Anthony (Tony) M. Moreland Stewart, former president of the Altadena branch of the NAACP who spent her life working for children, education, and social justice, died Dec. 24, 2010, at age 92. Funeral services will be held Jan. 6, 2011, at First AME Church, 1700 N. Raymond Ave., Pasadena. Service begins at 10 AM.
Born Sept. 9, 1918, in Little Rock, Ark. to Nathaniel Edmond Moreland, Sr., and Elizabeth Francis Braddock Moreland, Anthony, aka "Tony," was the third child of a family of five siblings, including three brothers and a sister.
For the first 12 years of Tony's life she lived in Arkansas. In 1930 Tony's family moved to Pasadena, California. Her family joined the Friendship Baptist Church where in 1933 Tony was baptized. Tony completed junior high school at Washington Junior High and high school education at Pasadena City College. She graduated in 1936 and enrolled in Clark University, Atlanta, Georgia, where she pursued her BA majoring in business administration and minoring in education. While attending Clark University, Tony received a Certificate for Home Missions from Gammons Theological Seminary, and was also selected as Clark University homecoming queen in 1939. Tony graduated with her bachelor's degree in 1941.
Tony returned to Pasadena and in 1942 she met and married Joseph Hart. She and her husband joined First AME Pasadena and remained members until moving to San Francisco in 1944. During her first year in San Francisco she worked as a nursery school teacher. Tony also joined Bethel AME of San Francisco during that year. In 1945 she interviewed for and was selected as the Chief of Staff fo rthe San Francisco Presidio. She was the first African American to hold this position. Her responsibilities included supervision of all civilian staff. She held this position until 1949.
1949 provided for another key transition in Tony's life. During 1949, Tony divorced Joseph Hart and subsequently resigned her position at the Presidio Upon her resignation she returned to Los Angeles, bought a home, and began teaching at Horace Mann Junior High School. In 1950, she met and married Isaac Stephen Stewart, her "soul mate." True to Tony's foundation she joined Ward AME Church where she remained until moving to Pasadena in 1963. In 1954 Tony left education and assumed the position of Assistant Director, Classified Personnel, for the Los Angeles Unified School district. Tony held this position until 1963, when she resigned to become part of a family mortuary business which was located where the current Jackie Robinson Park is located.
In late 1963, Tony's life again changed, this time as a result of her love for children. Tony was asked to become involved in an advisory committee for the County of Los Angeles whose purpose was the development of a prototype Head Start Program. She was appointed Vice-Chair and also chaired the personnel subcommittee. As a result of the committee's work, the Head Start program was funded in 1964 and served as the national standard.
As a result of her efforts, Tony became the assistant director, where she remained until 1979 when she resigned to take care of her ailing mother. To be closer to her family she accepted a position in Community Outreach for the Foothill Area Community Services Organization in Pasadena.
During her tenure at Foothill Area Community Services, Tony increased her community outreach and her commitment to civil rights, which at this point assumed a major role in her community efforts. In 1984, her work in concert with others was responsible for the formal chartering of the Altadena NAACP branch. And once again Tony assumed a leadership role. She served eight years of distinctive service as President of the branch. During her tenure as president she completed her Masters of Arts in Education from California State University, Northridge.
In 1993 Tony's beloved soulmate Isaac Stewart passed. However, true to Tony's spirit she continued her community efforts to the day God called her to glory. When asked the question, "What motivates you do do what you have done?" Tony's response was threefold: first God, second family, and third "to leave any effort better than I found it."
Steward has accumulated a long list of impressive awards, citations, and other significant recognition including:
- First place local and State of California, and third nationally in essay contest, "Tuberculosis and the Negro," 1932.
- Life Member, AME Lay Organization.
- Assembly Resolution, California State Assembly Rules Committee "Outstanding Civic Leadership," 1989.
- Certificate of Life Membership, NAACP, 1991.
- Special Appreciation Award, U.S. Department of justice, Exceptional Civil Rights Efforts, 1993.
- Legacy Award, NAACP, acknowledging "Life Committment to Equality and Justice," 1995.
- County of Los Angeles, 5th Supervisory District, "Legacy Award," 1995.
- The Altadena Seventh Day Adventist Church and Black Ministerial Fellows of Southern California Award, "For Services in the Struggle for Equality and Justice," 2002.
- Altadena Chamber of Commerce Citizen of the Year, 2005.
- "Women of the Year," Los Angeles County Commission of Women, 2005.
- Racial Justice Award recipient for 2010, YWCA, Pasadena, California.
