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Mr. Simeon Holloway, a National Treasure


“Just set your goals, and follow through,” Simeon Holloway states matter-of-factly.  “Oh, and don’t be a nincompoop.”  His face breaks into a wide contagious grin, and he chuckles, never breaking eye contact.'

 

This was in response to the question of what he, a ninety-eight-year-old black man who served his country during World War II, would say to a young person who was feeling let down by the current presidential administration.  Raised during a time and in a world that provided him with a million legitimate reasons why he should fail, Simeon Holloway simply set his goals and accomplished every single one. 

 

Born in December of 1920 in Gary, Indiana, Holloway developed a passion for acting and music while attending Roosevelt High School.  He acted in several plays and graduated in 1939.  After working in a steel mill for two years after graduation, he realized that there was no opportunity for advancement, and he set out to continue his education in music at the North Carolina Central University (NCCU) in Durham.  That decision would change his life.

 

The United States Navy refused to admit people of color into its ranks until 1937, and then only in-service positions, such as mess attendants.  After President Franklin Roosevelt suggested the placement of “good Negro bands” aboard battleships, several months into World War II it was decided that black bands would be placed at preflight schools at the University of North Carolina (UNC) in Chapel Hill, NC and St. Mary’s College in Moraga, CA.  In January of 1942, Simeon Holloway was one of 45 musicians recruited to be in the very first all-black Naval band.  The B-1 Band, also known affectionately as the Navy Preflight Band, would be the one of the first tentative steps our country would make into true integration of our military Naval forces.

 

The forty-five musicians were sent to Norfolk, VA to begin basic training, as no blacks were permitted at the School of Music in Washington, DC.  They would then be sent to Chapel Hill, NC and housed in separate barracks from the rest of the Navy pre-flight school that resided in barracks on campus at UNC.  The university was all white at the time.  During their first march through the streets of Chapel Hill, the band members were jeered and insulted.  Despite the negative public reaction, the B-1 band would play for drills, dances, ship launchings, funerals and other events.  Simeon Holloway was skilled in playing every band instrument, including the clarinet and the baritone saxophone, and would switch instruments as needed. 

 

After Chapel Hill, the musicians were assigned to Manana Barracks in Oahu, Hawaii.  (The Manana Barracks no longer exists, and the only traceable building connected to this segregated encampment is an old rusted-out Quonset hut that has only recently been discovered in 2018 by historian Deloris Guttman and the African- American Diversity Council Center Hawaii.  This was one of the one hundred Quonset huts that were designated for the black laborers and enlisted men, including the B-1 Band.)  Holloway served in Hawaii for two years, until being honorably discharged in 1946. 

 

Simeon would return to NCCU and receive his BA in Music with a minor in drama.  He would go on to achieve his Master’s Degree in Music Education, and he taught for thirty-five years in several states, including Illinois, Michigan, Indiana, California, and Nevada.  Opting to become certified to teach special education, Holloway found teaching the special education students to be one of his fondest joys.  He pledged Kappa Alpha Psi, noting that he chose this fraternity because being from Indiana, he’s a Hoosier, and the Kappas were founded in 1911 in Bloomington, Indiana.

 

He would meet and marry his wife, Dorothea Holloway, and father five children (two of whom were adopted): Kay, Simeon Jr., Timothy, Dominique, and Terrance.  Dorothea and Simeon were married for fifty-six years until she passed away in 2002. 

 

Although Simeon Holloway appreciated the opportunities that music and education afforded him during a time when the nation itself was experiencing hardship and turmoil, facing racial integration and the civil rights movement, he never forgot his first love – acting.  His idol was Paul Robeson, who was a celebrated American bass baritone concert singer, actor, athlete and political activist.  One of Holloway’s fondest memories is when he met and sang, “Ballad for Americans” with his role model when Robeson visited Durham, NC in 1941.  In 1970, Simeon would finally follow his dreams and head to Hollywood.

 

Ivan Dixon, star of the iconic 1960’s comedic sitcom Hogan’s Heroes, would give him his first acting job.  He played the part of the Watchman in the film Trouble Man, where Dixon was the director.  Ivan would also become a very close friend.  For over twenty years, Holloway would be featured on many movies, television shows, stage plays and commercials.  He would work with celebrities like Redd Foxx, Sherman Hemsley, and Juanita Moore.  His credits would include roles on the television shows Amen, 227, Hill Street Blues, Little House on the Prairie, and Sanford, along with a host of others.

 

Forty years after being recruited into the United States Navy, one of his fellow B-1 bandmates, William Skinner, took it upon himself to go to the School of Music at Norfolk to seal the records regarding the B-1 Band.  Nothing could be found, and it was if the band never existed.  After extensive research was conducted to verify the history of the band, the School of Music at Norfolk granted an Honorary Degree to all of the living members during a ceremony held at the school in 1981.  To date, there are just three living members of the B-1 band: Simeon Holloway, Calvin Morrow, and Jewett White.  They will be celebrating their 77th reunion at the Suncoast Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas in August of this year.

 

In 2007, Mayor Kevin Foy of Chapel Hill, North Carolina presented Simeon Holloway with the key to the town of Chapel Hill on the steps of the Franklin Street Post Office.  He praised Holloway and the rest of the living members of the band, who were also in attendance, for being leaders at a time when Chapel Hill was still segregated.  Simeon Holloway has also been awarded the American Campaign Medal – WWII, the World War II Victory Medal, and the Navy Good Conduct Medal for his service in the United States Navy.  He wears his ribbons with pride, along with a B-1 Navy Band patch. 

 

Timothy Holloway, Simeon’s son, created a film documenting his father’s life entitled, “95 Never Looked So Good”.  It recently won the award in the Best Documentary Short category at the 8th Annual People’s Film Festival in Harlem, New York, this summer.  Simeon was able to be in attendance to witness this award being presented to his son, and he was delighted to be honored by the festival.

 

Simeon Holloway attributes his long and productive life to his dedication to staying active.  He currently has a personal trainer who he sees every Tuesday.  She takes him through a variety of activities, including water aerobics.  Holloway still loves to dance, and he keeps a garden in his backyard, where he regularly tends to his small crop of corn, beans, and turnip greens.

 

“I’d keep tomatoes, but it’s so hot!” He exclaims.

 

“My greatest accomplishment in this life is that I have been good to my fellow man, and every goal that I’ve set, I have fulfilled them all.  I can say that I have done all that I set out to do.”

Nevada