In Memoriam

Calvin Bernard Grimes (1940-2011)

Calvin Grimes, professor of music at Morehouse College, died at his home in Atlanta last month of congestive heart failure. He was 71 years old.

A native of Athens, Georgia, Grimes received a scholarship to Morehouse where he majored in music. After a three-year stint in the U.S. Army, Grimes earned a master’s degree and a Ph.D. at the University of Iowa. He served on the music department faculty at Clark Atlanta University before joining the Morehouse College faculty in 1977. He was chair of the music department for 12 years and also served as dean of humanities at the college.

Henry Louis Thurman Jr. (1927-2011)

Henry L. “Dickie” Thurman Jr., the first African American to become a registered architect in the state of Louisiana, died last month at a hospice facility after a long illness. Thurman, who was the founding dean of the School of Architecture and Engineering at Southern University, was 83 years old.

Thurman was a native of Lawrenceville, Virginia. In 1947 he earned a bachelor’s degree in architectural engineering at Hampton Institute. He later achieved a master’s degree at the University of Illinois. Thurman joined the faculty at Southern University in 1948. He was named dean in 1956 and served in that position for 12 years. All told, he taught at Southern University for 56 years before his retirement in 2004.