The late Dr. Arthur J. Divers traveled more than 800 miles from his hometown of Little Rock, Arkansas, to find greater opportunities in the North during the Jim Crow era.
And once Divers made Detroit his home, he set out on a mission of helping students and other members of the community become successful during their own personal journeys.
That is why Detroiters representing many walks of life have recently been sharing stories about Divers, who died in Detroit on Dec. 10 at the age of 97.
“Life is like a dance where one small move can have a domino effect and Dr. Divers created a move like that — in a positive way — for me and my family,” native Detroiter Dr. Priscilla Wade fondly recalled on the evening of Dec. 15.
Today, Wade is president and clinical director of her own business — Psychological and Consultation Services, PC in Okemos. But in 1974, when Wade graduated from Detroit’s Osborn High School, she was a dancer with plans of moving to New York until her high school counselor, Divers, introduced a new possibility and helped her gain admission to Wayne State University, setting the stage for Wade to become a licensed psychologist.
“I was the first in my family to graduate from high school and my family was uninformed about the process of entering college. However, Dr. Divers made a move, which was a mentoring act, to see if I was open to being in that (college) space,” said Wade, who had expressed an interest in counseling and psychology during her high school days, but had not even applied to Wayne State before Divers’ intervention. “You can say that Dr. Divers walked me to the pond, and I swam all the way home, empowered by the higher education I received from Wayne State University. And that provided a higher-education template for my (six) younger siblings that followed me at Osborn, including four sisters that also graduated from Wayne State.
“At my 50th high school reunion, Dr. Divers and his daughter Sheri were my guests and I had a chance to thank Dr. Divers from the bottom of my heart. That was important for me to do and a big relief to finally have that opportunity after so many years. And I will always be thankful for the important role Dr. Divers played in my life as an educator.”
During the afternoon of Dec. 17, Detroiter Bea Ward pointed out that Divers — a 43-year Detroit schoolteacher and counselor — also was a tireless educator outside of Detroit schools through his longtime commitment to voter education.
“I go way back with Arthur, we’re talking about the (Robert) ‘Buddy’ Battle and Coleman Young days,” Ward, the Chair Emeritus of the Wayne County Democratic Black Caucus, said. “Arthur was totally committed to the citizens of Detroit and the community and he did so much to educate people about the process and importance of voting. I served on many boards and committees with Arthur, but he would also get out to the neighborhoods and block clubs to try to keep Detroit focused on the importance of voting. He was just a very dedicated man who volunteered so much of his time to help his community and he will be missed.”
Detroiter Willie Cambell says Divers’ commitment to his community that Ward spoke about remained visible and profound even when Divers was confronted with physical challenges, as recently as a few weeks ago.
“Arthur Divers continued to serve as the president of the Winship Community Association (a position Divers had held since 2003) and when we went to see him at a (physical) rehabilitation center in November, he told us to proceed with our monthly meeting and to put him on speaker phone so he could participate,” said Cambell, who, in addition to being a Winship Community Association officer, is executive director of the nonprofit Core City Neighborhoods. “Not only do all of the members of the Winship Community Association look up to Arthur Divers, we have depended on him to do everything.
“That last visit I had with him, he asked me to give him a good handshake. And the handshake we shared was firm and strong, just like he was. Arthur Divers was a strong gentleman and we just lost the best, but we will try to carry on all of the good work he did in our neighborhood and across Detroit.”
Ken Coleman has also had an opportunity to study Divers’ community impact in its totality. Before Coleman became known around town as a historian, journalist and communications specialist devoted to chronicling Black life in Detroit, he was a young man growing up in the Winship community, whose boundaries are Greenfield to Schaefer, and West Six Mile to West Seven Mile Roads. And from time to time, a young Coleman would assist his grandmother in distributing a neighborhood publication containing information to strengthen the community, which included announcements from Divers.
“It was maybe a four-page newsletter that came out monthly and we would deliver the newsletters door-to-door from Seven Mile to Curtis, but I really didn’t understand Dr. Divers’ activism until I got older and became a reporter,” said Coleman, who would later have an opportunity to work closely with Divers when Coleman provided communications assistance to the Detroit Federation of Teachers (DFT) and Divers was a leader within the DFT Retiree Chapter.
“Arthur Divers was certainly a strong leader in our community and he carried out his leadership on a block-to-block level,” Coleman added. “And all of the community issues that he was involved in were intertwined. He took positions and he would let people know his point of view, but he never did it in a boisterous or rah-rah way. Arthur Divers wanted to do something, rather than be someone, and I believe those are the most important people in our community because they’re on the front lines.
“… I’m never one to tell somebody that you should name something after someone, but I am hoping that one day Detroit Public Schools Community District will do something to honor the legacy of Arthur Divers because he got things done for students and the community with a quiet strength.”
More stories about Dr. Arthur Divers will be told during services announced by his family. On Friday, Dec. 26, there will be a homegoing service at Plymouth United Church of Christ located at 600 E. Warren Ave. A family hour will begin at 10 a.m. followed by the homegoing service at 11 a.m.
Dr. Arthur Divers is survived by his wife, Bernice Divers, and three adult children, Arthur Divers Jr., Sheri Divers and Sheldon Divers, who hope that their father’s work will continue to inspire the people he touched, including the many Detroiters who have recently posted tributes celebrating Dr. Divers on Facebook.
“Dad serves as a model for community empowerment,” said Sheri Divers on the evening of Dec. 17. “And he always believed ‘to whom much is given, much is required (Luke 12:48).’ Dad said you could always look and tell which neighborhoods had an effective community association, which are made stronger by block clubs and relationships that require hard work. And that’s how he felt about our entire city and country, he said: ‘You never stop fighting for equality because you never know where the cracks of opportunity will emerge.’ ”
Scott Talley is a native Detroiter, a proud product of Detroit Public Schools and a lifelong lover of Detroit culture in its diverse forms. In his second tour with the Free Press, which he grew up reading as a child, he is excited and humbled to cover the city’s neighborhoods and the many interesting people who define its various communities. Contact him at stalley@freepress.com or follow him on Twitter @STalleyfreep. Read more of Scott’s stories at www.freep.com/mosaic/detroit-is/. Please help us grow great community-focused journalism by becoming a subscriber.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: When it came to serving Detroiters, Dr. Arthur Divers wore many hats
Reporting by Scott Talley, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
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