senate to make a copy available for distribution to the family. ## Status - Status: Passed (2026-03-04) - Last action: Senate Read and Adopted (2026-03-04) - Sponsors: Emanuel Jones, Sheikh Rahman, Ed Harbison, Nikki Merritt, Randal Mangham, Elena Parent, Kenya Wicks, Tonya Anderson, Gail Davenport, Nan Orrock, Harold Jones, Kim Jackson, Donzella James, RaShaun Kemp - Official page: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/73864 > The history, votes, and amendments (94 characters) are at https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sr904.md?full=1