LEGISLATIVE RESOLUTION commending Lilton "Dickie" Mitchell as he is
honored by the Imani Singers of Medgar Evers College at its Annual Night
of Honor on May 4, 2012

WHEREAS, It is the sense of this Legislative Body that individuals who
distinguish themselves in service to their faith and community merit the
highest commendation; and
WHEREAS, Attendant to such concern, and fully in accord with its long-
standing traditions, this Legislative Body is justly proud to commend
Lilton "Dickie" Mitchell as he is honored by the Imani Singers of Medgar
Evers College, the college's renowned resident choir, at its Annual
Night of Honor to be held at the college on Friday, May 4, 2012; and
WHEREAS, Each year at this Black Tie event, the Imani Singers of
Medgar Evers College honors and pays tribute to outstanding sacred music
church musicians in the Brooklyn community; and
WHEREAS, Lilton Mitchell, Minister of Music at Bethel Baptist Church,
truly merits this high honor; and
WHEREAS, Lilton Mitchell, known to almost everyone as "Dickie Mitc-
hell," was born in Baltimore, Maryland; after he completed high school,
his family moved to Pasadena, California; while a resident of Califor-
nia, he attended Oakwood College in Huntsville, Alabama and the Univer-
sity of California at Los Angeles; and
WHEREAS, During the summer of 1949, he received an offer from his
uncle in New York, Joe Bostic, to come to New York to assist in the
promotion of the first Gospel Concert at Carnegie Hall; and
WHEREAS, This was the beginning of a series of gospel presentations
which took place not only at Carnegie Hall, but also at Madison Square
Garden, Randall's Island Stadium, the Coliseum, the Philadelphia Met
Theater, the Savoy Ballroom and many other places in the Northeast; and
WHEREAS, In addition to the concerts, Dickie Mitchell became a fixture
on the "Joe Bostic Gospel Train," an area daily radio program; during
this time, he also toured with the Gospel Great, Miss Mahalia Jackson,
appearing at Montreal's Palais de Arts, Yale and Vermont Universities,
the Boston Concert Hall and Constitutional Hall in Washington, D.C., and
several other concert halls and colleges on the east coast; and
WHEREAS, When Mahalia sang for The Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. at
the "March on Washington" she was accompanied by Mildred Falls on the
piano and Dickie Mitchell on the organ; and
WHEREAS, In addition, for all of Joe Bostic's promotions and endeavors
in gospel music, Dickie Mitchell was the Musical Director which enabled
him to work personally with such gospel greats of that era as The Rever-
end James Cleveland, Alex Bradford, the Clara Ward Singers, The Davis
Sisters, the Gospel Harmonettes, Mariam Williams and the Stars of Faith,
the Drinkard Singers with Cissy Houston, The Reverend Lawrence Roberts
and his choir, The Reverend Charles Banks and the Back Home Choir, and
his close friend, Leon Lumpkins and the Gospel Clefs; and
WHEREAS, Dickie Mitchell also appeared with many of these groups and
on their recordings, including the Newport Jazz Festival recording of
the Drinkard Singers and Mahalia Jackson; during this period, he also
was called on to do two years of military service and was promoted to
NCO in Charge of the Medical Dispensary at Campy Leroy Johnson in New
Orleans, Louisiana; and
WHEREAS, In 1960, Dickie Mitchell became the organist at the Greater
Abysinnian Baptist Church in Newark, New Jersey, where Professor Alex
Brandford was the Minister of Music; in 1968, he became the Minister of
Music at Bethel Baptist Church, where Dr. W. J. Hall was the pastor;
today, The Reverend H. Devore Chapman is the Senior Pastor and Lilton

"Dickie" Mitchell continues to ably serve as the Minister of Music and,
in 1998, he was honored to receive an honorary degree, Doctor of Sacred
Music, from a Virginia university; and
WHEREAS, With Dickie Mitchell throughout have been his wife, Sandra;
their daughter, Mrs. Roderick (Denise) Harrison; their sons, Keith and
Kyie Mitchell; their grandson, Derin Harrison; and their granddaughter,
Kaszmier Mitchell; and
WHEREAS, Lilton "Dickie" Mitchell has distinguished himself in his
profession and in service to his faith and community and is certainly
worthy of the recognition and appreciation of this Legislative Body and
the citizens of the great State of New York; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, That this Legislative Body pause in its deliberations to
commend Lilton "Dickie" Mitchell as he is honored by the Imani Singers
of Medgar Evers College at its Annual Night of Honor on Friday, May 4,
2012; and be it further
RESOLVED, That a copy of this Resolution, suitably engrossed, be tran-
smitted to Lilton "Dickie" Mitchell.