Welder
A hard worker who wanted to be treated fairly while learning many trades and helping others.
EARLY BACKGROUND
HH was the 4th of 8 children. His father was a State (liquor) store employee. His mother worked at a funeral home and later at a hospital. HH attended an urban high school but enlisted in the Navy before he graduated.
MILITARY SERVICE PROVIDES CAREER OPPORTUNITY
While serving in the Navy, HH was offered the opportunity to learn a trade from among several options and chose welding.
TRANSITION FROM MILITARY TO CIVILIAN CAREER
After his Honorable Discharge from the Navy, HH worked as a Master Welder in a Navy Yard close to his original neighborhood. His work assignments involved building aircraft.
CAREER CHANGES
After witnessing discriminatory promotion practices within the shipyard, which he believed favored White people over African-Americans, who HH thought had at least the same talent level as those who were promoted, HH left his first civilian job to work for the U.S. Mint as a coin inspector.
Eventually, HH opened a general contracting business under his own name. Over the following years, he learned from other tradesmen how to perform electrical work, plumbing, carpentry, and residential and office renovations.
CONSTRUCTION WORK CHALLENGE
Construction work involves daily safety risks. HH survived a two-story fall from scaffolding outside his home, which required several surgeries to install a metal plate in his head and metal rods in one arm. Following his recovery, HH continued to do projects for longtime customers as well as for friends and relatives.
PERSONAL CREED – CARE FOR OTHERS
While still in his early 20s, HH was able to purchase a shoe repair shop around the corner from his parents’ former home since the shop needed a lot of ‘sweat equity’ (improvements he could undertake slowly while earning a living working for others during the weekdays). HH chose this location, near the homes of other family members, so he could be close by if family needed his help.
HH’s favorite time of the year was Christmas, when he would decorate his home and cook hearty soul food meals for his family. He took special pride in taking his grandsons to the Salvation Army to impress upon them the importance of giving back and donating to charity.
HH’s son recalls his father often said: “No matter who you are or what you become, always be the best at it. If you’re going to sweep up trash, be the best trash sweeper there is.”
