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Corporal Cecil Grayson Sutphen

A young African American man in a jacket and tie looking at the camera.
  • Unit: Headquarters Battery, 35th Antiaircraft Artillery Gun Battalion
  • Date of Birth: April 23, 1929
  • Entered the Military: February 15, 1951
  • Date of Death: December 24, 2017
  • Hometown: Marshall, Texas
  • Place of Death: Milwaukee, Wisconsin
  • Cemetery: section MW1, row 3, site F. Southern Wisconsin Veterans Memorial Cemetery, Union Grove, Wisconsin
Contributed by Vincent Balzrina, Henry Berenz, DeAndre’ Hatch, Jr., and Oliver Whelan
Mentored by Mrs. Lalitha Murali
Glen Hills Middle School
2024/2025

Early Life

Cecil Sutphen’s high school graduation picture from Pemberton High School, 1947. Courtesy of Sussan Sutphen.
Cecil Sutphen performed with the Choral Ensemble at Pemberton High School. He is in the first row, eighth from the left. Pemberton High School Yearbook, 1946.

Homefront

The majority of the workers in Marshall were employed in agriculture in 1930. After the Great Depression and World War II, the situation changed. Unemployment became a problem and the majority of the workers depended on nonagricultural occupations. Cotton planting virtually disappeared. In 1860, Marshall produced the third largest crop in the state but by 1978, only one farmer was growing cotton in the country. No single industry was dominant. Small-scale manufacturing of metal, wood, and clay products employed nearly half of the workforce. About ten percent worked in retail, and others worked in the oil and gas production industry.

Marshall was also home to Bishop College and Wiley College, two historically Black colleges.

A farmer plowing a cut-over field near Marshall, Texas, March 1939. Library of Congress (2017782739).
A man pumping water from a new well installed by the Farm Security Administration (FSA), Sabine Farms, Marshall, Texas, April 1939. Library of Congress (2017739900).
The main building at Wiley College (now Wiley University) in Marshall, Texas. Texas State Historical Commission.

Military Experience

Sutphen was drafted into the U.S. Army on February 15, 1951. He received carpentry and supply training at Fort Belvoir, Virginia, and Fort Jackson, South Carolina. He was stationed with the 35th Antiaircraft Artillery Gun Battalion at Fort George Meade, Maryland. The job of this unit was to protect the continental United States from aerial attacks. He was honorably discharged from the military on February 13, 1953. He did not fight in the Korean War and he did not leave the U.S. during his service. He was promoted to corporal when he was discharged from the Army.

Cecil Sutphen’s DD-214, February 14, 1953. Portions have been redacted to protect privacy.

Veteran Experience

Following his military experience, he attended Wiley College. There he met and married his first wife, Justine Anita Simon Sutphen, and received a degree in business. They were married for about seven years. 

They later divorced and Sutphen moved to Kansas City, Missouri where he met and married Judith Kahan. It was an interracial marriage as Judith was a White Jewish woman. They married in Kansas City, Kansas because interracial marriage was illegal in Kansas City, Missouri. They then moved to Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Sutphen worked at the National Labor Relations Board. He was a tinkerer who invented a grill, refurbished homes, and reupholstered antique furniture. He restored his family’s home and it was recognized as a historic residence by the Historical Preservation Society. He was instrumental in stopping a freeway spur that was slated to go through his neighborhood. He also served on the board of directors for the Interlude Bar and Lounge, which provided life skills training to its employees. He was active in the Democratic party, raising money and canvassing for votes.

Cecil Sutphen, pictured with his second wife, Judith. Courtesy of Sussan Sutphen.
Cecil Sutphen reupholstered this chair, which is treasured by his family. Courtesy of Sussan Sutphen.
Sutphen with his daughter, Mona, and former President Barack Obama. Mona worked as Deputy White House Chief of Staff for Policy during Obama’s first term in office from 2009 to 2011. Courtesy of Sussan Sutphen.

Commemoration

Cecil Sutphen lived a full life. He was a kind, social, and progressive thinker and advocate. He lived his values and found happiness through his career at the National Labor Relations Board and his commitment to community activism. He proved to the world that anyone can make a difference through hard work, dedication, happiness, and good values. Sutphen died on December 24, 2017 at the age of 88. He was survived by his wife, Judith, his five children, Sussan, Diane, Lady Cecil, Mona, and David, and five grandchildren, Morgan, Shelbie, Sydney, Davis, and Austin.

Cecil Sutphen, photographed in 2014. Courtesy of Sussan Sutphen.

Bibliography

Primary Sources

“116 to Graduate at Pemberton High Exercises May 29.”  The Marshall News Messenger, May 14, 1947. Newspapers.com (320101374). 

Cecil Grayson Sutphen, DD-214, Department of the Army. National Archives and Records Administration – St. Louis.

Cecil Grayson Sutphen, DD-214, Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs. 

Cecil Grayson Sutphen, Discharge Special Order, Department of the Army. National Archives and Records Administration- St. Louis. 

Cecil Sutphen. U.S. School Yearbooks, 1900-2016. Digital images. https://ancestryclassroom.com. 

Lee, Russell. FSA (Farm Security Administration) client pumping water from his sanitary well, Sabine Farms, Marshall, Texas. Photograph. April 1939. Library of Congress (2017739900). https://www.loc.gov/item/2017739900/. 

Lee, Russell. Plowing in the cut-over land near Marshall, Texas. Photograph. March 1939. Library of Congress (2017782739). https://www.loc.gov/item/2017782739/. 

Sutphen Family Photographs. 1943-1955. Courtesy of Sussan Sutphen.

Sutphen, Sussan. Interview with the author. December 16, 2024.

Texas. Harrison County. 1940 U.S. Census. Digital images. https://ancestryclassroom.com. 

Texas. Harrison County. 1950 U.S. Census. Digital images. https://ancestryclassroom.com. 

[Wiley College Building.] Photograph. Texas State Historical Commission. https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth678524/m1/1/. 

Secondary Sources

“Black students sit-in for U.S.civil rights, Marshall, Texas, 1960.” Global Nonviolent Action Database. Updated June 4, 2014. Accessed November 12, 2024. https://nvdatabase.swarthmore.edu/content/black-students-sit-us-civil-rights-marshall-texas-1960. 

Cambell, Randolph B. “Harrison County.” Texas State Historical Association. Updated November 9, 2020. Accessed November 12, 2024. https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/harrison-county. 

Carol, Dawson. “Not Black and White.” Texas Monthly, January 1999.  https://www.texasmonthly.com/articles/not-black-and-white/.

“Cecil Grayson Sutphen.” Find a Grave. Updated August 2, 2018. Accessed October 23, 2024. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/191913793/cecil-grayson-sutphen. 

“Cecil Grayson Sutphen.” Veterans Legacy Program, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Accessed November 12, 2024. https://www.vlm.cem.va.gov/CECILGRAYSONSUTPHEN/939e99. 

“Erlina Williams Sutphen.” Find a Grave. Updated March 13, 2013. Accessed October 23, 2024. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/106673755/erlina-sutphen.

“Judith Sutphen.” Find a Grave. Updated August 2, 2018. Accessed October 23, 2024. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/191913820/judith-sutphen. 

“History.” City of Marshall, Texas. Accessed November 12, 2024. https://www.marshalltexas.net/362/History. 

“History.” Marshall Economic Development.  Accessed November 12, 2024. https://www.marshalledc.org/life/history/. 

“Justine Anita Simon Sutphen.” Find a Grave. Updated December 12, 2020. Accessed October 25, 2024. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/219660000/justine_anita_sutphen. 

“Justine Anita Simon Sutphen.” Georgia Cremation.  Accessed October 23, 2024. https://georgiacremation.com/obituary/justine_sutphen/. 

“MISD & Marshall, Texas.” Marshall ISD. Accessed November 12, 2024. https://www.marshallisd.com/page/misd-and-marshall-texas. 
Struggles & Success: Selections from the Handbook of African American Texas. Texas State Historical Association: 2015. https://www.thc.texas.gov/public/upload/publications/Education/Struggle-and-Success_TSHA.pdf

This profile was funded by a grant from the United States Department of Veterans Affairs. The opinions, findings, and conclusions stated herein are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the United States Department of Veterans Affairs.