Archie Lee Belford

Born Sept 18, 1941 in Atlanta Texas, Belford attended Pruitt and Booker T. Washington High School. After moving to Oakland, CA, in 1960 Belford graduated from McClymonds High School and was one of the organizers of the McClymonds Alumni Association. With perfect attendance from high school thru college, it is not surprising to know that Archie Belford's name remained on the Dean's list. Belford obtained a BA in Political Sci­ence, CA State Hayward; and a Masters degree in Recreation Administra­tions from San Francisco State.

During the 60's, while Belford attended college, he worked for the Believer's Drive Inn at the corner of 56 & Grove Street (Martin Luther King Jr, Way), where he prepared many meals for Black Panther Party leaders: Elridge Cleaver, Bobby Seals, Bobby Hutton, and Huey Newton, and other Civil Rights Activists. Belford among many other Activists fought for equal rights in the Bay Area.

With knots, his stomach, Belford agreed to go on a blind date with Barbara Ann Browne. less than a year they tied the knot Married on Oct 27, 1967 until Barbara's death in 1995. The soulmates initiated several projects helping low-income children go on educational and fun excursions. For over 10 years, Belford, his wife with friends raised funds to support the Popular Recreation Center and for the children and youth of the Mt. Zion Baptist Church in Oakland. Although Belford doesn't have biologically children, he served as a fa­ther to many. It is still not uncommon to hear people of all ages address Belford as "Dad" or "Pops." His love for children of all ages and his parental guidance affords him the respect of fatherhood. As a matter of fact, Belford received a lifetime PTA membership from Dr. John Favor at Clausen school in Oakland. According to Belford, most of the. time he would be the only man present at the PTA meeting.

Belford's culinary cooking and personality helped to influence the 1st nationally syndicated African American Cartoonist Morrie Turner to create the character, Shorty in Wee Pals, which diversified comic strips in the United States. Belford believes in organizing groups and delegating people to serve. To name a few, Belford organized the following groups: Legends of Jazz, which featured Jazz giants such as John Handy, Ed Kelly, Smiley Winters, and Tony Pointers;McClymonds 1st Women Basketball & Softball League (Green Ma­chine);1st McClymonds' Alumni Chair, and helped organized the All-Comers Track Team.

In 1989, Belford received awards from the following organizations: American Savings and Loan; The National Negro Business Professional Women of America for his outstanding support. In addition, he served as the West Oakland Senior Center Advisory Council Chair for two terms, and presently serving as the Membership Chair. We are honored to have Archie Belford as a member of the West Oakland Senior Center.