Cynthia Rawls Bond was born on February 10, 1934 to the union of her
parents, Charles Allen (C.A.) Rawls and Maude Ellis Crofton Rawls.
Cynthia’s place of birth at 301 Bradford Street in Brownsville, was unique
as it was not only the Rawls family residence, but also doubled as the first
site of Rawls Funeral Home, their family business which has served West
Tennessee now for over 90 years. Cynthia’s childhood provided the
foundation that would define her life. As a little girl, she learned that family,
extended family, and community were often indistinguishable. She
understood the importance of community as well as her responsibility to it.
She witnessed entrepreneurship grounded in collaboration with and service
to the entire community. This same community, in turn, nurtured, informed,
and inspired her. One night she was at home counting coins with her Uncle
Buddy when a neighbor knocked on the door to warn them that Elbert
Williams, another Bradford resident, had been taken from his home. by the
police. A few days later, her funeral director father would be summoned to
the Hatchie River to retrieve Williams’s remains after his brutal lynching.
These early learnings, both inside and out of the classroom, shaped her to
become the sought-after speaker and civic leader that she became. As
recent as last year, just 12 months ago, Cynthia received an Honorary
Doctorate Degree of Letters from Lane College, Jackson, Tennessee. And
in 2023, the Tennessee State NAACP Conference awarded her the
“Women in NAACP Bridge of Honor Award at its 77 th Annual State
Convention, for her distinguished service in supporting civil rights and
justice for all citizens of Tennessee.
There are countless other recognitions which speak to her enduring legacy
of giving, sharing, and lifting others up, a few of which are listed below:
Appointed in 1984 by Governor Lamar Alexander to the State Board of
Education, becoming the first Black businesswoman on the newly
established Board.
Appointed to the Judicial Evaluation Commission and the Commission on
the Future of the Tennessee Judicial System. She was especially privileged
to work on the Commission on the Future of the Tennessee Judicial System
as fellow Haywood County resident and NAACP member, serving during
the term of Judge Lyle Reid, who was the Tennessee Supreme Court’s
Chief Justice during her terms.
Honored in 1994 with the first Avon N. Williams, Jr. Living Legend Award at
the 20 th Annual Legislative Retreat, in Gatlinburg, TN.
Upon her father’s death in 1987, she became the president of Golden
Circle Life Insurance Company, a company Black Enterprise Magazine had
ranked 9 out of the 12 Black owned insurance companies in the United
States.
Served several terms as secretary of the National Insurance Association at
the time that she became the president of the Golden Circle Life Insurance
Company.
Honored with the Fisk University Alumni Achievement Award for Service to
the Community in 2002.
In 2003, after serving on the Governor Phil Bredesen Transition Team,
Bredesen then appointed her to the Tennessee Alcoholic Beverage
Commission. She was the first African American member of this
Commission, representing the state’s western district.
In essence, Cynthia actively contributed to her community throughout her
life, encouraging and mentoring youth; catering to the elderly; and listening
to those who were often felt unheard. She worked tirelessly to build a better
world one in which fellow human beings were respected and protected.
In her formative years, Cynthia attended Haywood County Training School,
graduated from Northeast Junior High School in Kansas City, KS then
embarked on a new adventure when she enrolled in St. Rita Academy in
St. Louis, MO, an all-girl Catholic boarding school run by the Oblate Sisters
of Providence, a Black order of nuns committed to educating girls of the
African diaspora who were often excluded from academic spaces. When
this school closed to support desegregation efforts, she was able to
complete her high school education at St. Frances Academy in Baltimore,
Maryland, also run by the Oblate Sisters of Providence. It was there she
met young girls from Cuba and other parts of the world—making the
African diaspora come alive. She graduated from high school in 1951. She
then spent her first two years of college at Howard University in
Washington, D.C., and later transferred to Fisk University in Nashville, TN.
She graduated in the Class of 1955 with a bachelor’s degree in psychology.
While at Fisk, she became a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., a
public service sorority she supported throughout her life.
In 1956, she earned a master’s degree in Guidance and Personnel
Administration from New York University. She was employed at Riverside
Hospital, a treatment center for drug-addicted youth, one of the first of its
kind in the area. While in New York, she became a registered voter, a right
denied to Blacks at home.
After graduation, Cynthia returned to Brownsville to work in the family
businesses: Rawls Funeral Home and Golden Circle Life Insurance.
Volunteering in the community, she also joined the Haywood County Civic
and Welfare League and became the first secretary of the newly-formed
Haywood County Branch of the NAACP in 1961 (In an ironic life-turning twist, it’s
historically important to also note that the very first chapter of the Haywood County NAACP was
co-founded by Cynthia’s cousin Mattye Tollette Bond and Ollie S. Bond (her future husband’s
uncle). This first Brownsville chapter of the NAACP was forced to disband out of fear of death
after the murder of Elbert Williams, mentioned in Cynthia’s early childhood.) Charles
Cynthia worked tirelessly with the local branch throughout her life and was
its last surviving charter member. Also. while working at Golden Circle Life
Insurance (founded in 1958 by her father, Al Rawls), Cynthia actively
pursued the initiative of fighting for voter rights for Blacks in Haywood
County; while at the same time, she was busy planning her wedding.
On August 27, 1961, Cynthia married the love of her life, Maltimore Bond,
on the front lawn of her parents’ home on Cynthia Drive. They couple made
their first home in Lansing, Michigan, where Maltimore worked as a civil
engineer with the Corps of Engineers. After their first child, Jo Zanice, was
born, they returned to Tennessee. In the mid-1960s, the couple and other
parents organized a Head-Start-inspired pre-school for their children who
were ineligible for Head-Start. Cynthia was a principal fund raiser for the
school which was located in First Baptist Church.
Cynthia actively contributed to her community throughout her entire life,
encouraging and mentoring the youth, catering to the elderly, and listening
to those who were often unheard. She worked to build a better world, one
in which fellow human beings were respected and protected.
Additionally, Bond served on numerous boards: as a member of the
Insouth Bank Board of Directors and is distinguished as the first woman to
have served on that board. She is a former member of the Haywood Park
Hospital Board and the Methodist Haywood Park Hospital Board. She is
also a former member of the YMCA Board, the Boys and Girls Club Board,
the Tennessee Black Health Care Commission, the YMCA Regional Board
and Birth Choice Advisory Board and served as vice-chair of the Lane
College Trustee Board.
Cynthia was a principal in the Brownsville-based Golden Circle Insurance
Agency, Inc., a spin-off from Golden Circle Life Insurance Company. She
enjoyed contributing to the “Special Friends” Program at Sunny Hill School
and often hosted luncheons at her home for “The Winners Circle”, a group
of vulnerable youth determined to succeed despite the odds.
Not one for wanting to waste precious time, Cynthia was also a dedicated
member of the Jackson TN Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta
Sorority, Inc., the Jackson Tennessee Chapter of The LINKS, Incorporated,
and a Diamond Life Member of the Haywood County NAACP Branch.
All who have been touched by Cynthia’s love, her generosity, and her
caring spirit during her life and career endeavors will be forever blessed to
carry on and to pass on this legacy of our Charles Cynthia Rawls Bond.
Cynthia was preceded in death by her parents C.A. and Maude E. Rawls,
her brother W.D. Rawls, Sr., and her devoted friend and loving husband of
60 years, Maltimore Bond.
Cynthia leaves a large, loving family to celebrate her life and honor her
memory— most immediately are her four children Dr. Jo Zanice Bond of
Auburn, AL; Alan Rawls Bond and Andrea Bond Johnson (Dwight Johnson)
of Brownsville, TN, Maude Bond (Richard McDonald) of Carpinteria, CA;
grandchildren Dr. Dwight Johnson, II , MD (Dr. Taylor Brooks, MD) of
Beltsville, Maryland; David Alan Johnson, Esq. of Harlem, NY; Nicholas
Drake Bond of Oak Bluff, Massachusetts; Lauryn Zanice Bond of
Brownsville, TN; Kyron Alexander Bond of Tougaloo, MS; brothers and
sisters-in-law Dr. Andrew B. Bond and Countess Bond Metcalf (Fred) of
Goodlettsville, TN; Barbara H. Bond and Garnett (Barbara M.) Bond, Jr., of
Nashville, TN, Geraldus (Dr. Beverly G.) Bond of Germantown, TN; her
eldest living relative Mildred Bond Roxborough of New York City, NY; and
host of nieces, nephews, cousins, and friends.
