City honors late Baltimore activist James L. Caskey

BALTIMORE – The late James L. Caskey, Jr., co-founder of South Baltimore Federal Credit Union, has recently been honored by the city. In a ceremony attended by credit union members, city officials, residents, family and friends, Baltimore City Councilman Melvin Stukes officially declared the intersection of Washington Blvd. and Scott Street as “Caskey Square”. A Baltimore native and community activist, Caskey played a major role in the creation of several Southwest Baltimore agencies including the Learning Bank, an adult literacy program; Southwest Senior Center; Washington Village Health Center; and You Are Not Alone, which provides prostitutes with clean clothes and showers when they have been abused by their clients or pimps. Constantly searching for ways to help others, Caskey later served as a division chief with the state of Maryland’s AIDS Administration and headed the AIDS prevention effort for the Baltimore metropolitan area. At the time of his death Caskey also served as president and co-founder of Communities Organized to Improve Life. In 1993 he was presented with the Annie Vamper Award by the National Federation of Community Development Credit Unions. The new square marks the credit union’s previous location and is one block from Caskey’s former home. Caskey died on September 25,1999 at the age of 54 from complications of lymphoma.