Posted1/25/2021 5:30 AM
In many of the old, yellowed photographs from the early days of the Arlington Heights Fire Department stands Frank White, a charter member elected by his fellow firefighters as president of what started in 1894 as an all-volunteer department. He posed as they did: stiffly and self-consciously. His walrus mustache was full, drooping at the sides in the classic soup-strainer style of the day, wrote Dick Hoffmann in a Sept. 28, 1961, Daily Herald article.
The firefighter did differ from the others in one particular way: his race.
As village leaders today work to complete a diversity, equity and inclusion project, they re looking to the past for inspiration, with plans to honor the man who was the first Black resident of Arlington Heights.
Arlington Heights to publicly honor its first Black resident sfgate.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from sfgate.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.