Billy Taylor Scholarships
William A. Taylor was born on May 27, 1956, in Providence, Rhode Island, the eighth child of sixteen. Taylor was born with a heart condition that led to open-heart surgery at the age of two.
Taylor attended Rhode Island College where he was once President, Vice President, and then, in 1979, Treasurer of the Student Harambee group. While Treasurer, Taylor served as the Mount Hope Neighborhood Association's Director of the Youth Department. In this role, Taylor was an advocate for services and aide to the Mount Hope community youth.
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After graduating from Rhode Island College in 1977, Taylor became more active in the Mount Hope community (Rochambeau Avenue to Olney Street between North Main and Camp Street). He formed a group with Pleasant Street residents called “Pleasant Street Peasants” (PSP). The PSP's main goal was "to show the Mount Hope youth that there was another world outside of the 12 blocks that most of the youth would never see beyond as youths."The PSP "eventually purchased a used bus to shuttle Mount Hope youth to movies, parties, parks, museums, talent shows, camping trips, beach trips, and other places the youth wouldn’t normally have access to."
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On Saturday, May 10, 1986, at the age of 29, Taylor passed. In memory of Taylor's community service and building, the park on 124 Camp Street in Providence was named the Billy Taylor Park in his honor.