Honoring Excellence: Celebrating Our Black History Month Honorees and Contributors

Cory Long. Community Service and Labor Honoree

Cory Long serves as the executive director of the Making a Change Group. A nonprofit foundation that serves to end gun violence in Chester City. Mr. Longs grandparents raised him in Chester City, PA. Cory says, “I saw a lot of young people making choices because they didn’t have guidance.” Cory began mentoring young people, eventually calling the collective “Team M.A.C.” for “Making a Change”. Long sought to mitigate Chester City’s murder rate, which, per capita, surpassed Philadelphia and other cities.

In coordination with social services, neighborhood groups, and law enforcement, Making a Change Group has assisted in a 63 percent decrease in Chester City’s murder rate since 2020.

Elleanor Jean Hendley. Education and Health Honoree

Elleanor Jean Hendley founded the nonprofit Teenshop, Inc.®, a nationally recognized weekend college preparatory and life skills program that prepares ‘girls with goals®’ for college and careers. In 2006, Ms. Hendley founded Girls Achieve, an education and lifestyle company that empowers adolescent girls through school, camp programs, and consumer products.

Active in community and civic affairs, Ms. Hendley is a member of the Forum of Executive Women, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, and The Links; Co-Founder of the Pennsylvania Coalition of 100 Black Women, and a Charter Member of the National Association of University Women of Suburban Philadelphia. "The program is all about exposure and empowerment. So, we have a very diverse curriculum that includes health and fitness, arts, and culture... each girl visits two college campuses a year, and we have 100% college acceptance."

Paul Johnson. Elected/Governmental Official Honoree

Paul Johnson is the first African American elected to Prospect Park Borough Council. Additionally, he is the Chairman of the Delaware County Interactive Gaming Revenue Authority, DCIGRA. This board’s mission is to "...invest in economic and community development, emergency services, and non-profit organizations, with an emphasis on under-resourced communities.”

Paul is a Drexel graduate and is now an emeritus member of the Alumni Board of Governors. A tenured professor at Montgomery County Community College, volunteer flag football coach with Special Olympics-Delaware County, 30-year little league coach, member of the Police Athletic League Education Committee, and board chair of Affordable Housing Centers of Pennsylvania and Rock to the Future. Mr. Johnson serves many in the region.

Barron Lacey. Sustainability And Development

Barron Lacey is an environmental activist who was appointed to the Delaware County Park Board. He is also a Chester Environmental Board member, who advises the Parks and Recreation Director on programming, and is executive director of the 9th Street Environmental Youth Corp.

Mr. Lacy advises Chester City, Chester Township, Brookhaven, Parkside, Aston, Upland, and Chichester on environmental issues. The 9th Street Environmental Youth Corp teaches young people the importance of respecting the environment while gaining income for projects around Chester, including tree and flower plantings, tree tending, and land and waterway clean-ups. Mr. Lacey works with the City of Chester to transform a long-abandoned building in Eyre Park into an environmental center.

Dyamond Gibbs. Under 30 Honoree

Dyamond Gibbs has a deep passion for youth empowerment, juvenile justice, and serving marginalized communities, Dyamond is a young advocate with experience in nonprofit management, programming, community engagement, and leadership. Dyamond studied Psychology, Sociology, and Public Health at La Salle University and is now expanding her education in Criminal Justice.

Dyamond is a former Youth Empowerment Program Director and Co-founder of U.D.T.J. Organization, a nonprofit that focuses on social injustices, empowerment, and community programming in Delaware County. To further her work in advocacy and activism beyond Delaware County, she worked alongside the Amistad Law Project in Philadelphia on ending death by incarceration, people power initiatives, and community engagement. Dyamond is currently a Juvenile Justice Specialist in the City of Philadelphia and dedicates her free time to her own initiative, The Only Pipeline, to serve youth who have been impacted by the judicial system.

The Nile Swim Club. Historical Location Honoree

The Nile Swim Club is an African American swim club open to all in Yeadon, Pennsylvania. White residents in Yeadon Borough, PA, socially enforced a racially segregated Yeadon Swim Club. In 1957, the Black community led by Carson Puriefoy, Elmer Stewart, and Zoe Mask rallied to crowdfund its own swimming pool, with 326 original bondholders from Yeadon and nearby communities contributing $250 each. The Nile Swim Club, open to all races, on July 11, 1959, and welcomed a thousand people to its large outdoor pool on the first day.

The club struggled into the 1970s and was nearly sold at auction to pay back taxes in 2018 before a campaign averted closure. The Nile Swim Club stabilized and rebounded in the late 2010s, growing from 200 to 1000 members, who paid a minimum of $300 monthly. The white-maintained Yeadon Swim Club closed in 2000. It was a popular and respected establishment, as noted in a 1959 issue of Jet Magazine. In May 2021, the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission installed a roadside marker outside The Nile Swim Club entrance on 513 South Union Avenue, recognizing The Club as the nation's first swim club owned and operated by Black people.

Nathaniel C. Nichols. Lifetime Achievement Honoree

Nathaniel C. Nichols was a judge on the Delaware County Court of Common Pleas in Pennsylvania. He was elected in 2011, and his term expired in 2021.

In 1986, he joined the faculty of Widener Law School as a clinical professor. While at Widner Law School, he served as Dean of Students and Director of Clinical Programs.

For his exemplary efforts, Nichols received the Rose Tree Media School District Service Award in 2010, PBA Pro Bono Award in 2008, Chester NAACP Judge Robert A. Wright Freedom Award in 2005, Widener Law School Alumni Association Professor of the Year Award in 2003, Delaware County Bar Association Elizabeth Price Service Award in 2001 and Domestic Abuse Project Victims’ Rights Award in 1990.

In 2018, the Pennsylvania Bar Association (PBA) Children’s Rights Committee named Delaware County Court of Common Pleas Judge Nathaniel C. Nichols of Media its Child Advocate of the Year. The award recognizes the accomplishments of lawyers and judges who advocate for children within the commonwealth or are involved with child advocacy.

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