Apr 10, 2017 3 min read

The NAACP Washington Branch will hold its human rights award banquet May 5 at the DoubleTree by Hilton, Meadow Lands.

A reception begins at 6 p.m., followed by dinner at 7. Keynote speaker will be Dr. Joan Duvall-Flynn, president of the Pennsylvania State Conference of NAACP branches.

Peg Wilson will receive the Human Rights Award, and Danielle Drew will receive the Branch Service Award.

Wilson graduated from Washington High School and is retired from Washington County Courts, where she worked in adult probation and domestic relations. She previously worked for Bell Telephone and Washington Hospital.

Wilson has been a member of Third United Presbyterian Church for 57 years, and has served several organizations, including Cerebral Palsy, Girl Scouts, Daughters of Union Veterans and Auxiliary of American Legion 175. One of her passions is politics, and she has served on the Democratic Women’s Committee since 1973. She also has served on the executive board of the Pennsylvania State committee.

Previous awards include Cribs for Kids Woman of Achievement from the Allegheny County District Attorney’s office and grand marshal of the Canonsburg Fourth of July Parade.

Perhaps her proudest achievement is serving as board president of the Greater Washington County Food Bank and watching its growth over the past years. She is particularly proud of the food bank’s new home on Route 40 and the changes taking place there.

Wilson has four children, George C. Wilson of Columbus, Ohio; Shirley Williams of Blacklick, Ohio; Denise Wilson Lago of Penn Trafford; and Debbie Wilson of Washington. She also has eight grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.

Duvall-Flynn has served as state conference education chairwoman of the NAACP state conference branches, and is past president of Media Area Unit NAACP, a position she held for 14 years.

Born and raised in Sandusky, Ohio, where she joined the Youth Council when she was 9, Duvall-Flynn has been a lifelong member of the NAACP and is a life member.

As president of NAACP PA, Duvall-Flynn monitors the work of 14 statewide committees and speaks on behalf of NAACP PA on issues of concern to the State Conference of Branches. As state conference education chairwoman, she advocates for equity in public education at the state policy level. Her career as an educator spans 40 years and includes teaching experience ranging from preschool through graduate school.

She is a published writer, a seasoned public speaker and workshop leader. She has presented at a number of National Association of Black School Educator Conventions, sat on panels statewide to speak about the needs of children and appeared on PCN and other radio shows across Pennsylvania on education issues.

Duvall-Flynn has spent the past seven years researching and presenting workshops and teacher in-services on the impact of physiological and emotional trauma as an impediment to learning. She has worked with Cheyney University of Pennsylvania to write the curriculum for the first and only certificate in trauma-informed education studies available in Pennsylvania.

She and her husband, Dr. Julius B Flynn, a retired Cheyney University professor, reside in Glen Mills and have three children, Julius III, Heather Duvall and Jonathan, and two grandchildren, Dominique and Skylar Flynn.

For more information, call the NAACP Washington Branch office at 724-222-7820.