Once-revered SC lawmaker freezes to death alone
By SEANNA ADCOX, Associated Press Writer
Wednesday, March 10, 2010

(03-10) 15:31 PST Columbia, S.C. (AP) --

When Juanita Goggins became the first black woman elected to the South
Carolina Legislature in 1974, she was hailed as a trailblazer and
twice visited the president at the White House.

Three decades later, she froze to death at age 75, a solitary figure
living in a rented house four miles from the gleaming Statehouse dome.

Goggins, whose achievements included key legislation on school
funding, kindergarten and class size, had become increasingly
reclusive. She spent her final years turning down help from neighbors
who knew little of her history-making past. Her body was not
discovered for more than a week.

Those neighbors, as well as former colleagues and relatives, are now
left wondering whether they could have done more to help.

"I'm very saddened. People like her you want to see live forever. She
had quite a gift for helping others," said state Sen. John Land, a
fellow Democrat who was first elected to the House the same year as
Goggins.

Goggins, the youngest of 10 children, grew up the daughter of a
sharecropper in rural Anderson County, about 130 miles northwest of
the capital. She was the only sibling to earn a four-year college
degree. Her bachelor's in home economics from then-all-black South
Carolina State College was followed by a master's degree.

She taught in the state's segregated schools, married a dentist and
got into politics. In 1972, she became the first black woman to
represent South Carolina as a delegate to the Democratic National
Convention. Two years later, she became the first black woman
appointed to the U.S. Civil Rights Commission.

"I am going to Columbia to be a legislator, not just a black spot in
the House chambers," she told The Associated Press in 1974 following
her victory over an incumbent white man from a district just south of
Charlotte, N.C.

Voters "were weary of poor representation. They were ready to accept a
person who was sincere and concerned about things. Those feelings go
beyond color," Goggins said.

She sat on the powerful House budget-writing committee and was
responsible for funding sickle-cell anemia testing in county health
departments.

The former teacher also helped pass the 1977 law that is still the
basis for education funding in the state. Her proposals to expand
kindergarten and to reduce student-teacher ratios in the primary
grades were adopted after she left politics in 1980, citing health
issues.

"She was not bashful or anything. She liked to talk. I used to say she
could sell an Eskimo ice," recalled Ilese Dixon, 88, of Pendleton,
Goggins' last surviving sibling. "She was just lively and smart. She
thought she could fix the world."

Her colleagues say they never learned the specifics of her illness
and, since she didn't talk about it, they didn't press.

Several years after leaving the Legislature, Goggins divorced and then
moved to Columbia in the early 1990s, renting the brick ranch house in
a quiet neighborhood off North Main Street where she lived for 16
years.

Her son said she worked several years as a case manager for the state
Department of Health and Environmental Control, although a spokesman
said the agency had no records of her employment. At one point, she
also started a nonprofit tutoring service called the Juanita W.
Goggins School of Excellence.

Neighbors said she was always a private person. One neighbor said she
would return her waves, but refused to let visitors in the door.

Last year, about the same time the Legislature voted to name part of a
state highway after her, Goggins was mugged near her home. She changed
the locks on her door and stopped taking walks, according her
neighbors and landlord.

Police found Goggins' body March 3 — two weeks after she was last
seen. Her landlord contacted police after a next-door neighbor
realized he had not seen her lights on in some time.

Coroner Gary Watts said she died of hypothermia, probably about Feb.
20, and said he found indications of dementia. When she died, during a
cold snap, Goggins was wearing several layers of clothing, yet her
heat was working at the time.

She had money to pay her bills, but the utility company said it shut
off the electricity for nonpayment Feb. 23. Watts said it appeared
Goggins was using Sterno to cook, but her stove was still functioning
when police climbed through a window and found her.

"I miss her," said Erskine Hunter, an 83-year-old neighbor who ensured
Goggins' lawn was mowed and hedges were trimmed. "I don't know why I
didn't go over there and hammer on the door."

Hunter said Goggins occasionally came to his home and visited with his
granddaughter. She refused to let anyone drive her anywhere, and
refused rides to and from the bus stop, so he often went to the
grocery store for her. But he had not done that in several months.

State Sen. John Scott, whose realty company owns Goggins' home, said
he and his sister tried to take care of Goggins as best as they could
without prying.

"We lost a great trailblazer," said Scott, a Democrat from Columbia.
"Our family's very saddened this happened to a person who's given so
much."

His sister who manages the property, Linda Marshall, said Goggins
declined help from the county.

"She needed someone to assist her, but anyone who tried to get close,
she'd block them off," she said. "She was very fragile. This was
something I always dreaded."

Why she withdrew remains a mystery even to her son. He attributes it
to her illness, which was never fully diagnosed.

"That's something I've been trying to get my head around for the last
15 years," said Horace Goggins Jr., 42, of Powder Springs, Ga.

He last saw her about six months ago. She would not let him help her
either, he said.

He wants to focus on her accomplishments and the good times at his
mother's funeral Friday in Rock Hill.

"I would like for her to be remembered as a woman who cared about her
community," he said. "I want her to be remembered as a positive role
model, not only for African-American girls, but also any young girl
who has a want and a desire to make a change and do something
positive."