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TO CONGRATULATE MRS. EDDIE LEE STRINGER OF RICHLAND COUNTY ON THE OCCASION OF HER ONE HUNDREDTH BIRTHDAY AND TO WISH HER A JOYOUS BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION AND MUCH HAPPINESS IN THE DAYS AHEAD.
Whereas, on November 9, 2018, Mrs. Eddie Lee Stringer of Richland County awakened to the celebration of a milestone event: her one hundredth birthday. The sixth of eleven children born to Eddie and Annie Stovall, the young Eddie Lee came into this world on November 9, 1918, as part of a strong and proud Henry County, Alabama, family, one with roots in the area reaching back to the early 1800s. The Stovall name loomed large in the small farming village of Haleburg, because the Stovalls were among those rare black families who owned their farmland, as opposed to those who sharecropped; and
Whereas, family lore has it that Tucker Stovall and Tucker Stovall, Jr., grandfather and father, respectively, of Eddie Lee's father, at one time owned more than a thousand acres in Henry County. Today, the Stovall family still owns hundreds of acres there. The Stovall homestead is adjacent to the church the family founded in 1871, Mount Zion Baptist, which was placed on the Alabama Historic Register in 1985; and
Whereas, Eddie Lee grew up working on the family farm. Cherishing the days she could attend school, she was educated at the famed Rosenwald School, a boarding school for blacks in Newville, Alabama. In addition, from a very young age she was enamored with the things of the Lord and felt a strong call to ministry; and
Whereas, in God's good time, Eddie Lee married Jesse Stringer, a barber by trade and a farmer. Eventually, he moved the family from rural Haleburg to Dothan, Alabama. Before moving to Dothan, however, Eddie Lee became one of the first people from Haleburg to vote and possibly the first woman of color from that town to do so; and
Whereas, in Dothan, she became a member of Adams Street Baptist Church, where she was licensed as a missionary and taught Sunday School. She also became a licensed cosmetologist and was one of the first people to aid in integrating the cafeteria at the Alabama Southeast Hospital, where she worked; and
Whereas, Eddie and Jesse and their seven children moved to Freeport, New York, in 1962, as their two oldest daughters, now married, had talked of better opportunities in that state. There, Eddie worked as a nurse's aide for many years. In Freeport, the Stringers were the first black family in an all-Jewish neighborhood; and
Whereas, in New York, Eddie joined Second Baptist Church but later found a home at Little Zion Church of God in Christ, today known as Zion Cathedral. Eddie was licensed as an evangelist and promoted to "mother" status; and
Whereas, Mother Stringer preached, eventually making her way to Tulsa, Oklahoma, where in her early 70s she graduated from Victory Bible Institute at the top of her class. She became an ordained minister of the Gospel in 1988 and is now assistant pastor at Joy Praise & Worship Center. Countless churches and ministries have been birthed from her leadership, and people from around the world still seek her daily for prayer, intercession, and counsel; and
Whereas, to celebrate her centennial birthday, Eddie Lee was honored on Saturday, November 10, 2018. It is a great pleasure to join with her family and friends in congratulating her on reaching this important life milestone. Now, therefore,
Be it resolved by the Senate:
That the members of the South Carolina Senate, by this resolution, congratulate Mrs. Eddie Lee Stringer of Richland County on the occasion of her one hundredth birthday and wish her a joyous birthday celebration and much happiness in the days ahead.
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