• the Friendship Baptist Church
• Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity (50 years)
• he council of Navy League
• the Salvation Army Advisory Board
• Navy City Elks Lodge,
• Lofas-Lakeside Improvement Association

Public Office and Service:

• Treasurer, Vallejo NAACP
• Vallejo City Unified School District Governing Board, 1968-1986 (four terms)
• President, The California School Board Association , 1976.
• Delegate to the National School Boards Association
• President , California Coalition of Black School Board Members, 1982.

Service & Community Awards:

• The Theta Pi Chapter of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity
• Citizen of the Year, 1974
• the National Fraternity of Alpha Phi Alpha Man of the Year, 1975, Western Region
• The National Caucus of black School Board Members document of Resolution of Appreciation for 1977
• California Association of Colored Women's Club of Vallejo Community Service Award, 1978
• The Vallejo NAACP Award of Dedication to Education in 1992
• Vallejo School Manager's Association Service To Education, 19834
• Who's Who in Black America, 1985
• the Community Service Award from the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity in 1986
• Houston-Tillotson College Alumni Association (National) Practical Endeavor Award, May 1992

" I'm a human being first. I don't make a big to-do about the color."
" I was interested in the education of the children of Vallejo. It's not a black thing; it's a human thing."

Jesse Moncell Bethel was born in New York City. He was orphaned at age three and was raised by his grandmother. He attended elementary school in Ohio, Arkansas and Oklahoma.

A defining moment in his life was when at age 14, observed a 27 year old lawyer defend a young black man accused of murder in Hugo, Oklahoma. That young lawyer became one of Jesse Bethel's idols and he was the future U.S. Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall. He dreamed of becoming a civil rights lawyer and majored in prelaw at Tillotson College, Austin, Texas, until Pearl Harbor and World War II forced him to change his course. While at Tillotson College,he read that Mare Island needed chemists, so he switched his major and got a deferment earning a B.S. degree in chemistry in 1944.

He married his college sweetheart, Claudia Nichols. A month after graduation, they moved to Vallejo to work at Mare Island Naval Shipyard . As a non-veteran, he did not anticipate that his career at Mare Island would continue. But a vacancy appeared and he stayed 30 years as the first Black chemist. By the time of his retirement 30 years later, he was Chief Chemist of the Nuclear Power Division.

During his tenure at Mare Island, he analyzed material used in reactor planned construction, nuclear propulsion pant systems and did some radio chemistry on nuclear submarines. He received many commendations for his work on nuclear powered submarines.

In 1968, the interracial Citizens Political Action Committee of Vallejo formed to elect a black person to the school board. The committee contacted a dozen potential candidates, including Jesse Bethel. He accepting the challenge if no one else wished to run, he was encouraged by family, friends, fellow-employees, and church-goers.

He then worked as a State Farm Insurance Agent, retiring in 1989.

Jesse and Claudia had three children: Marilyn, an accounting cost engineer with B.A.R.T.; Jesse Jr., Attorney-Legal Counsel to the Governor of the Virgin Islands; and Veronica, a State Farm Insurance Agent.

Through his son, Jesse Jr., he realized his youthful dream of becoming a civil rights lawyer.

Jesse Moncel Bethel emphasized that a good education is a way out for the poor and underprivileged and a great asset to all Americans.

Jesse Bethel Senior High School was named in his honor in October, 1991.

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The above was provided by the family of Mr. Bethel. It is a compilation of information and writing by Elizabeth Hayes, Staff Writer for the Times Herald of Vallejo and from a News Plus News Chronicle article, author unknown. Photos inserted in the text are from the archives of Nicole Anderson, grand-daughter.

Photo Portrait of Jesse Bethel used by permission of Randall Spaur, Photographer. Tel: (707)649-2845; Copyright 1997