Bryant York's Abridged Biography:

A Lifetime of
Strong Mentors and Positive Role Models
(in progress)

Ó Copyright Bryant W. York 2007

The Early Years (1945 - 1969)

I remember mama
Bryant's mother
Mabel Daves York
January 25, 1915 - September 8, 1979
(Photo taken 1934)

I remember papa

Bryant's father
William Everett York Jr.
June 27, 1914 - December 9, 1990

Jackie Robinson

Born Bryant Whittier York, May 15, 1945, Boston Lying-In Hospital

Bryant at one year old
46 Dale Street Roxbury, Massachusetts (1946)

Jackie Robinson is the first Black american to play Major League Baseball (1947)

Willie Mays

Bryant with siblings at Monroe Park Roxbury Massachusetts (1951)

Gregory, Steven, Gail, Bryant, Yvonne, Billy

Willie Mays went hitless in his first 12 at bats, but broke his slump with a home run and went on to win NL Rookie of the Year (1951)

Family moves to Orchard park Housing Project (aka The Albany Street Projects) in January 1950
(Photo circa 1980)

We are poor, but we have a TV:
Kukla, Fran and Ollie;
Howdy Doody, Buffalo Bob, Chief Thunderthud,
Princess SummerFallWinterSpring, Clarabelle;
Western Theater; The Test Pattern; Superman; Leave it to Beaver

We listened to a lot of radio, particularly "The Shadow" and "The Inner Sanctum"

Tommy and Errol Saunders start to teach Bryant to play baseball at age 5 in the Dearborn school yard

The Yorks lived in the Orchard Park Housing Project,
January 1950 - March 1961

For a map of the Orchard Park Housing Project area circa 1950

Race riot every summer (1950 - 1955) - The White Project (Vols) against the Black Project (Blackhawks)- usually lasts about 3 weeks

Because their apartment abuts the Park, York Children must lie on the floor in the inner hallway to avoid rocks and firebombs

Some illustrious graduates of the Orchard park Project:

• Donna Gaines (also know as Donna Summer), Disco Diva
• Gerald Janey, Ph.D., Physics professor, Massasoit College
• Clifford Janey, Ph. D., Superintendent, Washington, DC Public Schools
• Charles Alkins, Ph.D., Physics Researcher
• Leonard Alkins, former president of Boston NAACP
• Fred Benjamin, well-known dancer on Broadway
• Gloria Jones, well-know dancer on Broadway
• Bruce Van Allen, High-end Audio Design Expert Consultant

John D. O'Bryant teaches Bryant to play chess and begins to mentor Bryant at age 6

Posed on steps of his home at 26 Ambrose St., Roxbury, MA of the Orchard Park Housing Project just before First Communion

Although the family lived in St. Patrick's Parish (an all-white, Irish parish), Bryant made his First Communion at St. Richard's Parish, Roxbury, Massachusetts (a mixed parish) in April 1954

All of Bryant's siblings attended Catholic schools; Bryant did not.

Bryant and his younger siblings attended catechism education at the Blessed Sacrament Mission on Vernon Street in Roxbury after school three days per week.

Thurgood Marshall pleads the Brown vs. Board of Education case. The Supreme Court ruling in Brown vs. Board of Education on May 17, 1954 abolishes segregation in schools

Bryant enters Dearborn School (Fall 1954)

Has excellent teachers:
Mr. D'Angelo for 4th and 5th grades
Ms. Coleman for 6th grade

Within two years after the Supreme Court decision desegregating schools (1954) the Dearborn School has a 100% Black student population (White flight).

Bryant's daily task: Go to the day-old bread store on Washington Street (near Dudley Station) and purchase four(4)loaves of day-old bread at $.09 per loaf

Rosa Parks

Bryant participates in WBZ Radio Quiz Show (Fall 1954). Declares he will become a poet or a baseball player. Live audience laughs, so he decides to become a baseball player or a mathematician

Rosa Parks refuses to yield her seat on a segregated bus in Montgomery, Alabama, December 1, 1955

Bryant idolizes Willie Mays and Jackie Robinson

Completes 6 years of Little League and Pony League baseball with Charles St. Giants

Charles Street A.M.E. Church Roxbury, Massachusetts sponsored Charles St. Giants baseball team

Team coached by Chauncey Pope Sr. and Bunky Cousins

Team had great players such as Erroll Saunders, Arthur Hoak, Tim Johnson, Billy Wooten (stabbed to death in 1958)

Tim Johnson went on to become the U.S. National High School Champion and record holder at 220 yards and 440 yards (1962)

Bryant wins Most Valuable Player Trophy with Charles Street Giants (1957)

Invited to play in Fenway Park

During a rock fight in the Orchard Park Project, Bryant gets hit near his left eye with a rock. Gets stitched up at Boston Cuty Hospital. His vision becomes permanently impaired in his left eye. His chances for a career in baseball are ended.

Watches his first NBA game from the top of Boston Garden in 1958 (in those days referred to as "Nigger Heaven")

Robert (Bobby) White marries Bryant's sister, Yvonne, in 1959. Bob graduated Boston Latin School class of 1954. He mentors Bryant about how to navigate Boston latin School.

Bryant enters 7th grade at Boston latin School (1957)

Boston Latin School is the oldest school in the USA (founded 1635)

Sputnik goes up October 4, 1957

Bryant selected for the Boston Latin School Advanced Mathematics Program

Spends the summers of 1958 - 1962 learning mathematics at MIT

At BLS Bryant has excellent teachers and role models
Mr. Conrad Jamieson, Mr.Sid Rosenthal,
Mr. Klein, Mr. Weinert, Mr. Aaron Gordon

Ran track, played basketball, chess club.

Parents separate and Bryant begins working in his mother's slip cover business (1956)

By 1957 Orchard Park Housing Project is all Black
Black Gangs (Punch, Paulie, Grip, Bang-Bang, Roxbury, Johnny Slop) take over the Project
Reign of terror (1957 - 1959)

Bryant stabbed in the left arm (1958)

Many thanks to Dick Park, Miss Lambert, and Richard Roye for keeping Bryant busy at the Roxbury Neighborhood House (A Red Feather organization).

Learns to play basketball from Charlie Russell, Bill Russell, and KC Jones (Boston Celtics) at the Roxbury Neighborhood House

Plays basketball for the Roxbury Neighborhood House (1957 - 1960)

Plays CYO (Catholic Youth Organization) basketball for St. Patrick's Church under coach Arthur Lynch Sr. (1960)

Works in a car wash with Stevie and Eddie Newsome in Revere, Massachusetts doing blue coral simoniz on Mafia cadillacs for $8.00 per day (1960)

Bryant learns to swim and becomes a strong swimmer at Roxbury Neighborhood House Camp, Bennington, NH (1958 - 1960)

Bryant races Wilma Rudolph (1960 Olympic 100 meter champion) at Boston University Field (1960)

Bryant guards Jimmy Walker in basketball game at Timilty Junior H.S. (1959) Jimmy Walker went on to star for Providence College (1963 - 1967), and become the No. 1 draft pick of the NBA in 1967

RNH Chargers Basketball Team: David Lewis, Cliff Janey, Bruce Van Allen, Rufus Green, Vance Tyler, Eddie Slayton, Spencer Oliver, Hammy McPherson, Lester Williams, Bryant York, coach: Richard Roye

Cyclones Football Team: David Lewis, Cliff Janey, Bruce Van Allen, Rufus Green, Richard Hammond, Paul Hammond, Hank Matthews, stevie Newsome, Eddie Newsome, Jerry Lynch, Vance Tyler, Eddie Slayton, Spencer Oliver, Hammy McPherson, Lester Williams, Bryant York, coach: Jerry Janey

Bryant is a Boy Scout and Explorer, Troop 15, Cooper Community Center (1957 - 1960). He learns discipline from troop leaders Ronnie McMullen, Savalia Hyman, and Bertram Alleyne

Best Friends - Bruce Van Allen, Cliff Janey, David Lewis

Steven Everett York

Killed December 15, 1960 at age 12

Email from Bob Moran, June 21, 2007

Bryant earns 800 on College Board Advanced Mathematics Exam (March 1962)

Meets George S. Coffin, renowned contract bridge player,
Is given a copy of Coffin's
"Bridge Play From A to Z"

Learns to play contract bridge from his father, William Everett York, Jr.

Bryant lives the Boston Latin School motto,
"mens sana in corpore sano"

Graduates Boston Latin School (1963)

Enters Brandeis University

At Brandeis Bryant has excellent math professors: Hironaka, Auslander, Buchsbaum, Palais, Vasquez

Meets Tyne Daly, Ken Victor, Jim Heiman, Jeff Krause, Alan Krohn

Meets Angela Davis, Herbert Marcuse, and Abraham Maslow

Meets and befriends Black seniors, Alice Harris and Leota Granger

Runs track at Brandeis

Meets Dr. Burton White, Denis Blackett, Louise Corbin in May 1965

Helps build Hilltop Center on Blue Hill Ave Roxbury, Massachusetts
(First Project Head Start Program in USA)

Dr. Burton White (Dean of the Harvard School of Education) convinces Bryant to continue in college and helps Bryant to buy a 3-family house so that he can afford to continue college with a family.

Bryant marries Dianne Scott (1965) and has two daughters, Monica Alayne York (1966) and Portia Marie York (1967)

President John F. Kennedy assassinated November 22, 1963 (age 43)

Malcolm X assassinated on February 21, 1965 (age 39)

Meets Angela Davis, Stokely Carmichael, and others (1964)

Watches (on TV) Muhammad Ali beat Sonny Liston in a dorm room full of whites rooting for Sonny Liston

Is selected one of Brandeis math students to learn Lisp at IBM Cambridge Center in 1965

Is classified 3-A by Selective Service and does not have to go to Vietnam

Marches with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (1966)

Watches (on TV) Texas Western's all Black team beat Kentucky in the NCAA Basketball Finals (1966)

Graduates Brandeis University (1967)

Martin Luther King Jr. assassinated April 4, 1968 (age 39)

Senator Robert F. Kennedy assassinated June 5, 1968 (age 43)

Shakes hands with Muhammad Ali (1968)

Tutors adult literacy for Dr. Leon Sullivan's Opportunities Industrialization Centers (1966 - 1968)

Works as an actuarial analyst at John Hancock Mutual Life Insurance Company (1967 - 1969)

The War in Vietnam rages

Riots in the streets; American cities are burning (summers 1966, 1967, 1968)

The Early Years (1945 - 1969)

Click here to see The Early Middle Years (1969 - 1985)