Outgoing Norwich NAACP president to get VIP tour of new Smithsonian African-American Museum
When members of Congress were offered just one guest ticket each for Saturday's VIP grand opening tour of the new Smithsonian Museum of African-American History and Culture, U.S. Rep. Joe Courtney, D-2nd District, knew immediately whom to invite: Jacqueline Owens, the 30-year Norwich NAACP branch president who will retire at the end of the year.
“She is the perfect person from eastern Connecticut to have a sneak peek,” Courtney said. “The timing of her retirement with the opening of the museum was perfect.”
The VIP ticket requires Courtney to accompany Owens, he said. The House of Representatives will be in session that day, so Courtney said he'll be checking his phone frequently for House information and upcoming votes.
“It's exciting,” Owens said. “It's a good way to step down.”
Courtney said he has had “a front row seat” to Owens' activities as Norwich branch president, from organizing the branch's mainstay events — including Juneteenth, which she founded, the Sweet Potato Festival and the January Martin Luther King commemoration events — to her advocacy for human rights and for children's education and well-being.
“She's a veteran when it comes to going to Washington,” Courtney said.
That included a trip in January 2009, when Courtney assisted in making sure Owens got a spot near the front of the public section at President Barack Obama's inauguration.
As on that day, Shiela Hayes, fellow NAACP Norwich branch member and Owens' predecessor as branch president 30 years ago, will accompany Owens Friday to Washington for the five-day trip. They're planning tours of the White House and other attractions. And while Hayes doesn't have the VIP museum tour ticket, she plans to tour the new museum later during their visit.
Owens, who turned 79 in May, might be nearing retirement, but said she isn't there yet. She and Hayes decided to take the train from New London on Friday morning to Washington.
“We figure we can do some work on the train,” Owens said. “There's some youth council programs we're working on.”
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