The History of the Valiants

Valiants, Inc. was an idea that began in the minds of Black Firefighters that were
segregated in one of two all black fire stations, E-11, 10th & South, and Fire Boat #1.
Although there was at least one Black in the Philadelphia Fire Department since April 13,
1886, once their numbers increased they were relegated to the segregated companies
(Many of those old firefighters are still with us and are members of the Valiants).

The Valiants were organized in March 1962, by Lieutenant Samuel Singleton. The original
purpose was to form a fraternal organization of minority firefighters. Lieutenant
Singleton, now deceased, never gave up the hope of having a BLACK FRATERNAL
ORGANIZATION. The Whites had "The Shomrim", "The Sons of Italy", "The Lambskins",
"The League of Sacred Heart" and other groups. Blacks were not welcomed to join, even
though as Firefighters they too felt a bond to the Fire Service.

In 1949 Blacks left the two segregated stations to join the other companies although the
two stations were still all Black (Except for White Officers)! In 1952 the two stations were
integrated thus ending the era of physical segregation in the Philadelphia Fire Department.

The physical was over but the mental began and still lingers in some quarters today.

You can imagine the feelings of some brothers then. After the great feeling of comradery
that existed at E-11 and FB #1 they were ignored, ostracized, and in some cases abused.

In 1954 through 1957, new younger brothers began entering the Department and had no
direction for the most part. Finally Sa Singleton and others met to formulate ideas for
what is now THE VALIANTS.

The first officers of the Valiants were Co-Presidents Howard Rhone and Al Means. The list
of Presidents goes on with brothers such as William Brogden, Donald Brown, Kenneth
Babb, Ronald Lewis, Eugene Turnipseed, Tom Upshaw, Lem Roberts and Dave Holcombe.

We first formed as a fraternal group to foster fellowship and information among our
members. We soon found that there was much more for the Valiants to do, however we
had to get ourselves together first. Remember we were not getting Brothers in the
department in great numbers and most of us didn't know each other.

However, after a few years we were donating time and money to charity, counseling our
members, performing fire prevention work in the minority community and trying to
upgrade ourselves within the fire service. All while preserving our Blackness and manhood
in ta department that was practicing discrimination. LEGALLY AT THE TIME!! The 1964
Civil Rights Act gave us some clout, but not enough. The City of Philadelphia or any
municipality could not be sued or taken to court or coerced to end discrimination at that
time. Federal, State and Local Governments were exempt then.

We became aware of Black Firefighters in other cities around 1967 or 68. We made
contacts with and friends of The Vulcan Society of New York City, The Phoenix Society
of Hartford Conn., The Vulcans of New Jersey and The Vulcans of Hudson County N.J.

In 1969 a conference was held in N.Y.C. in which firefighters from other cities
participated. It was the consensus that a national organization was needed to attempt to
combat the racism within the Fire Service, to recruit and attempt to have hired minority
members and to make ourselves more knowledgeable about the Fire Service to protect our
careers and move upward in our various departments.

We, the five existing organizations, made every effort to contact every known Black
Firefighter in the country. Most of what was accomplished was with money out of the
pockets of dedicated individuals within those groups. In 1970 in Hartford, Conn.
Firefighters from around the country, most of whom did not know each other, met and
formed THE INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF BLACK PROFESSIONAL
FIREFIGHTERS. Firefighters who were strangers hammered out by-laws, a name, a
President. Our own Charles Hendricks, The Valiants first Treasurer was the IABPFF
Treasurer, William Brogden, Valiant was the first Recording Secretary, Ron Lewis, Valiant
services as Regional Head of the NE Region. The Valiants are the largest group in the
IABPFF.

A brief study of hiring and promotional practices performed by the city of Philadelphia
revealed a pattern of discrimination that resulted in a class action suite. The Valiants were
successful in this effort some promotions were made and sizeable number of minority
citizens were recruited and hired. To this date we still operate under that consent decree
(1975). We are still that watchdog monitoring hiring of Firefighters and EMS personnel.
Valiants Study Groups and Recruitment Efforts have been successful and continue to
support the Motto:


GOOD CONDUCT AND COURAGE LEAD TO HONOR.

IABPFF

KEEP THE FIRE BURNING FOR JUSTICE
CLUB VALIANTS INC.
“Good Conduct and Courage Lead to Honor”
Charter Member International Association of Black Professional Fire
Fighters
(IABPFF)
7543 Williams Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19150-2211
215-276-8222/215-548-0333 (F)