Happen Seeing Ideas Thomas Lassiter, Jr. J. - 2000 1911 TheJohn Tyler CaldwellAward in the Humanities October 21, 2000 Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2012 with funding from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill http://archive.org/details/seeingideashappeOOunse ..andwhatdoes the Lordrequire ofyou, butto dojustice, . to love kindnessandwalk humbly withyour God. Micah 6:8 Seeing Ideas Happen North Carolina Humanities Council 2000 We needonly toface reality, to behonestandto becourageously fairin allhuman relations. ThomasJ. Lassiter,Jr., 1966 Besides [Toms] consistentlythoughtfulandcourageouseditorials, his...initiatingandsupportingtheJohnstonCountyForum rank amongmygreatestpleasuresinlifeinJohnstonCounty.The samecanbesaidbymanyotherpeoplewhoattendedregularly andeagerly.Thosesessionswereupliftingandexciting,abreath otuniversitylifebroughttothecommunity. FrancesWoodard "It's reallyexcitingwhenyou see something likethat," Elizabeth Lassitersays, "seeingideas happen." In everyway, Thomas Lassiter contributed excitement to the town ofSmith- field by making ideas happen. Teacher, writer, citizen and artist, Tomwas "the centerpiece in the liberal intellectual life ofthe town," as his good friend McLeod Bryanwrote in nominating Tom to the North Carolina Committee forContinuingEduca- tion in the Humanities, nowthe North Carolina Humanities Council. What might it mean to be "the centerpiece in the liberal intellectual life" ofasmall Southern town? Perhaps the most significant characteristicwas thatTom Lassiters mind, heart and spiritwere large and generous.Tom sawand understood theworld in the broadest contextpossible. With remarkable ease, hewas able to see pastculturallydefined categories that limitedwho peoplewere and could be; hesawthem too as being —or having the potential to be—large and generous. Peoplewere not fixed and under the right circumstances, theirhearts and . minds could change. Furthermore,Tom tookpeople in as being whole humans; peoplewere notjust thesum ofan intellectual position withwhich he agreed ordisagreed. Tom brought this largeness ofmind andspirit to all ofhis workat TheSmithfieldHerald. He used that paperas teaching materials in the classroom ofJohnston County. His articles and editorialswere meant to inspirelocal citizens to thinkand reflect beyond theirpersonal boundaries. Lassiter's ideaofteachingwas to lead people to discuss togethersome topicwithout imposing his ownviews orassuming that as ateacher, hewas presenting the truth to a passive listener. Wingate Lassiterbelieves his father alwayswas teaching, alwayswas pressingpeople to see alarger perspective thatconnected them to each otherand to history. Tomwrote, "Through theyears, ournewspaperhas sought. . to encourage thepeople ofJohnston Countyto enlarge their knowledge oflocal, regional and cultural history- not forthe purpose ofliving in the past but ratherfor the purpose ofunder- standingwhat is happening in todays swiftlychangingworld." AnchoringTom Lassiter's mind, heart andspiritwerehis family, his deep beliefin Christian principles and democratic processes and hiswide-rangingappreciation ofworld history. Tom's parents hadaprofoundshaping influence onhim.This was true ofhis father, who diedwhenTomwas only nine. In particular, his parents conveyed theirlove oflearningandeduca- tion and theirbeliefin the importance ofpublic responsibility. They raisedTom to assume he had an obligation to serve the public good. BothThomasJ. Lassiter, Sr. and Rena Bingham Lassiter served as editors of TheSmithfieldHeraldbefore theirson. Moreover, Mr. Lassiterserved as president oftheNorth Carolina PressAssociation andwas regarded highlyas a journalist. After his father's death in 1920, his mother ran the paper until 1933, whenTom returned to Smithfield to workwith her. By the end ofWorldWar II, Tom had taken over primaryresponsibility for the paper. Rena Bingham Lassitercontinuedworkingwith the paper until herdeath in i960. Toms older brotherWilliam Lassiteralso appreciated the importance oflearningand public service: an experton newspaperlaw, Williamwas the general counsel ofthe PressAssociation and overtheyears represented manyofNorth Carolina's newspapers. Equallysignificantwas thatTom Lassiterwas firmlywithin the tradition ofbeing a Southern gentleman. Familyand friends all point toward his civilityas one reason hewas able to advocate ideas thatoftenwere notaccepted byhis readers, let alone many Southerners. His friend and colleague, Dean Richard Cole of the UNC School ofJournalism, observed, "Tomwas one ofthe most courageousyetgentlemanlyindividuals I hadevermet." Both qualities- courage andcivility—served Lassiterwell. Tom believed that to be religious meantan appreciation of"awholesome relation ofreligious faith to social life" that emphasized doinggood acts in dailylife. Lib Lassitersays hewas distinguished less bydoctrinaire piety than byapractical applica- tion ofdecency. "Hewas moreecumenical," Lib says, "thanjust beinga Baptist."That factdidn't prevent him from beingvery active in Smithfields First Baptist Church, where heserved as SuperintendentofSunday School and led adiscussion class of adults in whatwas more like an ongoingseminar. Being religious forTom also demanded the courage to grasp someone else's pointofviewopposite to one's own and still respect that person's essential dignityand humanity. Hewrote in 1945 asWorldWar IIwas ending: ...ifpeaceistoremainsecurewecannotneglectpracticeof theGoldenRuleandtheunselfishspiritinourrelationswithand ourattitudestowardeachother, bothasindividualsandasnations. Thatmeansweasindividualsmustfighttoconquerourprejudices againstraces,againstclasses,againstchanges. Itmeansconstant practiceoftheruleofputtingyourselfintheotherman'sshoesand seekingtofindouthisviewpointonquestionsthatarise. Itmeans theexerciseoftolerancetowardreligious,politicalandeconomic beliefsdifferentfromourown. Itmeansusingourinfluenceto eliminatetheinjusticesthatwefindinourhomecommunities, thestateandnation,andintheworld. Tom nurtured thepossibilityofdemocracyas it might become inAmerica. Democracywas both aprocess and the form ofsocial organization wrought through thatprocess. First, democracydemanded inclusion ofall peoples,Tomwrote, "espe- cially...[those] who used to be excluded from thecommunity