4 Photos
Myrtle Duncan-Hamilton of Sag Harbor died on January 30. She was 85.
Of Cherokee, African-American and Irish descent, she was the third child of Parthenia Spellman White and Daniel Webster White, born on May 18, 1924, in Elizabeth City, North Carolina, on the campus of what was then known as Elizabeth City State Teachers College, where her mother taught home economics.
Weighing only 2 pounds at the time of her premature birth, she was put in a chicken incubator, family members said, to keep her alive after “Jim Crow hospitals would not treat her.” The family moved to Harlem, where she was raised during a period known as the “Harlem renaissance.” After graduating from Junior High School 81 in Harlem she went on to graduate from Julia Richmond High School at the top of a class that also included a young actress who would later take the name of Lauren Bacall.
During her formative years in Harlem, she was a founding, active member of Harlem’s Church of the Masters youth group under the Reverend Dr. James H. Robinson, who would go on to serve as the founder of Operation Crossroads Africa. Her early adult years were spent in St. Albans, Queens, where her family’s neighbors included Count Basie, Mercer Ellington, Brook Benton, Roy Campanella, James Brown and other notable figures.
In her later years, she moved full-time to her home in Sag Harbor, after many memorable summers with great friends.
After attending Elizabeth City State Teachers College, she graduated from New York University with a degree in business; received a master’s in education from Baruch College; worked for Edward R. Stentienus, former secretary of state; and worked for African-American banking mogul William Hudgins, who helped her start her first transcription business.
She taught at Maxwell High, Andrew Jackson High, and Springfield High and eventually became the college advisor at Andrew Jackson High. She owned and operated one of the first black-owned bar and grills in Sag Harbor; developed a tutorial center in Queens; and, after retiring from teaching, began her own successful transcription business, Exec-Sec, with several high profile accounts.
She was an active member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc. for more than 60 years and a member of the Empire City Chapter of the Moles Social Club for more than 20 years. A member of the Family bridge club, she played poker every Friday night with her Sag Harbor friends up until two weeks before her death. She was also very active at Sag Harbor Elementary School, where her great-granddaughter Sahar is a student. Family members recalled that she loved life, adding that she worked hard and knew how to socialize.
Mrs. Duncan-Hamilton is survived by two children, Terri and Wayne; two grandchildren, Maya and Ali; and three great grandchildren, Sahar, Masia, and London Lalibela.
She was predeceased by two husbands, Waymon Terrel Duncan, one of the first black police officers to achieve the rank of Detective 1st Grade in New York City, and Harold F. Hamilton, a successful attorney and well-known Westchester clubman.
A Delta Sigma Theta wake service was held on Wednesday, February 3, in Queens at J. Foster Phillips Funeral Home; a funeral service was held on February 4 at the Shinnecock Presbyterian Church on the Shinnecock Reservation in Southampton, with going home songs by The Young Blood Singers, led by her son Wayne, followed by what the family called “a repast of splendor.”
In lieu of flowers, memorial donations to the Harlem/Hampton Haiti Relief fund (call 646-261-5397, e-mail Hharlemhouse@gmail.com, or visit myrtle-duncanhamilton.gonetoosoon.org) would be appreciated by the family. A scholarship fund through Delta Sigma Theta Sorority in Mrs. Duncan-Hamilton’s name is in development.
on Feb 17, 2010