Glen Cove Boys & Girls Club Remembers Two American Heroes

Glen Cove Boys & Girls Club is proud to celebrate Black History month by honoring past board members the late William Joe Johnson and the late James Middleton, two American heroes who served the Club, and their community and country with distinction.

Johnson and Middleton joined the Board of the Club in 1984. Their involvement and leadership were instrumental in shaping the Club and the lives of thousands of youth for decades to come. Both men were World War II veterans. Johnson was a Tuskegee Airmen Black fighter pilot who served in the U.S. Army Air Forces and Middleton was Army Air Corps and helped found Glen Cove American Legion Young-Simmons Post 1765 in the 1950s. Both attended Glen Cove High School and throughout their lives made an incredible impact on their community. Johnson was a Founding member and President of the Fair Housing Development Fund Corporation, the first NAACP sponsored housing corporation building, Board Member at GCBGC, Secretary and Chairman of the Glen Cove Housing Authority and Board Member and Chairman of the Glen Cove Child Day Care Center. Middleton was commander of the Nassau County American Legion, Board Member at GCBGC and member of the First Baptist Church of Glen Cove where he served in the finance department. The Glen Cove Harbor Patrol recently welcomed their newest boat christened The Middleton, named for James Middleton.

The following is an excerpt from an ad Johnson placed in the Club’s 2015 Dinner Dance Journal:

“I do not know where I would be today if there had not been a Lincoln House for me to go to, nor my brothers, nor my sisters, nor my many friends and acquaintances who used that facility. But I do know that it made a huge, positive impact on us all in fostering good character and giving us hope and many, many wonderful memories. And it is all because, then, like now, there were people who were kind enough --and generous enough -- and cared enough to make it all happen. God blessed us all! And God blessed America too --- for “Lincoln House” then, as “Boys & Girls Club” now, is in the best of American tradition!”

Mr. Johnson was an honorary board member when he passed away this January and Mr. Middleton served on the board until his death in 2017.

It was 1976, just as Glen Cove Boys & Girls Club was inaugurating its newly built Club on Glen Cove Avenue, that President Gerald Ford officially recognized February as Black History Month to honor the accomplishments of Black Americans. The Club is grateful to be able to recognize Mr. Johnson and Mr. Middleton and all they did on behalf of the youth of Glen Cove Boys & Girls Club. They were unforgettable role models and we will never forget their legacy and how they served our community with honor, grace and courage.