Friends named this close-knit group of young women “Sugar Hill,” and the name stuck. “It was unusual to see so many African American women in one place,” said Elizabeth Goulston, 71, one of the group’s early members and now living in northwest Washington. “We needed that kind of camaraderie and togetherness back then.”
On December 14, 1973, women, most of them seniors, gathered to celebrate their birthdays and early graduations. But the friend group didn’t end there. Before the night was over, they decided to get together again the following December. They had no idea where their new tradition would lead them.
For the past 50 years, women have come together at least once a year to enjoy dinners, weekend sleepovers, and vacations around the world. The Sugar Hill Sisterhood, as they now call themselves, has expanded to 16 women who have relied on each other through 50 years of milestones, including weddings, graduations, baby showers and funerals.
Evelen Johnson Turner, 71, who now lives in Columbia, Maryland, and attended the first dinner in December, said no challenge is too great for the sisterhood. “We could call in the military right away,” she said. “They will be there for me.”
lasting friendships and traditions
The enduring nature of female friendships is well documented. Studies have shown that women’s friendships tend to be deeper than men’s, and that women are more likely to rely on friends as well as their spouses for support. Marisa FrancoHe is a clinical assistant professor at the University of Maryland and author of “Platonic: How the Science of Attachment Can Help You Make — and Keep — Friends.”
While many people have friendships that span decades, the Sugar Hill women are something of a case study in what it takes to maintain a friendship. The Sugar Hill women’s bonds were forged during their college years, but they say they have worked hard to stay connected and nurture their relationships. Daily her WhatsApp group chats will help you stay in touch, as will phone calls, video chats, and remote group activities like the 90-day fitness challenge. They enthusiastically participated in annual reunions and maintained their unwavering support for each other.
“All the women in this group have top-notch personalities,” said Johnetta Hill, 71, who now lives in the Virgin Islands. She said: “People are in awe that all these women have never fought or broken up over the years. We respect each other’s individuality.”
The Sugar Hill reunion started with an annual dinner, but later evolved into overnight stays at each other’s homes and traveling around the world together. The women say that no matter what is going on in their lives, they look forward to spending time with the Sisterhood of Sugar Hill every December.
The Sugar Hill Sisterhood has traveled the world together, visiting many places including Jamaica, Spain, Italy, Bahamas, Mexico, United Arab Emirates, Brazil, Argentina, and Portugal. In December, the group took a trip to Grenada to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the December reunion.
“These trips are meaningful because for many years it was my only vacation,” said Cassandra Stewart, 71, of Baltimore. She said: “I’m having the best time ever and it’s really setting the tone for my year. Being with them is nothing but fun.”
To ensure continued travel and reunions, the group designates a person each year to select locations, consider transportation, and plan activities. The person can organize the trip on their own or form a committee with several other women. Organizers are selected on a rotating basis, and next year’s organizers are determined before the reunion ends. There’s nothing to complain about once you decide where to go.
“There’s an unspoken agreement that we won’t say anything discouraging about the choice of location,” said Linda Evans Cheek, 72, of Hyattsville. She also lived in Elkton Hall during her college years. “If it’s my turn and I want to go somewhere, I’ll go.”
Former Elkton Hall resident Joyce Wynn Dawkins, 71, of Laurel, Md., said the reunion coordinator will send out a notification in mid-March or early April with an estimate of the trip’s destination and total cost. It is said that That’s part of the fun.
“What I really liked was the excitement of not knowing what they were going to do until the invitations arrived,” Dawkins said.
Daily group chats are active and eclectic. Dawkins said the messages include prayers, inspirational quotes and life updates. One message read: “Time and friends become more valuable as you get older.”
When it’s someone’s birthday, group chats fill up with GIFs, emojis, and well wishes. When women need to have a deeper conversation, they’ll jump on a video call, like they did on Friday in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.
And if someone in the group says they’re not feeling well, she knows others will reach out to her.
Helen Jackson James, 71, of Columbia, Maryland, recently experienced a throbbing headache and mentioned it to Quentes Elizabeth Davis of Washington, D.C., who she has known since middle school. They, along with Novella Jones Sherman of Mitchellville, Maryland, originally became members of the Sugar Hill Sisterhood while students attending the University of Maryland campus.
Shortly after complaining of a headache, James began receiving concerned emails and phone calls from other women in her group. “They climbed on top of me and asked, ‘Did you go to the doctor? Did you go to the emergency room?'” James said, adding that she then underwent a head scan and physical exam. I received the book. “They help me stay healthy and positive. We give each other strength and if something is difficult, we try to lift that person up.”
Support in good times and bad times
In the late 1970s, Dawkins’ boyfriend died in a car accident. She returned to Baltimore and as she was mourning her death, one of her Sugar Hill sisters, Sheila Perkins-Hawks, convinced Dawkins to return to Washington, D.C. and live in an apartment with her. They were roommates for the next few years. “She nurtured my soul,” Dawkins said. “That’s all I can say. She let me cry when I wanted to cry.”
Stewart, a Baltimore native, became friends with most of the women through Dawkins, whom she met in high school. The sisterhood was there even during Stewart’s lowest point nearly 40 years ago, when the nonprofit organization she worked for closed. Although she didn’t have a regular job in her two years, her friends in her sisterhood sent her cards, covered her dinner, and even took her on her reunion trip that year. assisted with the participation fee.
“It meant the absolute world to me,” Stewart said. “I don’t remember ever being this depressed in my life. They just kept me going. They made me feel good about myself when I had none of it.” I don’t have any biological sisters and I have all my brothers, but I don’t think I could have picked a better group of sisters.”
Perkins-Hawks, 71, from Washington, D.C., grew up with several friends in the group and shared everything from “a bad breakup with my boyfriend” to “joys, sorrows and hard times” to the group. He said he relied on him to get through it. I fell and had to be picked up. ”
And they can look to her for similar support. “If you call me and need me, I’ll be there,” she said.
The group continues to debate the origin of the name. Several said they believed it was started by a male friend on campus. “Sugar” was a term of endearment for the women, and “hill” referred to the fact that they lived on the top floor of Elkton Hall. “They were all girls, and we were supposed to be sweet sisters. Sugar was sweet and we were young women,” said Angie Page, 71, of Ellicott City, Maryland.
Members of the group say their names have become part of their identity and now extend to their families. Johnson-Turner said she calls her husband “sugar daddy.” My children are “Sugar Babies” and my grandchildren are “Sweet Tarts.”
“Everything we call family has to do with sugar,” Johnson-Turner says.
Sugar Hill friendships now span generations. Friends support each other’s children and grandchildren, and sisters’ children also spend time together. “It’s a great feeling to know that we’re passing on Sugar Hill’s legacy to our descendants and they’re passing it on to their descendants,” Dawkins said.
And when the Dawkins married in 1985, Cheek’s husband explained to his fiancée that his commitment went beyond her. “Just make sure you want to do this,” Dawkins recalls saying at the time. “You’re marrying her, but you’re also marrying her other 15 sisters.”
“He was laughing,” Dawkins said, “but he was right.”
