Wake Forest Magazine September 2003 - Past Issues - Wake Forest ...

“Wake Forest meant a lot to me.It gave me exposure, it gave me agood education, and I got to meet alot of people.Wake Forest exposedme to the world.”The poverty and prejudice Revels encountered in publiccouldn’t take away the support and love he got at home,though. He and his five sisters grew up on a farm in whatRevels called “a hard-working, God-fearing family.” Their mother,adevout Baptist, dreamed that her only son would attendWake Forest.There was only one problem: minorities insegregated schools simply didn’t get the types of academiccourses needed to get into an academically rigorous college suchas Wake Forest. Pembroke High School, where Revels attended,didn’t even offer algebra or a foreign language at the time.“I wanted to go to Wake Forest, but I didn’t have the credentials,”Revels said. So instead he went to Mars Hill JuniorCollege in western North Carolina, where he got the courseshe needed and then transferred into Wake Forest.There, hefound a new world: one where he was treated as an equal—even as part of the gang. He joined the wrestling team and helpedout baseball coach Gene Hooks (’50).He became friends withmany other athletes, includingAll-Americans Bill Barnes (’57) and Jackie Murdock (’57).After graduating from Wake Forest, Revels served in the82nd Airborne’s Special Forces. He started his own printingbusiness, Arrowhead Graphics, in 1965. He and his wife, Ruth,a retired teacher, were married forty-three years.They hadtwo grown children: Bill, who now runs Arrowhead Graphics,and Jennifer, a Native American cultural arts consultant.Revels perhaps was best known for his work in RepublicanParty politics and Native American affairs. In 1972, he missedwinning a seat in the N.C. House of Representatives by twentysevenvotes. A few years later, he lost a bid for GreensboroCity Council by one hundred votes.Revels kept working and in 1983 won a seat on theGreensboro City Council, where he served two terms. Healso had been chairman of the North Carolina Commission onIndian Affairs. Along with his wife, Ruth, he established theGuilford County Native American Association, a group thatbrings attention to Native American issues. Revels receivedone of his biggest honors last fall, when the City ofGreensboro renamed a portion of land along Freeman MillRoad as the “Lonnie Revels Greenway.” The city also has nameda baseball field in his honor since he has been a long-time LittleLeague volunteer.Even as he was very ill, Revels loved to talk about his daysas a Wake Forest student. “Wake Forest meant a lot to me,”he said. “It gave me exposure, it gave me a good educationand I got to meet a lot of people.Wake Forest exposed meto the world.”September 2003 57