Larry Wade said his upbringing as a young African American in East Tyler led to his accomplishments today.
“My parents raised us to be very dedicated to work,” Wade said.
Beginning with her mother being the first to go to college, focusing on becoming a teacher, Wade found inspiration and support in her family, especially when it came to continuing her education.
“I’m very lucky to grow up in a household where we talked a lot,” Wade said.
In addition to family support, Wade and his brothers had many leaders to look up to: at school, church, and even in the Boy Scouts, where he became one of the first Black Eagle Scouts.
On January 3, in a unanimous decision, the Smith County Historical Society elected Wade as president, making him the first African-American president in the organization’s history.
“I just want to make sure that society is on the right track,” Wade said. “This is one of my greatest honors. In fact, I’m grateful for this opportunity at this point in my life.”
His responsibilities include overseeing budgets, setting policy, and guiding the historical society.
“I want to have a good, close working relationship with the board,” Wade said, “so that it keeps moving forward and stays strong.”
Wade is no stranger to paving the way for the local African-American community, having in 2018 been the first African-American to be elected to the historical society’s board.
Wade has been a part of the Smith County Historical Society on and off for more than 20 years.
“They welcomed me and made me feel at home,” Wade said.
Not only did they make him feel at home, Wade said he never felt like he was any different from his peers.
“There was no racism, disrespect to me or anything like that,” Wade said. “I never felt out of place.”
In fact, it was local history icon Mary Jane McNamara who encouraged him to contribute to the city’s black history.
“He told me we need more black history,” Wade said of the late McNamara. “But it was a lot of hard work.”
During his own genealogy research, Wade discovered much of his family history, a task he was proud to be able to do before his parents passed away.
“We need to pass on as much history as we can to the next generation,” Wade said.
Wade has taken his passion to greater heights by starting more historical societies for African Americans, such as the Tyler/Smith County African American Historical Society.
“We need to continue to preserve history,” Wade said, “and that can be through museum items, genealogy documents and even newspapers.”
A longtime supporter of Tyler Morning Telegraph, he was encouraged by his parents to get involved in the news and stay up to date on the community.
Wade is also part of the newspaper’s community advisory board, which involves meeting quarterly to provide perspective and input to editors and editorial staff members.
Wade sees the Smith County Historical Society as an opportunity to work together as a team and be progressive, especially seeing how times have changed.
He wants people to know that young people are welcome to join the society. Wade hopes to have more inclusion and get more programs to educate and enlighten the younger generation.
Using his more than 40 years as an educator, he hopes, as president of the society, to implement field trips to other museums and historical sites elsewhere.
“Young people need to learn their history, know where they come from,” Wade said, “and be proud of it.”
