Dr. Ione Vargus became very involved with our family in 1986 around our family reunions.  She was impressed that we, the Wilson, Lake, Herbert Family, had begun having Reunions in 1968-69, years before Alex Haley’s “Roots” was published (1976) and that our Reunions were so organized with Chapters in many cities.  Our Reunions, primarily all 2 or 3 days long on Labor Day weekend, were always so well done and enjoyed by our family every year.  

Dr. Vargus interviewed us and traveled with us on occasion and was our Reunion guest speaker at  The Wilson, Lake, Herbert’s and The Aydlett Family Reunions.  Several of us spoke at her Family Reunion Workshops and she included information about the WLH Family in one of her books and other publications. The family was also featured in a Philadelphia  Inquirer Newspaper article about Family Reunions. Carmita Crowder Poe is/was a personal friend of hers.  Patricia Haley Hawkins, who was  a graduate of Temple University’s School of Social Administration, knew her also.

Dr. Ione Vargus, Carmita C. Poe and friend

The following is info from a Website Blog by Vernon M. Herron about Dr. Ione Vargus “The Mother of Family Reunions,” on April 1, 2010.

In June 1990, Claude Lewis editorial writer of The Philadelphia Inquirer Newspaper wrote, “If Alex Haley can be called the Father of Family Reunions, Dr. Ione D. Vargus can be called the Mother of Family Reunions.” In that same year, The Family Reunion Institute emerged because of the many requests for information after two previous African American Family Reunion Conferences. The conference planning committee recognized from the responses and from requests for service and information, that it could begin to work with families outside of traditional family agency structures. However, it would need to have a more organized and permanent existence. Thus, the Institute was formally established at the School of Social Administration at Temple University. Its administrator was Dr. Ione D. Vargus, Professor Emeritus, formally the acting Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education at Temple University, the School of Social Administration for a total of seventeen years.

She was Temple’s first African American as well as the first female academic Dean. Dr. Vargus now serves as a volunteer to the organization.

Dr. Vargus began her research on African American family reunions in 1986. She traveled the east coast, north and south to attend family Reunions for Conferences on African American Reunions. She continues collecting information about families and their reunions.

Dr. Vargus has published a number of different topics and has been profiled and/or quoted in many local and national magazines and newspapers.

Respectfully Submitted by Mary A. Herbert, of the Philadelphia Chapter of the Wilson, Lake, Herbert Family Reunion Circle

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