Whittier A. Sengstacke Jr. was proud of his heritage

Whittier Alexander Sengstacke Jr.

During the turbulent 1960s, Whittier Alexander Sengstacke Jr. wrote cutting-edge news stories for the Memphis Tri-State Defender. If the surname sounds familiar, it’s because the name speaks volumes. 

Sengstacke was the eldest son of the late venerable newspaper publisher Whittier Sengstacke Sr., and the nephew of the late publishing magnate John H. Sengstacke, who founded the Defender in 1951. 

Sengstacke had been ill for a while and died the morning of Feb. 20 at Midtown Center for Health and Rehabilitation. He was 76.

In the late 1960s and early ‘70s, the respected journalist held the title of editor-in-chief at the Defender. He reported from the trenches and cobbled together breaking news stories from a Black perspective, which the mainstream press had largely ignored.

He was an eyewitness in the struggle for freedom and justice. For Black journalists during that era, fear no doubt was a constant reminder of the dangers that confronted them while they were trying to shed light on the age-old problem of systemic racism. Whatever confronted Sengstacke, he kept reporting the news. 

His career highlights included covering hard news – police brutality, crime, politics – and other noteworthy news stories. He continued to write and performed other duties as well for the Defender into the late 1990s. 

“He was a great guy, very knowledgeable of the newspaper business and didn’t mind sharing his knowledge,” said Marzie G. Thomas, publisher and editor of the Defender in the early 2000s.

“He had been in the business all of his life,” she said. “We loved Whit. He was a wonderful person. He always was so supportive of me.”

He also was supportive of Thomas’ predecessor, Audrey Parker McGhee, the Defender’s publisher and editor from the late 1980s until she retired in the early 2000s. 

“He was well-grounded as a member of the Black Press,” she said, “not only because his father was head of the Defender, but because of the Sengstacke name. He always talked about his heritage.”

He was very courageous too, McGhee added. 

Born in Chicago, Ill., Sengstacke received dual degrees in speech and journalism from Tennessee State University and applied his skills to the family business of newspaper publishing.

He was just as steeped in writing plays and performing on the stage as he was in journalism. He first thrived in his native Chicago before bringing his skillset to Memphis, where he settled down as a journalist for the Defender. 

Ethel Sengstacke, a former TV camera operator, took note of her big brother’s work ethics and varied accomplishments in journalism, including his work in the theatre when she was much younger. 

“He was always into theatrics,” she said. “He used to have a puppet show at the public library. We put on shows for the neighborhood kids. One time he built a stage and I fell off it.”

The injury still reminds Ethel Sengstacke of that harrowing experience. Other experiences were typical between a brother and his younger sister. “He was a big brother who always took me to the movies,” she said, “and he would give me advice.”

Pat Mitchell Worley remembers her uncle’s creative side. “He used to do art projects with me,” she said, “like papier-mâché, acting projects, and storytelling. He was the first to push the idea of storytelling.” 

A memorial service for Whittier Alexander Sengstacke Jr. will be held in March. A date has not been determined. Serenity Funeral Home at 1638 Sycamore View Rd. in Memphis has charge.

   

Myron Leon Hudson cultivated a career in sales

Myron Leon Hudson

Myron Leon Hudson spent a great deal of his adult life cultivating a career in sales. He sold encyclopedias, health insurance, and advertising for Black newspapers.

“Myron was a pleasant employee to work with. He was a welcome addition to the team at the Tribune,” said Rosetta Miller Perry, publisher of The Tennessee Tribune in Nashville.

Mr. Hudson was selling advertising for the Tribune when he died Sept. 19 following a brief illness. He was 63.

Prior to working for the Tribune, Mr. Hudson sold classified and display advertising for The Tri-State Defender under publishers Audrey P. McGhee, Marzie G. Thomas and in recent years for the late Bernal E. Smith.

“Myron was a model person. He truly believed in what he was doing,” said McGhee, who published the TSD in the 1980s and ‘90s. “He was a strong individual who believed in his ideas.”

Whatever the issues of the day, Mr. Hudson would chime in with an opinion, she said. “He was vocal about them – maybe because he worked for a Black newspaper.” 

Mr. Hudson’s opinions soon found their way onto the pages of the paper as “King Kool,” his alter ego. They were witty one-liners or serious reflections about the vicissitudes of life. 

He’d quip about any subject and pretty much styled himself as the griot of “Kool.” But more important than his musings, Mr. Hudson spent time plying his skills as the crème de la crème in sales.

“My brother was cool, a snazzy dresser. He loved what he did in sales for a long time. He wanted to be self-sufficient,” Bobbie Hudson-Williams, a former English teacher living in Nashville, remembered. 

He was a deep thinker, she added, a good person, and was very quiet, even when he was at a gathering of his large family.

Another sister, Sheila Hudson, a counselor, concurred. She went on to say that Mr. Hudson taught “me the love of football at an early age. People wanted to know why I love football so much; it’s because of him.”

Although 10 years younger, Sheila Hudson said she grew up with her brother and would join him in front of the TV eating popcorn and drinking Kool-Aid. “He was a great brother,” she said.

She added that her brother couldn’t tear himself away from the game when his favorite teams were playing – the Indianapolis Colts, the Tennessee Titans, the LA Dodgers, and the University of Memphis during football and basketball seasons.

The game of football was more than a pastime for Mr. Hudson. His interest never waned after quarterbacking for the football team at Booker T. Washington High School, where he graduated in 1974. 

After his playing days on the gridiron, Mr. Hudson matriculated right away at the former Memphis State University and graduated in 1979 with a B.A. degree in Communications.

He grew up in the legendary Foote Homes housing project, a 46-acre tract near Downtown Memphis, where nearly 400 families once called home before demolition cleared a path to new housing units.  

“We all grew up in a responsible family. We were reared in a Christian home,” Hudson-Williams said. “And my brother loved his family – and we loved him too.”

Carolyn Orr-Craig, Mr. Hudson’s fiancé, acknowledged that much about his family, but added that his love for her had kindled during the three years that they were together. “I loved him as much as he loved me,” she said. “We were soulmates.”

A personal care assistant, Orr-Craig said Mr. Hudson, who was very private, had planned to “tell the whole world” of their engagement.

“That’s why it’s so hurtful,” she said.