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.