Kathy Andre-Eames

An educated, white, Catholic woman, Kathy Andre-Eames fell in love with and married a black paraplegic in the early 1970s. Her husband, George Washington Eames, Jr., was an activist for civil rights and racial equality. At her husband’s funeral, the president of the Baton Rouge branch of the NAACP honored her with these words: “If George was Mr. Civil Rights, then you are Mrs. Civil Rights.”

 

 

Kathy Andre-Eames grew up in the small town of Brusly, Louisiana, and after high school at St. Mary of the Pines Academy entered the convent with the School Sisters of Notre Dame. Before leaving the convent, she taught at Southern University’s Upward Bound program. Andre-Eames later received her master of arts in English at the University of Dallas (where she had earlier received her bachelor of arts in music). During her time in Baton Rouge, she worked as a high-school teacher, professor at Louisiana State University, and manager at Sears.

 

 

An unwavering supporter of her husband, Andre-Eames assisted him in his work with the local NAACP. A writer and a poet, she used her literary skills to help him promote equality for African Americans. At her husband’s funeral, the president of the Baton Rouge branch of the NAACP honored her with these words: “If George was Mr. Civil Rights, then you are Mrs. Civil Rights.” Andre-Eames is retired and lives in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

Excerpt from the  book foreword by Dale Brown

 

 

Good evening. Good evening. Good evening it’s 4:00 PM. Stand up it’s count time, time for every man and woman to stand up and be counted. Welcome to another edition of Count Time podcast. I am brother LD Azobra. Thank you for joining us today.

 

Now, today we have this young lady here this dear friend of mine. So I have not seen or spoken with her in quite some time. You know, I don’t know. I don’t mean to say it like this. Let me think how I’m going to say this she’s our first lady of European descent. Can I say that like that?

KAE
That’s fine.

LD
I have Ms. Kathy Andre Eames. Welcome to Count Time

KAE
Good to be here LD

LD
Now, how did this come about? We have been knowing each other for many years. I would say at least 30, 30, 40.

KAE
Probably more like 40.

LD
It’s been a long time. Now you tell everyone how we got to know each other.

KAE
I am the widow of George Eames G. Washington Eames, who was a black paraplegic in a wheelchair for many years. He was the President of the NAACP for many years. We worked together on so many programs. Baseball, basketball, community, all kinds of community programs. Desegregating education in East Baton Rouge Parish. I even wrote a book about it. The name of it is Warrior for Justice, the George Eames Story.

LD
Look, that book. I hate to jump to this right quick, but I was a part of the process when she was writing the book. I happen to be coming back and visiting her. And when she first started telling me that her nephew had contacted her about doing a story on her and her deceased husband, George Eames. And she said, Cleveland Bailey.

KAE
My nephew Cleveland wanted to do a story on George and I.

LD
That’s probably right before George has passed, too.

KAE
Yeah, right before he passed, even after he was talking about doing the story.

LD
She said, well, please ask me to jot down some notes to help him with selling the story and have some ideas on how this thing transpired.

KAE
Let me explain what he said. He said, Kathy, I’m his great aunt. He said, Aunt Kathy. He said, this is what we need to know. This is what I’ve been wondering all my life. And a lot of other people have been wondering this, too, especially Joe Delpit. How did this little white girl born in West Baton Rouge Parish it was Point Coupee Parish actually where I was born.

How did you become who you are? You grew up around all white people, prejudiced people. How did you become somebody who was going to fight for civil rights? So I said, Cleave. I said, Let me see if I can write down a few things. I’ll see if I can figure out how to say this. But I ended up writing a whole book over 30 days, three hundred pages, and I did it in 30 days.