By Michael Morton
When 900 people crammed into Antun's catering hall in Queens Village recently for the 50th anniversary of St. Albans' Guy R. Brewer United Democratic Club, the guests implicitly paid tribute to an organization that changed the political landscape in southeast Queens.For when future state Assemblyman Guy R. Brewer and his colleagues founded the organization in 1955, black elected officials from the area had not yet become the norm.”They saw a need for a political club in southeast Queens,” said former City Councilman Archie Spigner of St. Albans, who now heads the group with Dora Young, the Queens clerk and vice president of the county Democratic organization. At the time of the club's founding, white residents were still prevalent in the area, but the demographics were changing. Brewer and the others wanted the political establishment to reflect the change and sought empowerment.”The black community was growing,” Spigner said.In response, Brewer and his fellow district leader Isadora Rogers founded the first Democratic club in southeast Queens, located at Foch Boulevard and New York Boulevard, later to become Guy R. Brewer Boulevard, in South Jamaica. Thanks to Brewer's dynamic persona, the organization grew quickly.”He was articulate, he was a gifted orator,” Spigner said. “It gave it a good jump-start.”Not satisfied with the status quo, the new club often broke with the county Democratic organization over which candidates to endorse, Young said. In the case of Ken Brown, who became the first black State Supreme Court justice in the borough, they were turned down the first several times they tried to nominate him.”We insisted,” Young said. “We didn't step down until we got him.”Young and Spigner joined the club within weeks of each other in 1964. When Brewer, who gained a seat in the state Assembly in 1969, stepped down from leading the club to focus on his office three years later, Spigner was elected to a district leader post and took over running the group. Young joined him at the top in 1975, replacing Rogers.”I look at him as a mentor,” Spigner said of Brewer. “She taught me everything I know,” Young said of Rogers, who had taken her under her wing.Together Young and Spigner moved the club to 197-01 Linden Blvd. in St. Albans, when the landlord sold the old site and it was turned into Carmichael's Diner. When Brewer died, his name was affixed to the club in memoriam.Today Brewer's and Roger's club is one of the largest in the country, with a 1,400-person mailing list, and it can look back on its enduring legacy: Getting the first black leaders from Queens elected at all levels of government. The organization continues to influence elections, enjoy one of the highest voting districts in the nation and be a model for other political clubs in southeast Queens that were formed in its wake.”We've been fortunate to develop a loyal membership,” Spigner said. While he acknowledged that political clubs play less of a role in an age of mass media and consultants, he said Guy R. Brewer's organization remained relevant.”The club provides a forum, the club provides foot soldiers, the club provides support,” Spigner said, noting that the group had also delved into neighborhood issues. “We don't just limit ourselves to politics anymore.”Reach reporter Michael Morton by e-mail at news@timesledger.com or by phone at 718-229-0300, Ext. 154.
