The Reverend Heslip Malbert "Happy" Lee (1922- ), minister and educator, social and political activist, has spent much of his life working to improve relations between blacks and whites. His life's work is representative of many other like-minded individuals of his generation who were active in the cause for civil rights and equality in the last half of the 20th century. A native of Georgia, Lee's work during the height of the struggle for civil rights brought him to Virginia in the early 1960s where he served as Executive Director of the Virginia Council on Human Relations. In the late 1960s and 1970s he served as a consultant to various educational, urban, and community programs in North Carolina, Georgia, and other localities. Born in rural Polk County, Georgia on February 21, 1922, Heslip Malbert Lee is the son of Mary Camp Lee (1918-1983) and Malbert Warren Lee (1898-1976). Lee had two younger siblings, a sister, Virginia Lee, born 1924, and a brother, Charles Lee, who died at age 2. The Lee family were poor tenant farmers, raising cotton and corn, living without electricity and running water. Lee attended elementary and high school in Polk County. The origin of the name "Happy" began when Lee's sister could not pronounce his first name. She eventually started calling him something that sounded like "Happy." Lee was at Junior College when the name "Happy" began to be used by more than his family. One of his professors considered his name Heslip too hard to remember and asked him if he had a nickname. Lee recounted his sister calling him "Happy." The professor preferred the nickname and it stuck. In 1941, Lee married Laura McClung (1924- ) of Haralson County. They later had five children: Dwain H. Lee, Glen L. Lee, Joan Lee, Stephen F. Lee (who died in 1994), and Laurie Lee. Happy Lee operated a dairy farm and grocery business in Polk County. Ordained to "preach the Gospel" in October of 1949, Lee served as pastor of the Antioch Baptist Church in July of 1950. He would go on to serve as pastor of nearly a dozen other Baptist churches in Georgia and other states. Lee received a B.A. Degree in Philosophy in June, 1954 from Mercer University in Macon, Georgia, and a Master of Divinity Degree in 1957 from Colgate-Rochester Divinity School. He became pastor of York Baptist Church, in York, New York, while working in a number of local community organizations. He returned to Georgia and served two years, 1957-1959, as Director of Religious Activities, at Mercer University, in Macon. Lee served as pastor of First Baptist Church, in Springfield, Virginia, from 1959-1961 and became a member of the Board of Directors of the Virginia Council on Human Relations (VCHR), a biracial state wide organization that worked to foster communication and improved relations between blacks and whites. Lee and his family moved to Richmond when he accepted the post as Executive Director of VCHR. He also served during this time period, 1961-1964, as a member of the Virginia State Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. Lee was extremely active as VCHR's Executive Director. He worked to increase the number of local VCHR groups and overall membership; he spoke to numerous groups in both small and large settings; helped in the desegregation of dozens of public facilities in Virginia; and monitored actions in Prince Edward County, Virginia, where county officials had closed their public schools in an effort to block school desegregation. In late 1964 Lee left Virginia and became Executive Director, Salisbury-Rowan Community Service Council, Inc., in Salisbury, North Carolina and served as Chairman, North Carolina State Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. In 1966 he began serving as Vice President for Development, Shaw University, Raleigh and continued to be active in the civil rights field in the state. Beginning in 1968 he would serve for nearly ten years under a variety of titles acting as a consultant to several educational, urban, and community programs in North Carolina, Georgia, and other localities. Lee retired in 1978 in Cedartown, Georgia, and operated the family jewelry store and farmed. In the 1980s, he served in the "Minister-at-Large" program of the American Baptist Churches with assignments in churches from New York to Utah. In the 1990s he chaired the 7th District (7 Counties) Democratic Party in Georgia and is credited with revitalizing the Polk County Democratic Party.
From the description of Heslip M. "Happy" Lee papers, 1915-2003 (James Branch Cabell Library). WorldCat record id: 774992414
