When she passed away in 2007, friends remembered Gwendolyn Elliott’s big smile, large laugh and very dry sense of humor. She probably would have joked that she didn’t want to be a Spirit of King honoree—because the award is always posthumous.
“Any tribute in connection to Dr. King is a great honor. She had the spirit of always helping others a trailblazer for helping women and children and we should all aspire to that,” said her daughter, Kathi Elliott. “To this day people come up to me a say what an impact she had on their lives. As her daughter, it’s a privilege to accept the award on her behalf.”
So she will likely look down, with a wry smile, as she is inducted into the rolls of past Spirit of King honorees along with Pittsburgh entertainment icon Walt Harper, Jan. 19 at the Kingsley Association.
Though she was a pioneer in integrating Pittsburgh’s Bureau of Police––being one of its first Black female officers in 1976 and, later, its first Black female commander––it was her work benefiting young girls and women that has become her enduring legacy.
Even before she joined the police force, she was among those who founded the Center for Victims of Violence and Crime, and when she retired in 2002, she founded Gwen’s Girls as an after-school program because she was moved by the plight of pregnant teens she saw trapped in impossible home situations.
In 2005, the organization opened a residential program in a former North Side convent for up to 16 pregnant and parenting teens who are sent there by the court system for medical care, emotional and spiritual support, and parenting and practical skills.
Now run by her daughter, Kathi, the organization also boasts a summer program, career and workforce development programs, and outreach and training services, in addition to its clinical and group home services.
“She was a single and also a foster mother,” said Kathi. “So in many was I was the first Gwen’s Girl.”
Walt, the musician, producer and businessman who popularized jazz “outside of smoky back rooms” in Pittsburgh is this year’s other Spirit of King honoree.
Not only did he present jazz festivals, workshops and cultural programs, he recorded eight albums and appeared numerous times on national and local television, with his group or alone. He also hosted an Emmy-nominated PBS special called, “Walt Harper at Fallingwater,” which aired nationally.
While he could have taken the rout preferred by other Pittsburgh jazz masters, like Erroll Garner, Earl Hines or Stanley Turrentine, and played to national and international acclaim, his daughter and biographer, Sharynn Harper, said he loved Pittsburgh and wanted to popularize jazz in his hometown. Being named a Spirit of King honoree, she said, is wonderful.
“He probably would have been surprised and humbled because he was all about music. He loved jazz and Pittsburgh, and never would have thought he did anything for such an honor,” she said.
He was a pioneer in jazz appreciation, and he was proud to give people in Pittsburgh exposure and didn’t feel he needed to go to New York or Europe to do that.”
And expose people he did. Walt would bring in friends like Mel Torme, Lionel Hampton and Chico Hamilton to play at his events or venues he owned and operated as a businessman––the most successful of which was Walt Harper’s Attic in Market Square.
“He was very adamant about that,” said Sharynn. “He wanted the best for his home town. He always said Pittsburgh was fertile ground and there was an audience for good jazz.”
Sharynn, whose book, “Walt Harper and Jazz in the Attic,” comes out later this year, will come in from New York City for the award ceremony.
The Spirit of King Award Ceremony, held annually, honors the lifetime achievements of local citizens who pursue human rights and equality in the spirit of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
The ceremony is sponsored by the Port Authority of Allegheny County, Kingsley Association, Pittsburgh Pirates and New Pittsburgh Courier.
The ceremony will begin at 10 a.m., Jan. 19, at the Kingsley Association, located at 6534 Frankstown Ave., in Larimer.
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