Paul Parks

Paul Parks (May 7, 1923 – August 1, 2009) was an American civil engineer. Parks became the first African American Secretary of Education for Massachusetts, and was appointed by Governor Michael Dukakis to serve from 1975 until 1979. Mayor Raymond Flynn appointed Parks to the Boston School Committee, where he was also the first African American.

Parks fought as a combat engineer for the U.S. Military and took part in the Normandy landings on Omaha Beach. Following his service in World War II, Parks was renowned for his work and dedication to desegregating Boston public schools through his role in the execution of the Boston Model City program, a program designed to use federal funding to develop selected areas in Boston and achieve economic stability. Parks was also a member of the Massachusetts State Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, in which he was involved in the development of METCO, a program dedicated to resolving segregation in Boston public schools through desegregated busing and increased enrollment of black students in predominantly white schools.

Early life and education Parks's father, Cleab, was a disabled World War I veteran of Seminole descent. His mother, Hazel, was a social worker. Parks grew up in Indianapolis, which was characterized by its segregated education system at the time. He attended Crispus Attucks High School, an all-black institution in Indianapolis. Before completing his Bachelor of Science in civil engineering, his education was interrupted in 1942 when he was drafted to fight in World War II as a combat engineer. Afforded by the benefits of the Serviceman's Readjustment Act, he resumed formal education at Purdue to complete his civil engineering degree, and he later earned a doctorate in engineering from Northeastern University after moving to Boston. As a combat engineer, his primary role was the detonation of mines. On June 6, 1944, the Allied Forces invaded the coast of Normandy on D-Day, and Parks was present on Omaha Beach during this invasion. At Dachau, responsibilities included identifying and burying bodies. With the conclusion of his Western European military campaigns, Parks was eventually relocated to the Pacific South to assist in the liberation of the Philippines. He then moved to Boston to join Stone and Webster (1951), where he contributed to the design of dams and hydroelectric powerhouses as a hired engineer. At Fay, Spofford & Thorndike (1951–1952), Parks helped with the design of the New Jersey Garden State Parkway. Following these experiences, he worked on the design of missiles and contributed to nuclear engineering research at Chance Vought Aircraft (1952–1953) and Pratt and Whitney Aircraft (1953–1958), respectively. In 1957, Parks co-founded an architectural firm called Associated Architects and Engineer with fellow African-American Henry Clifford Boles. Notable commissions for the firm included the Methuen Junior High School, the Saint Stephen's Episcopal Church Parish Hall, and a major hospital in Philadelphia, among others. The firm was eventually dissolved in 1967.

Parks's engineering work also led him to numerous international opportunities. While still with his architectural firm, Parks traveled to regions of West Africa in 1967, including Liberia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, and Nigeria, to assist in housing projects. Furthermore, he was invited by the Israeli government in 1968 to serve as a consultant to its public systems involving education, housing, health, and justice.

Parks was a member of professional organizations including the American Society of Civil Engineers and the National Society of Professional Engineers. Parks was appointed by Governor-elect, in 1974, Michael Dukakis. Parks was the first African American to be selected as a member of Dukakis's cabinet. Two decades following Parks's appointment as the Secretary of Educational Affairs, Parks then became the chairman of the Boston School Committee.

As the Chairman of the NAACP Education Committee, Parks was responsible for the Boston Model City Program. Parks was able to identify the growing economic issues found within the selected areas the program was in effect, noting that the unemployment rate was four times that of metropolitan Boston. Parks attributed these economic downfalls to the funding cuts to the program and advocated for it to remain in effect amidst several discussions of its termination. A statistical analysis conducted by Parks and his colleagues estimated that continued cuts to funding and termination of the program would cause more than $51 million in economic damage and a loss of 5,000 jobs.

Parks, in 1964, as a member of the Massachusetts State Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, met with other members of the committee to revise evidence suggesting segregation in Boston public schools at that time. Parks and colleagues found that reading scores in black schools were far less than that of all-white public schools. Furthermore, they found that school administrators preached separate but equal quality of education for black and white students, despite evidence insisting on the opposite. The Kiernan Commission, spearheaded by Dr. Owen Kiernan in 1964, gathered exceptional individuals working in the field of education and business to assess the status and quality of education in Boston public schools. They returned with evidence to back Parks and the committee's claims of unequal quality of education and found that at least 32 schools were subject to this. Despite the condemning evidence presented to the Boston School Committee, they rejected the proof and dismissed the report. In 1965, Parks and the Massachusetts State Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights founded Operation Exodus, a program that buses black students to white schools outside of traditionally black neighborhoods in Boston. Additionally, Parks worked on establishing the Metropolitan Council for Educational Opportunity (METCO), a program that further supported racial desegregation in Boston schools by diversifying the student body and urged black students to enroll in predominantly white schools.

Personal life Parks was of African American, Muscogee, and Seminole ancestry. Parks married Dorothy Alexander on February 2, 1947, with whom he had three children: Paul Jr., Pamela, and Stacy. In 1972, Parks married Virginia Loftman. Parks died of cancer in 2009.