Category: Essays

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African American Women at William & Mary Essays Uncategorized

The Untold Story of African American Women at William & Mary

Maggie Aschmeyer, Marc Charbonier, Laura Kirk, William Ryu

Branch Out Alternative Break 2020

 

The Untold Story of African American Women at William & Mary

Introduction

African American women have been essential to the establishment and development of William & Mary since its founding in 1693. However, early historical records critically lack information regarding the very existence of African American women at the university, making their early contributions greatly unknown and undervalued. African American women at William & Mary have contributed to the growth and success of the university as enslaved laborers, paid staff members, and eventually as students and faculty.

The Lemon Project: A Journey of Reconciliation at William & Mary has been working to rectify the wrongs perpetrated against African Americans by the university. Among other significant accomplishments, The Lemon Project has been uncovering the names of enslaved African Americans at William & Mary through analyzing local runaway slave advertisements and baptismal records from the Bruton Parish Episcopal Church in Williamsburg. As of January 2020, the names of approximately thirty female slaves owned by William & Mary have been uncovered, as well as those of approximately 160 female slaves owned by the faculty and students. The long history of African American women at William & Mary has remained largely excluded from the university’s academic discussions. The evidence describing the 327 years that African American women have been at William & Mary reveals a story of injustice and persistence in the face of adversity.

The Early Years: Slavery

The relationship between African American women and William & Mary begins with slavery. Enslaved African Americans built the Wren building, the Brafferton, and the President’s House, and were intensively involved in the daily operations and long-term growth of the university.1 In 1718, William & Mary acquired Nottoway Quarter, a tobacco plantation in present-day Virginia counties of Sussex, Surry, Prince George, and Dinwiddie. Seventeen enslaved laborers were purchased to operate the plantation, which funded the university’s operations and student scholarships.2 At William & Mary, enslaved female laborers likely cooked, cleaned, worked in the gardens, and performed other housekeeping duties.3 At times, the university sold or rented its slaves for revenue. For example, William & Mary sold eight slaves in 1782 to raise funds necessary for building renovations.4  Members of the William & Mary faculty and administration, particularly President Thomas Roderick Dew, strongly argued in support of slavery, chacterizing it as an “absolute and necessary good.”5 William & Mary staff members played a significant role in the justification and perpetuation of slavery in Virginia and the United States.

Post-Slavery Transition

Following the abolishment of slavery in 1865, the relationship between African American women and William & Mary transitioned from unpaid to paid labor. Information specifically regarding African American women at the university is scarce during both the slavery and post-slavery periods. Records pertaining to African Americans at William & Mary were poorly kept and academic information relating to women of color during this time period is not widely available. The history of African American labor at William & Mary in this post-slavery period regards both men and women.

According to The Lemon Project: A Journey of Reconciliation – Report of the First Eight Years, “blacks continued to serve in important roles at William & Mary, just as they had when they were enslaved. Free black labor during this period resembled the labor of the enslaved.”6 African Americans took on paid roles at the university as janitors, dining hall staff, and groundskeepers. From the beginning of their employment, African American wages remained too low to support themselves.7  During the Jim Crow era, the university hired African Americans particularly for jobs that required heavy labor, and wages were kept low.8 William & Mary also often used intimidation techniques to “remind” African American workers “of their place” in society.9  For example, in 1926, the Ku Klux Klan gifted William & Mary a flagpole, which was placed at the university bus stop. The university staff, many of whom were African American, were picked up and dropped off for work at that flagpole until its removal in 1959.10

In the late 1930s, William & Mary President John Stewart Bryan directly acknowledged the university’s underpayment of African American staff. Bryan stated that African Americans employed by the university had “for a long time… been greatly underpaid,” and he gave a greater pay raise to African American workers than to white workers.11 However, racial disparities have remained deeply ingrained at the university. Heightened racial awareness in the 1960s brought William & Mary’s unequal practices to light, and students and staff members protested the university’s low wages, its lack of career advancement opportunities, and its discriminatory working conditions for African Americans.12 One William & Mary Flat Hat article from the 1960s discussed the “deplorable employment situation” of African Americans at the university. This article highlighted the reality that African American staff members did not work at the university because they particularly “want to,” but because the positions they filled are “traditionally held” by African Americans.13 Despite their many contributions to the success and daily operations of William & Mary, African American staff members have remained disadvantaged and undervalued.

Integration Efforts

In Fall of 1967, African American women at William & Mary were finally admitted as students, marking a new era of contribution from female African Americans to the university. The first female African American undergraduate students to live on campus at William & Mary were Janet Brown Strafer, Karen Ely, and Lynn Briley. They arrived at the university in Fall 1967 and lived together in Jefferson Hall. In 2012, a plaque honoring the three women was placed outside of Jefferson Hall. Karen Ely shared her thoughts regarding the plaque in an interview for The Lemon Project, stating that the placement of the plaque is “fitting” given Jefferson’s history of owning slaves. Ely mentioned that the hall’s namesake, Thomas Jefferson, must be “turning over in his grave.”14

While the three women reflected on parts of their time at William & Mary as positive experiences, their integration into the student body included several negative experiences as well. Although Lynn Briley states that she “never felt any hostility” from the other girls in Jefferson Hall, Ely remembers finding a racial slur on the sidewalk outside of the dorm during freshman orientation.15 Ely also recalls feeling personally pressured to to forge a better path for any black students that attend William & Mary in the future. She told the Lemon Project, “I refused to quit because I felt if we quit, then other people wouldn’t want to come, so I said no, I’ve got to put up with whatever I had to put up with.”

In her 1970 essay “The Black Experience,” Strafer stated, “There are also a few with whom I have made what [I] hope to be lasting friendships. These few, however, cannot right the wrongs of the majority. Therefore it is impossible for me to change any of the views I hold about the white man until he changes his views about Black people. I mean honestly and not in the ways he has pretended to thus far.”16

On top of the challenges and discrminiation they experienced due to their race, Strafer, Ely, and Briley also had to abide by the stricter rules that were placed on all female students. These additional rules included a rigid dress code that prevented female students from wearing pants outside of their dorms unless they covered themselves with a coat. Strafer remembers that female students also had to flip a blue card outside of their door when exiting their dorm room so that the Resident Assistants could keep track of them.17 Furthermore, Ely shared with The Lemon Project that date rape prevalently occurred on campus during her years at the university but often “got pushed under the rug.”18 These issues exemplify the challenges that affected all women at William & Mary during this time, which also played a role in shaping the experiences of the first female African American students.

In 1968, five African American women were admitted to William & Mary. By the end of their first semester, three of those students had already dropped out. Edith Cooke was one of the two women who remained at the university. In 1969, Cooke told the Flat Hat, “Besides the luck involved in getting a particular professor, another reason given for the high percentage of failures was the pressure of adjusting socially while maintaining studies at the same time.” Cooke recounted at least one girl feeling “burdened by a prejudice which was always present even if not always overt.”19 In 1969, the school marching band faced controversy for their choosing to play “Dixie” at school football games, which resulted in the song being removed from their musical selections.20 The Kappa Alpha fraternity also received backlash in the Flat Hat for dressing up in confederate uniforms as a part of their annual spring parade, however, the tradition would carry on for another decade.21

Today

Despite the process of integration having begun in 1967 for African American undergraduate women at William & Mary, racial reconciliation continues today. Alumna Mallory Walker 2017 mentioned that her time at William & Mary included various challenges due to her race and the lack of equal representation and sociopolitical awareness at the university.
She stated that one of the primary instigators of those challenges was President Taylor Reveley, who was “incredibly problematic” during his time at William & Mary. Walker particularly referenced an incident in which President Reveley, a white man, stated, “I have color too,” while speaking to students organizing a Black Lives Matter conference at the university. Walker states that there were various issues of racism at William & Mary throughout her years at the university, but never felt as though the administration truly acted against it.22

Racial integration and equality at William & Mary is still an issue for staff members. One African American woman who worked as a William & Mary housekeeper connected her experience at the university to its history of slavery. She stated, “To this day there is still a form of slavery. I was not allowed to attend here so I haven’t come very far…but I am allowed to clean here.” She elaborated on the high proportion of African Americans among the housekeeping staff and the limited opportunities for advancement available to them. The staff member emphasized that they were assigned unfairly high amounts of work while receiving disproportionately low salaries. Many of her white colleagues chose to leave the university in search of other employment opportunities, but the majority of African American staff members had no choice but to accept their circumstances. She states “that’s still a form of slavery.”23

Additionally, recent student protests at William & Mary have shed light on the fact that the university continues to purchase its furniture from Virginia Correctional Enterprises, which uses the labor of incarcerated people paid between $0.55 and $0.80 per hour.24 As student protesters have argued, this labor is a form of modern day slavery, as it benefits from mass incarceration which disproportionately targets and exploits people of color.25 Therefore, the furniture that fills William & Mary dorms and classrooms are yet another instance of the university perpetuating the exploitation of African Americans. In this manner, William & Mary still depends on the exploitative labor of African American women. The university continues to unfairly benefit from their labor and fails to grant them the recognition they deserve.

Conclusion

African American women have contributed to William & Mary since its founding in 1693, and have been exploited to make the university’s existence and growth possible. African American women were enslaved by not only the university, but also its faculty and students. When slavery was eventually abolished, African American women became paid staff members at the university. Despite being paid, these women were in jobs with unlivable wages, poor working conditions, and few opportunities for continued advancement. Despite these women being subjected to a variety of Jim Crow era policies and incidents that led to an atmosphere of intimidation, these women remained integral to the William & Mary community and the functioning of the university. Since African American women were eventually accepted as students and faculty, they have prospered in an academic community stacked against their success. Today, African American women at William & Mary continue to greatly contribute to the university, often challenging the inequalities that remain throughout the institution.

Despite the information currently available on African American women at William & Mary, large gaps remain. The contributions of African American women in their 327 years at William & Mary must not be overlooked—as an academic community, it is our responsibility to bring their contributions to light and fully explore their long history at the university. In addition, the university must continue to take progressive steps to reconcile its dark history and commit to building an institution that fundamentally values racial equality.

 

Endnotes

1 Meyers, Terry L. “A First Look at the Worst: Slavery and Race Relations at the College of 

William and Mary.” William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal 16, no. 4 (2008). https://scholarship.law.wm.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=&httpsredir=1&article=1055&context=wmborj.

2 The Lemon Project. “The Lemon Project: A Journey of Reconciliation: Report of the First Eight 

Years,” February 2019. https://www.wm.edu/sites/lemonproject/_documents/the-lemon-project-report.pdf.

3 Meyers, Terry L. “A First Look at the Worst: Slavery and Race Relations at the College of 

William and Mary.” William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal 16, no. 4 (2008). 

4 Meyers, Terry L. “A First Look at the Worst: Slavery and Race Relations at the College of 

William and Mary.” William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal 16, no. 4 (2008). 

5 Meyers, Terry L. “ Thinking About Slavery at the College of William and Mary.” William & 

Mary Bill of Rights Journal21, no. 4 (2013). https://scholarship.law.wm.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1659&context=wmborj.

6 The Lemon Project. “The Lemon Project: A Journey of Reconciliation: Report of the First Eight 

Years,” February 2019. https://www.wm.edu/sites/lemonproject/_documents/the-lemon-project-report.pdf.

7 The Lemon Project. “The Lemon Project: A Journey of Reconciliation: Report of the First Eight 

Years,” February 2019. 

8 The Lemon Project. “The Lemon Project: A Journey of Reconciliation: Report of the First Eight 

Years,” February 2019. 

9 The Lemon Project. “The Lemon Project: A Journey of Reconciliation: Report of the First Eight 

Years,” February 2019. 

10 The Lemon Project. “African Americans and William & Mary: A Historical Timeline.” 

William & Mary. https://www.wm.edu/sites/lemonproject/researchandresources/historicaltimeline/index.php.

11 Meyers, Terry L. “A First Look at the Worst: Slavery and Race Relations at the College of 

William and Mary.” William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal 16, no. 4 (2008). 

12 Bloom, Lois. “Integrating the College of William and Mary.” For The Lemon Project: A 

Journey of Reconciliation, September 10, 2014. https://digitalarchive.wm.edu/bitstream/handle/10288/21125/UA82_20150602_IntegratingWMBloom_Redacted.pdf?sequence=1.

13 Bloom, Lois. “Integrating the College of William and Mary.” For The Lemon Project: A 

Journey of Reconciliation, September 10, 2014. 

14 Janet Brown Strafer, Karen Ely, & Lynn Briley, W&M Class of 1971.” Special Collections 

Research Center: Oral Histories. William & Mary Libraries, March 19, 2016. https://oh.libraries.wm.edu/collection/living-the-legacy/item/janet-brown-strafer-karen-ely-&-lynn-briley-w&m-class-of-1971-0.

15 “Janet Brown Strafer, Karen Ely, & Lynn Briley, W&M Class of 1971.” Special Collections 

Research Center: Oral Histories. William & Mary Libraries, March 19, 2016. 

16 Bloom, Lois. “Integrating the College of William and Mary.” For The Lemon Project: A 

Journey of Reconciliation, September 10, 2014. 

17 “Janet Brown Strafer, Karen Ely, & Lynn Briley, W&M Class of 1971.” Special Collections 

Research Center: Oral Histories. William & Mary Libraries, March 19, 2016. 

18  “Janet Brown Strafer, Karen Ely, & Lynn Briley, W&M Class of 1971.” Special Collections 

Research Center: Oral Histories. William & Mary Libraries, March 19, 2016. 

19 Bloom, Lois. “Integrating the College of William and Mary.” For The Lemon Project: A 

Journey of Reconciliation, September 10, 2014. 

20 Bloom, Lois. “Integrating the College of William and Mary.” For The Lemon Project: A 

Journey of Reconciliation, September 10, 2014. 

21 Bloom, Lois. “Integrating the College of William and Mary.” For The Lemon Project: A 

Journey of Reconciliation, September 10, 2014. 

22 Mallory Walker, W&M Class of 2017. Special Collections Research Center, April 25, 2018. 

https://oh.libraries.wm.edu/collection/living-the-legacy/item/mallory-walker-w&m-class-of-2017

23 “Williamsburg Documentary Project.” The W&M Digital Archive,  

https://digitalarchive.wm.edu/handle/10288/453.

24 Nutter, Caroline. “College Bound to Virginia Correctional Enterprises Contract.” Flat Hat 

News. The College of William and Mary, March 27, 2018. http://flathatnews.com/2018/03/27/college-bound-to-virginia-correctional-enterprises-contract/.

25 Smith, Sarah. “[Hunger] Striking against VCE: Student Withdraws from College as Groups 

Question Conduct Process.” Flat Hat News. College of William and Mary, November 6, 2018. http://flathatnews.com/2018/11/06/hunger-striking-against-vce-student-withdraws-from-college-as-groups-question-conduct-process/.

Categories
African American Women at William & Mary Syllabus

African American Women & William & Mary

African American Women & William & Mary

HIST XXX-XX / AFST XXX-XX

1/6/20-1/17/20

 

Course Description

William & Mary often promotes its long history as an institution without critically examining the racism and oppression inherent in its existence. In honor of The Lemon Project: A Journey of Reconciliation, this two week introductory course will examine the contributions African American women have made to the university throughout its 327-year-long history. Students will learn more about the university that they attend and learn to examine established narratives and institutions through the study of primary and secondary sources.

 

Content Learning Objectives

By the end of the course, students should be able to understand:

  1. The direct and indirect ways in which William & Mary as an institution has benefited from the labor of African Americans
  2. A general timeline of William & Mary’s relationship with African American women
  3. Current issues of African American women at William & Mary

 

Skills Objectives

By the end of the course, students should have improved upon their skills to:

  1. Look at historically dominant narratives with a critical eye
  2. Effectively use primary and secondary sources

 

Grading

Class Participation: 25%

Blackboard Discussion Posts: 20% 

Response Paper #1: 15%

Response Paper #2: 15%

Final Project: 25% 

 

Blackboard Discussion Posts

Each night, you will be expected to write 150-300 words about that day’s assigned reading, lectures, and in-class discussion. We encourage you to be in conversation with the material as well as with each other, so you can include quotes from any of our sources, presenters, or students. Tangents are welcome. 

 

Response Papers:

These 2-3 page response papers will provide an opportunity for you to think deeper about a question posed in class. You will receive these questions in class.

 

Final Project

Examine the dominant narratives of another university in Virginia and provide an untold narrative or perspective of African American women that challenges it. Your project can be in the form of a paper, oral presentation, video, etc.

 

Course Schedule

Week 1

1/6 Topic: Williamsburg and Slavery

Readings: “The Dark Side of Thomas Jefferson” by Henry Wiencek, The Angela Site

 Receive Paper #1 Prompt 
1/7 Topic: William & Mary: A University Built on Slave Labor

Readings: “Thinking about Slavery at the College of William and Mary” by Terry L. Meyers
1/8 Topic: William & Mary: Pro-Slavery Thought at the University

Readings: “The Lemon Project: A Journey of Reconciliation – Report of the First Eight Years” (pages 38 – 49)
1/9 Topic: Reconstructing the Reconstruction Era: Primary Sources w/ Special Collections 

(Meet in Swem)

 Paper #1 Due

Receive Paper #2 Prompt 
1/10 Topic: Integration at William & Mary

Readings: Interview w/ Janet Brown Strafer, Karen Ely, and Lynn Briley (Special Collections Research Center: Oral Histories. William & Mary Libraries)
Week 2: 

1/13 Topic: Integration at William & Mary

Readings: “Integrating the College of William and Mary” by Lois Bloom, Ph.D
1/14 Topic: Trip to Colonial Williamsburg

Readings: “Slavery is a tough role, hard sell at Colonial Williamsburg” by J. Freedom du Lac

 Paper #2 Due
1/15 Topic: Current Experiences & Activism

Readings: Interview w/ Mallory Walker (Special Collections Research Center: Oral Histories. William & Mary Libraries);

“BLM educates for change: Black Lives Matter conference addresses College’s history” by Sarah Smith
1/16 Topic: Current Experiences & Activism

Readings: “BLM organizers march for change: Tension, discussion over ‘demands’ follows week-long conference” by Sarah Smith;

“[Hunger] striking against VCE: Student withdraws from College as groups question conduct process” by Sarah Smith
1/17 Topic: Student Presentations Final Project Due
Categories
African American Women in the Civil Rights Movement Essays

Black Women Leaders in the Civil Rights Movement

Unbought and Unbossed: Black Women Leaders in the Civil Rights Movement

Alexis Dorsey, Sonia Kinkhabwala, Connor Kennedy

When one thinks of the Civil Rights movement, renowned figures like Martin Luther King Jr. come to mind.  While it is important to recognize Dr. King’s contributions to the movement, the women of color who fought for civil rights and liberties during this time are often overlooked. Among these unsung heroes are Dorothy Height, Gloria Richardson, and Shirley Chisholm. These women served in different spheres, including at the local level, as counsel for prominent American leaders, and in Congress. Similarly, they practiced different leadership styles – ranging from grassroots community organizing to affecting change from inside the federal government. In spite of these differences and several obstacles, including the structure of traditional male, charismatic leadership, all three of these women pushed for progress with impressive results. 

Dorothy Irene Height began her career in the 1930s, decades prior to the major strides of the Civil Rights movement. She received an oratorical scholarship that enabled her to attend New York University, where she would graduate and go on to work at the New York City Welfare Department as a caseworker. [1] By the end of the 30s, she was working for the Young Women’s Christian Association. Here, she worked hand-in-hand with women on issues concerning women – including at a lodging for black women in Harlem. Shortly after starting at the YWCA, Height met a few women that left lasting impressions on her. She was assigned to accompany Eleanor Roosevelt to a meeting of the National Council of Negro Women, which was under the leadership of Mary Mcleod Bethune. When asked about this meeting, Dorothy said “as I was leaving to take Mrs. Roosevelt, I–Mrs. Bethune asked me my name, and when I told her, she said, come back. We need you. And I’ve been back ever since.” [2] This was Dorothy’s first exposure to the national organization that she would eventually lead herself, and to a woman whom she would always revere.

Prior to becoming president of the NCNW in 1957, Height was the president of the Delta Sigma Theta sorority, another national organization led by black women that was founded at Howard University in 1913. [3] Dorothy Height’s leadership of national organizations allowed her to assume a level of prominence rare for women of color. While president of the NCNW, she was a member of the Council for the United Civil Rights leadership group, which included the eminent Dr. King and John Lewis. As the sole woman of the group, she helped organize the March on Washington in 1963. In her memoir, Height writes of “appeals to include a woman speaker” occurring as late as the day of the march, but to no avail. [4] As a woman who got her start through an oratorical scholarship and as the president of the NCNW, Height would have been a natural choice to give a voice to women at all levels of the Civil Rights movement. Nonetheless, Height’s contribution to the movement is a large reason it has the legacy it has today. As Dorothy herself said, “Well, if there’s anything you can say about American women, it is that they are organized.” [5]

Gloria Richardson was born in Cambridge, Maryland in May 1922. She is best known for leading protests in her hometown during the civil rights movement of the 1960s. The Cambridge Movement, as it is now known, fought segregation and other pervasive effects of racism – including lack of healthcare access for Cambridge’s African American citizens. Richardson led the Cambridge Non-Violent Action Committee in town-wide demonstrations. [6] When these events often turned violent and brutality began to reign, the National Guard was dispatched to Cambridge. In this picture, Richardson fends off a Guardsman who attempts to block her way. This moment not only reflects the indomitable spirit of the movement, but also of Richardson herself, as she says, “I was brought up to slug it out in terms of what I thought or felt with anybody.” [7]

In the summer of 1963, Gloria Richardson met with Robert Kennedy at the White House. In conversations, Kennedy pushed Richardson to accept the use of a referendum to establish civil rights by citizen vote. Richardson pushed back against this, insisting that equal rights were already guaranteed to all people via the Constitution. Richardson reports that the government insisted on the referendum, promising her jobs within the federal government and other perks if she accepted the referendum. Richardson often expressed a distrust in the federal government saying, “that’s when I told him he could tell Robert Kennedy and the President to go to hell, that I was not afraid of them.” [7] Eventually, Richardson and Kennedy reached an agreement that included a referendum, but also the desegregation of Cambridge schools. 

Richardson’s activism reflects her proclivity towards community-based change as opposed to what community organizer, Gerardo Calderón calls “hero” leadership. [8] In mobilizing the individuals in the town she grew up in, Richardson showcased the potential of ordinary people to create transformative social change in where they are. This is in contrast to the famed charismatic leadership of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. If anything, Gloria Richardson’s contributions to the movement showcase how empowered community members can make just as much of an impact as a “great speech.” [7]

Shirley Chisholm took part in community leadership, and later became involved in the federal government. She started in politics in the Seventeenth Assembly District (17AD) Democratic Club in Bedford-Stuvysent, Brooklyn in the 1940’s, during her time at Brooklyn College. In 1968, she became the first African-American woman in Congress and in 1972, the first African-American to run in the presidential primaries for a major party [9]. She used her political platform to advocate for both women and African-American’s civil rights. While teaching nursery school after graduation, she was involved in organizing sit-ins with people in her community to advocate for poor peoples’ rights [10].

Chisholm was an outspoken leader who was focused on the people. She was known for being headstrong and unintimidated by those who disagreed with her. On getting involved in politics, she states, “I think that because I had this tenacity of spirit, people began to say back in the local community; ‘Well, my goodness, we have people who are on the council, and in the state legislature but they don’t help us the way you do. Why don’t you consider moving into the political arena?’” [10] In the 17AD Democratic Club, she was the only black woman in the room. Thought the community was two-thirds black, the board of directors was mostly Irish men [11]. The white men in the club opposed black candidates for office. Shirley was kicked off the board of directors after just three weeks because she found out about these exclusionary tactics and would not keep quiet [10]. During her presidential campaign, she called herself “Fighting Shirley” and used the campaign slogan “Unbossed and Unbought” [9]. She was seen as an “irritant,” about which she comments, “[Black and white professional politicians] are not able to get along with me because I will not play the game that has been played for many years in this country to keep black people back” [10]. Her campaign appealed to students and minority groups: women, African-American, Mexican-Amercians, and Native Americans [12]. She spoke in fluent Spanish to Mexican-American voters. Though she lacked support from most black male politicians, she had the support of the Black Panther Party, which represented black militant hypermasculinity [11].

The intersection of being black and a woman created additional obstacles for her in her campaign, but paved the way for future black women to break into politics. Chisholm’s black male critics argued she was tied down by the Women’s Liberation movement, to which she says she is simply a woman with other women rallying behind her success, but she is not captive [10]. A New York Times headline from January 2019 evokes Chisholm to announce Kamala Harris’ presidential candidacy [13].

These women are just a few among the many black female leaders that redefined the respective spheres of power they operated in. Their work is more easily overlooked when compared to the lionized roles their male colleagues have in the history we were taught and know so well.  From local, behind-the-scenes organizing to being elected Congress, black women have served in pivotal roles in the advancement of the cause of both black and womens’ rights in the United States. 

 

Bibliography

[1] Crewe, Sandra Edmonds. “Dorothy Irene Height: Profile of a Giant in Pursuit of Equal Justice for Black Women.” Affilia 24, no. 2 (2009): 199-205.

 

[2] “Dorothy Height.” thehistorymakers.org https://www.thehistorymakers.org/biography/dorothy-height-39 (accessed January 19, 2020)

 

[3] “Founders.” deltasigmatheta.org https://www.deltasigmatheta.org/founders (accessed Jnuary 20, 2020)

 

[4] Height, Dorothy Irene. “Chapter 9: Land of the Free” Open Wide the Freedom Gates. New York, NY: PublicAffairs, 2003.

 

[5] Cowan, Polly, transcript of an oral history conducted in 1974-96, in Interviews of the Black Women Oral History Project, 1976-1981: Dorothy Height Schlesinger Library, Harvard University, 1976, pp. 67.

 

[6] Joesph Mosnier, Gloria Hayes Richardson Interview, transcript of an oral history conducted 2011 by Joseph Mosnier, Civil Rights History Project, Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of African American History and Culture and the Library of Congress, 2011, pp. 1-49. 

 

[7] Jeff Kisseloff, Transcript of oral history, in Generation on Fire: Voices of Protest from the 1960s: An Oral History. Lexington, Kentucky: University Press of Kentucky, 2007, pp. 51-58. 

 

[8] Gerardo, Calderón, “Social change needs engaged communities, not heroes,” filmed Nov. 5, 2014. TED video, 14:09, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WdHBWL4LK88.

 

[9] Michals, Debra, “Shirley Chisholm,” n.d. <https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/shirley-chisholm> (20 January 2020).

 

[10] Edward Thompson, Transcript of an oral history conducted 1973, in Ralph J. Bunche Oral Histories Collection on the Civil Rights Movement, Moorland-Spingarn Research Center, Howard University, pp.1-30.

 

[11] Barbara Winslow, Shirley Chisholm : Catalyst for Change (Boulder: Routledge, 2013) Accessed January 20, 2020. ProQuest Ebook Central.

 

[12] Norman Miller, “Mrs. Chisholm Insists on Running, to Dismay of Many Politicians: Blacks Who Support Others are Put in a Spot, Whites Fear Impact on their Men,” Wall Street Journal, Feb. 14, 1972.
[13] Astead Herndon, “Following in Chisholm’s Steps, Harris Plunges Into 2020 Field,” New York Times, Jan. 22, 2019.

Categories
Essays Women in African American Families

Women in African-American Families

Power of Nurturing: The Family Environment Created by Black Women

Makayla Cutter, Abraham Lin, Joseph Nguyen

    

       There are many people who nurture Black women within the family. The growth of Black women is inspired by the people around them and the knowledge and wisdom they give to those women. For any person, a family is important in the development of who they are. The people in a person’s household are often models for their own life. It is especially important for Black women to have models that show a more inclusive picture than what is shown in the media. Parents and older members of the family are responsible for the nurturing of the women in their families. The family structure of Black families often includes extended families in households [1]. This includes grandmothers and aunts and often people who are not family by blood, but family through the heart. The big family structure supports Black households and influences the values of the family members on the roles and responsibilities of a person. We looked into several oral history interviews of Black women describing their family lives and the women in their families to form a picture of their lives as children and caretakers.

       The family structure is an important part to the experience of Black women. Dr. Patricia Bath [2], a physician and a professor at Charles R. Drew University and UCLA, said that “the most important things were family.” Growing up in a Black neighborhood in New York City, the stable environment of her family supported her and provided her a sense of fulfillment against poverty. She never felt that they were poor or lesser than other people because the people in her family never treated her as such. When young Black women are allowed to enjoy their childhoods without someone of the outside reminding them of their disadvantages, they thrive in such context. 

       Black women who receive encouragement from their parents benefit from the boost in confidence that society does not always give them. Amy Robertson Goldson [3] talks about how her family’s high expectations led her to “achieve excellence.” This kind of environment is especially important for Black women who are in the media held to a different standard than children of other races and genders. Family provides a protection layer to Black girls in their development of womanhood, as they do not feel the added weight of responsibilities that are not assigned to their counterparts.

       Women in Black families work together to support the family structure. Rochelle Brown [4] describes several women in her childhood that took care of her. Her mother was the main breadwinner of the household. When her mother and other mothers were out earning money for their households, a motherly figure in the community helped take care of her. Brown describes a close-knit community in which families depended on one another. 

       Due to various social and cultural factors, Black women are often the main breadwinners of their households [5]. Black women are often single mothers, resulting in immense pressure to simultaneously provide income and handle domestic tasks. Considering the high volume of the incarceration of Black men and the economic instability they are facing, Black women are often on their own to raise a family. Although troubling, this level of responsibility leads to empowered black women. Most Black women view financial independence as an important value, regardless of their marital status. “It would never occur to me not to have my own dime or to be able to kind of make it or to not have two ideas about what the next step is,” said Marian Wright [6], to support her claim that the women in her family line are strong and central to the community. They were independent and they were the role models that inspired other women in the family.  

       Though Black women are held up to high responsibilities in supporting the households, they face serious, unfair challenges, which put them up to even more difficulties. On average, they receive lower wages than white women and Black men, and they earn even less if they have children. The discrimination they face leads to high stress and health problems, which added to the challenge to their work and became a vicious cycle [7]. The intersectionality of Black women in the workplace increases the challenges of them being the breadwinner and the caretaker of the family. Moreover, Black women are facing negative stereotypes that they are incompetent to be a mother. Despite these adversaries, they work together with one another to support families and raise their children. Therefore, the resilience Black women have, highlighted by self-reliance and persistence, made them strong women figures and role models.

       Black women are seen as integral parts of the structure and development of families. Whether they are mothers, sisters, aunts, or grandmothers, black women are looked to for guidance and nurturing. Black households are often led by a strong maternal figure. This woman is looked to with great respect and her responsibility is to keep the family together. Often older women in neighborhoods care for children while their parents are away or at work. Rochelle Brown [8] describes “Big Mama” from her neighborhood who looked after the kids on the block while their parents were at work. While not being related by blood to the family, she played a large role in the upbringing of the children on her street. Big Mama isn’t a singular case; older Black women stepping in to take care of the children around them is something that happens often. These women provide care to families who need it, and by extension become a part of the family.

       It is important to note that throughout time, Black women have been seen as caregivers for not only their own family members but others as well, no matter what race. Black women who came here as slaves were expected to take care of their masters and mistresses as well as the children. Even after slavery formally ended black women were hired in nanny roles and often saw the children they worked for more than their own children. Frances T. Matlock [9] recalls a white woman leaving her four-year-old daughter with her grandmother, who was a midwife. The woman left and never picked up her child. This is an extreme example of black women taking care of children who weren’t their own but regardless still a telling one. By the 1960s, nearly 90 percent of southern black women worked as domestic workers [10] meaning that a large majority of black women were taking care of other people’s families and not their own. Mothers began teaching their daughters how to take care of a household not to be practiced at home but in the white residences.

       Traditionally, Black women play an important role as caregivers within the family. While Black women have cared for others inside and outside of their family, it is equally important to acknowledge the impact that the family has on them. Their families provide an environment for their personal growth and development of skills that she will take into the real world.

 

Works Cited

  1. Littlejohn-Blake, Sheila M. and Darling, Carol A. “Understanding the Strengths of African American Families.” Journal of Black Studies 23, no. 4 (Jun. 1993): 460-471.
  2. Bath, Patricia. “Dr. Patricia Bath Remembers Her Home Life”. Interview by Larry Crowe. TheHistoryMakers, Nov 29, 2012.
  3. Goldson, Amy R. “Amy Robertson Goldson Describes Her Childhood Personality And Interests”. Interview by Larry Crowe. TheHistoryMakers, Aug 17, 2004.
  4. Brown, Rochelle. “Rochelle Brown Remembers Women In The Neighborhood Who Mentored Her As A Young Girl”. Interview by Larry Crowe. TheHistoryMakers, Aug 13, 2007.
  5. Lewis, Edith A. “Role Strain in African-American Women: The Efficacy of Support Networks”. Journal of Black Studies 20, no. 2 (Jun. 1989): 155-169.
  6. Edelman, Marian W. “Marian Edelman Recalls The Tradition Of Independent Women In Her Family”. Interview by Julieanna L. Richardson. TheHistoryMakers, Apr 24, 2001.
  7. Lewis, Edith A. “Role Strain in African-American Women: The Efficacy of Support Networks”. Journal of Black Studies 20, no. 2 (Jun. 1989): 155-169.
  8. Brown, Rochelle. “Rochelle Brown Remembers Women In The Neighborhood Who Mentored Her As A Young Girl”. Interview by Larry Crowe. TheHistoryMakers, Aug 13, 2007.
  9. Matlock, Frances T. “Frances T. Matlock Describes Her Grandmother, Lydia Baird Bundy”. Interview by Larry Crowe. TheHistoryMakers, Jun 3, 2002.
  10. Armstrong, Trena E. “The hidden help: black domestic workers in the civil rights movement.” (2012). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. Paper 46.

 

 

Categories
Essays Memorialization at W&M

Essay: Memorialization at William & Mary and Beyond

There is an electricity in the air at the College of William & Mary.

Last year, the university commemorated the fiftieth anniversary of African American residency. This year marks its hundredth year of its acceptance of white women as students, as well as the arrival of the first female president, Dr. Katherine Rowe, to campus. The recognition of these landmarks over the past few years has made William & Mary a vibrant community abuzz with conversation and a fresh sense of contemplation. It is with this momentum that the College takes its next step both towards and away from its past.

This step is more formally known as the Memorial to African Americans Enslaved by William & Mary.

In the atmosphere of the reflection so sharply encouraged by recent commemoration, students, faculty, alumni, staff, and community members alike remembered the Commonwealth’s 2007 expression of “profound regret”—not apology–for its promotion of and engagement in slavery. It is in this atmosphere of reflection that members of the Student and Faculty Assemblies of 2007 and 2008 demanded the university’s apology for and research of the long and infamous history of enslaved labor on campus. In response, the Lemon Project, an investigation into slavery and its acknowledgement on campus, was formed in 2009 and began its journey. It is in this atmosphere of reflection that in the spring of 2018, the Board of Visitors released a statement unprecedented in the College’s official publications: an apology.[i]

Expanding upon former president, Taylor Reveley’s, apology, the College will continue to confront its historical legacy with the construction of the Memorial to African-Americans Enslaved by William & Mary. The project was first announced on August 28, the proclamation including a call for the submission of design concepts that could be implemented on campus to memorialize those enslaved by the College. Admissions were accepted until the twelfth of October. The contest was open to anyone and required applicants to submit visual representations and a brief written explanation of their ideas. Currently, a panel of jurors (compiled of alumnae, students, faculty, and community members knowledgeable about William & Mary both presently and in the past) is selecting their three favorite design concepts. These three finalists will be sent to President Katherine Rowe, who will rank–or completely disregard–the three options, the creators of which will receive cash prizes. After the final decision is made, the memorial will be installed in an undecided location on the Historic Campus. This project is sponsored by the Lemon Project’s Committee on Memorialization.[ii]

William & Mary was chartered in 1693 and owned slaves until 1865: 172 years of slave ownership. From 1865 to now totals 153 years, which means that the College has owned slaves for more years than it hasn’t. The Wren building, now the “ceremonial center” of William & Mary, originally housed slaves. Throughout the College’s early years, slaves were a fixture of the campus. Whether owned by the College or the students, it is undeniable that William and Mary supported the use of slave labor throughout its early years. This point is further illustrated by Nottoway Quarter, a plantation purchased by the College in 1718 whose revenue was used to fund scholarships for lower class white men. The ownership of slaves persisted until about 1800, when the College faced economic trouble and was forced to rent rather than own its slaves. For the following 60 years, professors and leaders, including one of the presidents of William & Mary, were outspoken about the economic need for slavery in Virginia. During the Civil War, the Wren building burned, and the College fell to ruin. It was kept officially open by Benjamin Ewell and Malachi Gardiner, his Black tenant farmer, ringing the College bell at the beginning of each semester. Thankfully, when the College was rebuilt, slavery was no longer a large factor.[iii]

Considering that William & Mary has existed as a supporter of slavery for longer than it hasn’t, a simple statement of apology is not nearly enough, especially when it comes as late 2018. The College recently finished taking community submissions for a memorial to the enslaved, a truly important step in acknowledging and apologizing for its past as an institution of slavery.

The intended placement of the memorial on historic campus is very significant, as it will likely be close to the Wren building, one of the most celebrated buildings on campus and the original residence for slaves owned by the College. In addition, the monument is meant to build a bridge between William & Mary and the greater Williamsburg community. Many African American residents of Williamsburg feel uncomfortable interacting with the College because of its troubled past.3 Through building the memorial to the enslaved, William & Mary hopes to prove that it not only regrets its previous actions, but that it takes full responsibility and acknowledges the unjustness of those actions. Across the United States, institutions continue to make progress on the same front.

Numerous universities and colleges, across both the Commonwealth and the nation, have taken similar steps in recognizing the need for apology, research, and memorialization in the pursuit of racial and historical reparations. As mentioned earlier, in 2003, Dr. Ruth Simmons led the establishment of the Steering Committee on Slavery and Justice–now the Center for the Study of Slavery and Justice (CSSJ)–at Brown University as the first Black female president of an Ivy League institution. Composed of “faculty members, undergraduate and graduate students, and administrators”, this initiative “devoted three years to […] uncovering, documenting, and discussing Brown’s history and relationship to American slavery and the African slave trade.”[iv] Beyond this research, CSSJ has specifically dove into projects including an exhibition on the global interconnectedness of the slave trade, documentary studies, educational initiatives for high schoolers, and artistic expression and reflection.[v] Their most notable and progressive work, however, is their annual report exploring and exposing the university’s participation in the transatlantic slave trade, a project unthinkable by its peer institutions at the time.

Brown, alongside William & Mary, is a member of the Universities Studying Slavery, a coalition of universities and colleges who are currently researching their involvement in enslaving laborers and exploring possibilities for acknowledging and righting past crimes and their consequences. The group currently consists of 46 institutions from the United States and beyond, with multiple universities, including various Virginian institutions, funding specific research projects or commemorative events.[vi]

Washington & Lee University is one of said local members, with its Working Group on the History of African-Americans at W&L being founded in 2013 by then-President Kenneth P. Ruscio.[vii] The university has faced particular scrutiny and pressure due to its infamous namesake, Robert E. Lee. In its efforts to research and reconcile for its past, W&L has led an exploration into its use of slave labor and has more recently established a historical marker dedicated to the men and women enslaved at the university.[viii]

One of the most well-known institutions in the Commonwealth, the University of Virginia, has also engaged in recent efforts to commemorate its enslaved workers on campus. UVa began its Presidential Commission on Slavery and the University in April of 2013. The commission conducts research, hosts the symposium for the Universities Studying Slavery, leads an educational summer institute for high schoolers, and creates commemorative films.[ix] In 2016, the university took its greatest step towards progress in its approval of a large-scale memorial, which will include each of the enslaved workers’ names on it.[x]

When the use of enslaved labor is recognized and responded to by such globally notable institutions, a precedent begins to take shape, encouraging conversations on and amongst universities and colleges about what their wrongdoings were and how to act upon such realizations.

William & Mary’s recent anniversaries of coeducation and desegregation and the development of its newest memorial have brought famed speakers, artistic expressions, academic initiatives, massive reunions, and honorary events to its campus. However, the most important effect of these times of commemoration is the rise of one pulsating question: is this enough?

When such a horrible legacy of injustice lies behind the university, what can possibly be done to properly apologize for and right these wrongs? The construction of a memorial for enslaved labor as an integral part of the College’s campus creates a tangible manifestation of President Reveley’s apology, a community effort that will undoubtedly bring attention, conversation, and a step forward on the long road of reparations. However, this new initiative is not a solution to William & Mary’s past, nor is it a bandage that can be slapped upon the long-lasting wounds of slavery and residual racism and intolerance still present on campus and in academia as a whole.

The Memorial to Enslaved Labor at William & Mary is an incredible and important step in addressing the College’s past, a laudable precedent for its peer institutions and communities around the United States and beyond. It should not–and will not–be the final destination.

 

[i] “The Lemon Project: African Americans at the College: A Historical Timeline,” The College of William & Mary, 2019, https://www.wm.edu/sites/lemonproject/researchandresources/historicaltimeline/index.php.

[ii] “Memorial to African Americans Enslaved at William & Mary: About the Memorial,” The College of William & Mary, 2019, https://www.wm.edu/sites/lemonproject/researchandresources/historicaltimeline/index.php.

[iii] Sarah Thomas, Ph.D., “An Introduction to the Lemon Project: A Journey into Reconciliation,” The College of William & Mary, 2019.

[iv] “Center for the Study of Slavery and Justice: History,” Brown University, 2019, https://www.brown.edu/initiatives/slavery-and-justice/about/history.

[v] “Center for the Study of Slavery and Justice: Projects,” Brown University, 2019, https://www.brown.edu/initiatives/slavery-and-justice/about-us/projects-0.

[vi] “President’s Commission on Slavery and the University: Universities Studying Slavery,” University of Virginia, 2013, http://slavery.virginia.edu/universities-studying-slavery/.

[vii] “Working Group on the History of African Americans at W&L,” Washington & Lee University, https://www.wlu.edu/presidents-office/issues-and-initiatives/timeline-of-african-americans-at-wandl/working-group-on-african-american-history.

[viii] “African Americans at Washington & Lee,” Washington & Lee University, 2018, https://www.wlu.edu/presidents-office/issues-and-initiatives/timeline-of-african-americans-at-wandl.

[ix] “President’s Commission on Slavery and the University,” University of Virginia, 2013, http://slavery.virginia.edu/.

[x] Anne E. Bromley, “Design of UVA Memorial to Enslaved Labor Wins Approval,” University of Virginia, June 3, 2017, https://news.virginia.edu/content/design-uva-memorial-enslaved-laborers-wins-approval.

Categories
50 Years of African Americans in Residence at W&M Essays

Creating Community Spaces: A Legacy of African Americans at William and Mary

Creating Community Spaces: A Legacy of African Americans at William and Mary

Isabella Lovain, Jioni Tuck, Kamryn Morris

January 13, 2019

Introduction

The campus of the College of William and Mary was built using enslaved labor, making the racial legacy of the College far-reaching and complex. The first African American students at William and Mary all found and created community spaces where they received support in the face of intense discrimination. Black employees on campus became close allies with many of these students, and the first three African American women in residence at William and Mary created the Black Student Organization as a community for Black students. The Black Student Organization allowed for a safe space for African Americans on campus, and its members stood up against racial oppression at William and Mary over the years. Organizations such as the Center for Student Diversity have built upon these efforts to support minorities on campus. Practices such as the ‘donning of the Kente’ celebrate the successes of people of color at William and Mary, allowing for increased recognition of African American students. However, this work is far from over. The legacy of African American students has allowed for increased diversity and inclusion at William and Mary, but there is still a tremendous amount of progress needed in terms of inclusion on campus. The history of African Americans on campus is inextricably tied to race relations on campus both in the present and in the future, making black community spaces, support systems, and learning about African American legacies essential for addressing racial tension on campus today.

The First African American Students at William & Mary

Hulon Willis was the first Black student at William and Mary, where he attended classes part-time and got his Master’s Degree.[i] While there, Willis received support from African American staffers on campus, who told him, “We’ve been waiting for you for a long time”, and “greeted him with great pride and joy and supported him one hundred percent”.[ii] Janet Strafer, Lynn Briley, and Karen Ely were the first three African American students in residence at William and Mary in 1968. All three had various levels of encouragement from their high schools- Lynn Briley was encouraged to attend the College, Janet Strafer was discouraged by her guidance counselor, and Karen Ely was warned that she might not receive a warm welcome.[iii] The three women felt enormous pressure to “represent the race well” among their white peers, many of whom had never been educated alongside Black students before.[iv] The three experienced many incidents of discrimination and resistance from both the administration and the student body, including an incident when someone wrote the ‘n word’ on the sidewalk and another when a student dumped water on their heads as they passed a building.[v] In Karen Ely’s first week of classes, she overheard a conversation with President Paschall and a woman. The woman remarked, “That’s one of the three. She’ll never make it”.[vi] Ely walked up to the two of them  and responded,  “Not only will I make it, but next year I’m going to make sure there are even more students that look like me here”.[vii] This demonstrates the opposition that existed from not only particular students on campus, but faculty members as well.

When reflecting on their experiences at William and Mary, the three women frequently highlight moments of support and community they found at William and Mary, as well as their own individual efforts at building a community and a legacy for future African-American students. These positive moments of hope display the formal and informal community spaces that the first three African American students in residence experienced and created at William and Mary. Sam Sadler, the Vice President of Student Affairs at the time, served as an ally for the three students. When Karen Ely had to stay for an extra semester, Sadler told her, “Register for your class, when you come back, you’ll sign the papers- I’ve got you”.[viii] Ely found community in her chorus, saying, “I was very comfortable, we did the same kind of music that I did in high school. We even did negro spirituals”.[ix] Many of the food service workers on campus, particularly African-American food service workers, were the three womens’ “great allies”.[x] Many William and Mary staff members were protective of the three women, and gave them extra food in the cafeteria.[xi] The reference librarian would even set science books aside for Karen Ely during her time in school.[xii] They also received support from the members of the First Baptist Church across the street from campus.[xiii] These formal and informal communities offered support to the three women as they set a precedent for those to attend William and Mary in the future, just as Karen Ely predicted. Lynn Briley remarked that “if you’re the first, then you just don’t quit”.[xiv] The three women’s legacies of perseverance, alongside all those that came before and after them, is clear today. Karen Ely said that she is “glad that the College is going in this direction, not only for women in general, but for African American women- the positions that they hold here now, I never would’ve thought they would hold”.[xv]

Black Spaces at William and Mary

The Black Student Organization (BSO) was one of the first organizations that gave voice  to Black students at William & Mary. Janet Strafer, Lynn Briley, and Karen Ely were some of charter members of BSO in 1969.[xvi] They aimed to support African American students at William & Mary and share their experiences to make people more comfortable on campus. The BSO served as a way for Black students on campus to support and get to know one another. In an interview, Janet Strafer said that the BSO “was a place we could go and really let our hair down. And not having to be judged for what we say or do…the slang that we would use…we didn’t have to do that there, so it was nice to just have a place where we could relax”.[xvii] The Black Student Organization was particularly important during the first two years of integration at William and Mary because it gave Black students a supportive space where they could be themselves and discuss shared experiences. During BSO meetings, members would listen to music, play cards, and discuss their daily lives. The BSO was granted their own house that had a study room and lounge with books and records written by Black people.[xviii] The BSO also provided a platform for activism. Before the 1969 homecoming game, BSO members challenged the playing of the “Dixie” song at football games and threatened to burn small Confederate flags if it was played.[xix] In 1971, the BSO staged a counter demonstration to protest the Kappa Alpha fraternity’s tradition of marching through Colonial Williamsburg dressed in Confederate uniforms.[xx]

Since 1969, more organizations have been formed that have worked to support Black students and other minorities on campus. In 1974, the university created the Office of Minority Affairs, whose core mission was to serve Black people. In 1991, the name changed to the Office of Multicultural Affairs and as of 2009, it became the Center for Student Diversity. The Center for Student Diversity has broadened its scope to address the needs of all minority groups on campus, including LGBTQ+ students and students of various religions and faiths.[xxi] The Hulon Willis Association was created in 1992 by African American Alumni and is named for the first Black alumnus of William and Mary. The association focuses on connecting alumni and enhancing the life of African American students at the College.[xxii]

The Importance of Black Spaces at William and Mary

Despite being formally accepted into William and Mary, the first Black students at William and Mary still weren’t fully accepted in the community. Today, there are many instances where Black students report feeling unwelcomed by their peers. In 2005, Tunisia Riley recounted her experience as the only Black student in concert band. She stated that “out of 50 of the musicians who are in the band, only like 5 tried to interact with [her]”.[xxiii]  Mitzi Glass, a 1981 graduate, talked about her professor’s opposition to having black students at the university, explicitly stating that the standard for admittance was different for Black students. She discussed how her dorm hallmates “never had been in close proximity with black people”.[xxiv] The sister of Oscar Blayton, the first undergraduate Black student at William and Mary, recounted that Oscar “didn’t get any kind of support; they didn’t want him there”.[xxv] Moreover, the lack of acceptance by their peers, despite their academic excellence, made the college experience for Black students difficult, thus making the impact of black spaces essential. Despite extensive preparation for college, many Black students were not prepared for their experiences at William and Mary. Three of the five Black women who enrolled as freshmen in 1968 dropped out due to their inability to adjust well to the workload, as well as the social challenges presented to them during their first semester at the college. Despite being in the top two percent of the class, according to the girls’ advisor, they felt that “their background just wasn’t enough” (p.26). Although prepared academically, many Black students were unprepared for the social obstacles that they faced at William and Mary. With communities of support and opportunities to reflect on shared experiences, the outcome may have been different.

Black spaces at William and Mary aim to prevent these experiences from happening again and work to celebrate the accomplishments and presence of Black students on campus. The Donning of the Kente, for example, is a rite of passage that celebrates the personal and academic achievements of graduates of color. Students are given the ability to choose their own donners, a gesture that recognizes the most important people in their lives. According to Kendra Cabler, who graduated from the School of Education in 2014, the ceremony “provides a unique opportunity to celebrate the accomplishments of multicultural students in a more intimate setting with friends and family”.[xxvi] Jody Allen, Director of the Lemon Project, believes that the ceremony is an opportunity to remember those who paved the way for students of color and those who will come after them.[xxvii] She reminds people of color at the College that they are “part of a strong legacy” and should not “ever forget it”.[xxviii] The inclusion of Black spaces on campus are essential for showing the community’s appreciation of of Black students at William and Mary.

Conclusion

It has been over 60 years since the first African American student started taking classes at William and Mary and just over 50 years since African Americans have been fully considered students at the College. The first African American students faced discrimination from both their peers and professors, and felt pressure to represent their race well. However, they succeeded and paved the way for larger numbers of African Americans to be admitted to the College. Organizations focused on supporting Black students were important to the success of these students. The Black Student Organization was the first organization created to support African American students on campus, and still advocates for Black students today. In the 1970s, the College created an office to address minority affairs, and the number of student groups that represent and support Black students on campus has grown. Though there are more Black students on campus now than in the 1950s, students still report that they do not feel completely welcome on campus. This discomfort highlights the importance of creating and supporting community spaces for African American students at the College of William and Mary, and the need to build on efforts and legacies of the past.

[i] Jacqueline Filzen, “African Americans at the William and Mary from 1950 to 1960,” Lemon Project, accessed

January 13, 2019, 12.

[ii] ibd.

[iii] Janet Strafer, Lynn Briley, and Karen Ely, “Oral History,” interview, William and Mary, accessed January 13,

2019, https://www.wm.edu/sites/50/three_students/oral_history/index.php.

[iv] ibd.

[v] ibd.

[vi] ibd.

[vii] ibd.

[viii] ibd.

[ix] ibd.

[x] ibd.

[xi] “Social Spaces: Systems of Support on Campus,” The Lemon Project, , accessed January 14, 2019, https://

lemonlab.wm.edu/exhibits/show/building-a-legacy/systemsofsupport.

[xii] ibd.

[xiii] Lois Bloom, “Integrating the College of William and Mary,” For the Lemon Project: A Journey of Reconciliation

at William and Mary, September 10, 2014, https://www.wm.edu/sites/lemonproject/_documents/

IntegratingWMBloom.pdf.

[xiv] Janet Strafer, Lynn Briley, and Karen Ely, “Oral History,” interview, William and Mary, accessed January 13,

2019, https://www.wm.edu/sites/50/three_students/oral_history/index.php.

[xv] ibd.

[xvi] ibd.

[xvii] ibd.

[xviii] Lois Bloom, “Integrating the College of William and Mary,” For the Lemon Project: A Journey of Reconciliation

at William and Mary, September 10, 2014, https://www.wm.edu/sites/lemonproject/_documents/

IntegratingWMBloom.pdf.

[xix] “Social Spaces: Systems of Support on Campus,” The Lemon Project, accessed January 14, 2019, https://

lemonlab.wm.edu/exhibits/show/building-a-legacy/systemsofsupport.

[xx] Bloom, Lois.  “Confederates on the Campus “Dixie” and Secession.” Lemon Project Collection, Special

Collections Research Center, Swem Library, College of William and Mary (2013).

[xxi] “Center for Student Diversity,” William and Mary, accessed January 14, 2019, https://www.wm.edu/offices/

studentdiversity/aboutus/history/index.php.

[xxii] “Center for Student Diversity.” William and Mary. Accessed January 14, 2019. https://www.wm.edu/offices/

studentdiversity/alumni-family-friends/index.php.

[xxiii] Tanisha Ingram, “The Cultivation of the Black Experience: Student Voices at William and Mary, 1954-2014,”

William & Mary, accessed January 14, 2019, https://www.wm.edu/sites/lemonproject/_documents/

tanishaingram.pdf, 8.

[xxiv] Tanisha Ingram, “The Cultivation of the Black Experience: Student Voices at William and Mary, 1954-2014,”

William & Mary, accessed January 14, 2019, https://www.wm.edu/sites/lemonproject/_documents/

tanishaingram.pdf, 6.

[xxv] Tanisha Ingram, “The Cultivation of the Black Experience: Student Voices at William and Mary, 1954-2014,”

William & Mary, accessed January 14, 2019, https://www.wm.edu/sites/lemonproject/_documents/

tanishaingram.pdf, 24.

[xxvi] “The Lemon Project,” William and Mary, accessed January 14, 2019, https://www.wm.edu/sites/lemonproject/

donning-of-the-kente/index.php.

[xxvii] ibd.

[xxviii] ibd.

Categories
1619 Commemoration Essays

400 Years: Remembrance, Reparations, and Reconciliation Op-Ed

As the Commonwealth of Virginia prepares to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the first arrival of Africans as well as the first legislative assembly in the New World, the goals of the celebration focus on “Virginia’s leadership in education, tourism, and economic development” in the formation of the United States. [1] The major events dedicated to this anniversary bundle the evils of the forced and violent enslavement of Africans and the beginning of Virginia’s active participation in the transatlantic slave trade into a whitewashed remembrance of historical events in the first settlement. It trivializes the reality of the gruesome Middle Passage, during which mortality rates were abysmally high and many captive Africans opted to drown themselves rather than remain in bondage. It is estimated that nearly a quarter of all slaves bound for Virginia between 1680 and 1688 died before making it ashore. [2] For those that did make it in the midst of this genocide, historical records are severely lacking. Records of some of the first slaves in Virginia are scarce due to historical factors such as fire and flood damage as well as European ethnocentrism among the colonists, leading to poor documentation. [3]

The horrors of slavery were present from the very beginning and for the commemoration to flippantly gloss over Virginia’s role in building American slavery is a grave injustice. It is a reflection of a grander miseducation of young Virginians that denies the deliberate construction of anti-Black racism. Slavery was not an inevitability in what became the United States, nor a natural progression in the context of the global slave trade. It was built out of racist politics and systems that manifest in new forms in the modern day. If Virginia is to properly commemorate this tragedy, the state government must apologize for its role in the trading, torturing and killing of slaves and make an effort to bring truthful and reflective education in its public schools. As a nation, we must reckon with the legacy of slavery and the persistent inequality that results from it.

Four hundred years ago come August, a Dutch slave ship came ashore at Point Comfort in modern-day Hampton, Virginia, bringing what John Rolfe described as “20. and odd Negroes” to the New World. These enslaved individuals were the first Africans to arrive to what would become the United States of America. They went on to inhabit the Jamestown settlement and work alongside white indentured servants, serving the landed white elite on tobacco and hops plantations. In the beginning years of the colony of Virginia, in spite of being forcibly taken from their native lands in modern-day Angola, many enslaved Africans had a reasonable chance of becoming free. Some freed Africans even went on to own property and slaves themselves. However, in the decades following their initial arrival, hierarchical tensions between the lower classes and the white landed elite resulted in colonial policies that systematically separated workers along racial lines.

These repressive laws made it increasingly difficult for Africans to attain freedom. This racialization and the ensuing institutionalization of slavery transformed Virginia from a society with slaves to a slave society. [4] Centering slavery in the political, economic, and social order of the English colony would define the beginnings of the American nation born in the original sin of chattel slavery, the legacy of which persists to the present. This process of dehumanizing Black people to the benefit of the wealthy, white arbiters of power translates to some of the current politics surrounding race and class. The legacy of slavery and legal discrimination comes in the form of rent discrimination, de facto segregation of schools and neighborhoods, mass incarceration, police brutality, political disenfranchisement, and a myriad of other impediments to justice for Black Americans today. The resulting inequality must be rectified and reconciled in the form of overhauling education on the subjects of race and history, and providing reparations in some form to affected communities.

According to a muster, or census, administered in 1624-25, 23 African Americans resided in the colony. These records, coupled with archaeological findings on Jamestown Island, indicate that white indentured servants and African slaves lived and worked together, and even engaged in sexual relationships that sometimes produced children. [5] There existed a uniting force between indentured servants and slaves in the arduous work they shared under a repressive and privileged polity, leading to underlying discontent that came to a head in 1676. Until that time, however, many freed Africans enjoyed generally equal treatment under the judicial system as their white counterparts, finding success in civil cases documented throughout the mid-17th century. Black Virginians earned money, kept livestock, and raised crops. Freedom, as well as economic wellbeing, was not an impossibility for Africans in the colony. [6] This was the case for a Black indentured servant named Anthony Johnson who bought his freedom and some land in 1625, and even ended up owning a slave of his own. [7] This social environment would eventually change to the detriment of the descendants of the first Africans in Virginia.

In 1676, by proclaiming charges of avarice against Governor William Berkeley and by scapegoating American Indians that were aligned with the colonial government, Nathaniel Bacon led a biracial rebellion against the white landowners. The rebellion was a failure, but it left a lasting impact on the upper class’s interaction with workers and slaves. Just as Bacon weaponized racism against American Indians as a political tool to galvanize support among the colonists, so too did the English elites use racism against Africans to divide the lower class along racial lines. That particular brand of anti-Black racism created the framework for slavery in the southern United States and is perpetuated to this day. Through the end of the century, the colony’s General Assembly handed down laws that began segregating blacks and whites, including a 1691 law that outlawed interracial marriage and altogether expelled newly freed blacks from Virginia. Ultimately, a 1723 “better government” bill made it increasingly difficult for masters to free their slaves, and the following years saw the entrenchment of slavery as an institution in Virginia. [8]

As of 2013, the median net worth among white households stood at $134,000 while the median net worth among Black households was only $11,000. This gulf in net worth only continues to grow with median wealth increasing for whites and decreasing for Blacks and Latinos. [9] These severe inequalities are a direct outcome of centuries of slavery and another century of Jim Crow after Emancipation. The United States has a responsibility to alleviate this economic and political inequality through public policy. Heavy taxation on extreme concentrations of wealth and heavy investment in minority communities can begin the process of reconciling these institutional failures and bringing true justice to all of our citizens. This essay is not in the business of prescribing a specific set of policies, nor pursues a particular agenda. But our country requires a serious assessment of the idea of reparations, the concept of economic justice in terms of race, and how to properly commemorate, teach, and learn the history of slavery, 400 years after the twenty and odd Africans arrived on our shores.

Bibliography:

[1] https://www.americanevolution2019.com/about/

[2] https://www.nps.gov/jame/learn/historyculture/upload/African%20Americans%20on%20Jamestown%20Island.pdf

[3] Presentation given by Charde Reid to the Lemon Project Branch Out team, January 12, 2018

[4] Wolfe, Brendan. “Free Blacks in Colonial Virginia.” Encyclopedia Virginia. Virginia Foundation for the Humanities, 26 Oct. 2017. Web. 14 Jan. 2019.

[5] http://www.common-place-archives.org/vol-01/no-04/reviews/brown.shtml

[6] Wolfe, Brendan. “Free Blacks in Colonial Virginia.” Encyclopedia Virginia. Virginia Foundation for the Humanities, 26 Oct. 2017. Web. 14 Jan. 2019.

[7] Presentation given by Charde Reid to the Lemon Project Branch Out team, January 12, 2018

[8] Wolfe, Brendan. “Free Blacks in Colonial Virginia.” Encyclopedia Virginia. Virginia Foundation for the Humanities, 26 Oct. 2017. Web. 14 Jan. 2019.

[9] https://prosperitynow.org/sites/default/files/PDFs/road_to_zero_wealth.pdf

Categories
100 Years of Coeducation at W&M Essays

A Century of Coeducation Essay

In September of 1918, twenty-four women stepped onto the campus of the College of William & Mary as the first female students in the college’s history. The 100 Years of Women campaign by the College of William & Mary falsely portrays the College as a trailblazer in coeducation and fails to acknowledge the circumstances within which it was implemented. Although a century of including an entire population of people in the institution’s enrollment is important, it is not the transformative, precedent-setting achievement that it has been advertised to be.

By 1918, when William & Mary became co-ed, Oberlin College had already been so for eighty-three years, though coeducation continued to be controversial. Commonly-shared ideas of the time, such as the proposal that a college education was detrimental to women’s health and character as well as the concept of a female’s intellectual inferiority, kept women of the time from acceptance into higher education.[i][ii] [iii]

Harvard professor and medical doctor Edward Clarke popularized and legitimized these arguments in his 1884 book Sex in Education; or, a Fair Chance for Girls, in which he writes that no woman could both go to school and “retain uninjured health and a future secure from neuralgia, uterine disease and other derangements of the nervous system, if she follows the same method that boys are trained in.”[iv] Through his writing, Clarke demonstrates a male perspective on coeducation and provides insight on the climate surrounding it in the late 1800s and early 1900s.

Understanding the historical context in which coeducation was implemented at William & Mary is essential to analysing the 100 Years of Women campaign. History shows that William & Mary struggled during the nineteenth century. In the years leading up to its turn, the College was unsuccessfully moved to Richmond, burnt twice to the ground, and nearly destroyed during the Civil War. Due to lack of funds, the College was forced to close in 1881, but it was revived in 1888 though limited to a seven man staff.[v] [vi]

Along with the revival, the General Assembly of Virginia approved an annual appropriation of $10,000 to the College for the training of male public school teachers. Funding for the program was beneficial to the College’s finances, but it wasn’t enough to restore the campus to its state prior to the Civil War.[vii] In a later speech, the president of the College at the time, Lyon Tyler, said that as of 1888, all of the five buildings were badly in need of repair the campus was neglected, and the tone in Williamsburg was stagnant and depressed.[viii]

The school remained penniless through the beginning of the twentieth century, so in response to the success of the teacher training program, all College property was transferred to the Commonwealth of Virginia. Many members of the College thought the transfer was the only way to guarantee the school’s long term existence.[ix]

Between 1888 and 1917, William & Mary remained small with its highest enrollment as a mere 244 students. By the 1917-18 school year, the enrollment dropped to 131, largely due in part to the United States’ entry into World War I. The school’s finances had been boosted by the teacher training academy and the addition of the Students’ Army Training Corps, but the College President Lyon G. Tyler wanted more. With the College deeply in debt, Tyler sought increased guaranteed funding from the state.[x]

In the meantime, Mary-Cooke Branch Munford, a Virginia activist, had started and campaigned tirelessly for the Coordinate College League to introduce bills to the General Assembly for the establishment of a coordinate college for women in Charlottesville. However, the legislation faced opposition from the powerful alumni of the University of Virginia and was repeatedly defeated.[xi] [xii] [xiii]

Tyler saw that the state was desperate to please both alumni of the University of Virginia and proponents of women’s education, so he proposed implementing coeducation at William & Mary. If the state would agree, it would be beneficial to both parties. There would be no women’s college at UVA,  though the state would still open an institute of higher education to women, which meant more public school teachers. Additionally, coeducation at William & Mary provided the two resources that the College desperately needed: more funding and more students.[xiv]

The proposal was still controversial, with the Virginia Gazette noting that women sought coeducation “at the price of the womanhood Virginia had cherished as a sacred thing.” Major James New Stubbs of the Board of Visitors protested the bill and offered a resolution that the College should refuse to accept women. The Visitors voted six to one against Stubbs’ resolution, and the coeducation bill passed both houses of the General Assembly.[xv]

That fall of 1918 marked the entry of women to the College of William & Mary. It was a groundbreaking time for females in the United States, in Virginia, and at the College. However, unlike the university has continuously claimed, the College was not the pioneer of coeducation that it advertises itself as. The College of William & Mary has made public statements asserting itself to be the first public coeducational institution in the state of Virginia, creating the image of a progressive decision made in the name of women’s advancement, but history disproves that image and this fall, a student disproved that statement. Virginia State University, Virginia’s only college for Black people at the time, began accepting women alongside men many years prior.[xvi]

Throughout the year, as the College celebrates its centennial anniversary of coeducation, it depicts an image that the school should take great pride in deciding to admit women. However, it appears to be that the College was simply following in the footsteps of many universities before them. Many colleges and universities across the country had already included women in their enrollment. The first to do so, Oberlin College, had done it eighty-three years prior. The first public institution, the University of Iowa, had done so sixty-three years prior. The school was not even the first to do so in the state. While it is notable and important that William & Mary began to admit women, a population that now composes fifty-eight percent of the student body and that has grown to be such an important part of the college campus, the act does not elicit the pat on the back to the extent the institution has received.

Despite issues with the College’s advertised image, many events this year have been held to commemorate women’s introduction to the university. Multiple student organizations have run interviews and editorials discussing the meaning of the milestone. The College has invited speakers, performers, and lecturers. Most notable, the university held Women’s Weekend, a celebration in the early autumn of the history of females upon this campus and their success beyond it. This weekend was targeted toward the college’s alumnae, with little involvement of the campus currently-enrolled students. The perception among students was that many of the events held were held in part as financial promotions, as much as they were about recognizing women. However the College openly admitted to the fact that while commemoration is important, it was done to help support the institution. The College also recognized that it has consciously chosen to make the commemoration solely a celebration about accomplishments by alumnae, rather than attempting to tackle more politically-driven issues that the school, the nation, or both, may still face.

Throughout all of the celebrating, of which many wonderful achievements have been recognized, certain issues have failed to receive the same recognition. The predominant issue that has been largely left publicly unspoken about was the other demographic groups that were still excluded from the school’s enrollment. When twenty-four women were admitted in 1918, every single one of these women was white. It took an additional nineteen years for the university to admit its first Asian-American undergraduate student, and forty-nine years to admit the first African American undergraduate student in residency. This celebration has been about the inclusion of women, which is significant, but it was not the inclusion of all women—decades still awaited before that would occur. It is important to make acknowledgement of these statistics a priority.

One hundred years of coeducation at the College of William & Mary is undoubtedly a significant achievement, one that should be recognized. However, it is important for administration and students alike to understand the reasons behind the college’s decision, and the ways in which it has successfully and unsuccessfully gone about the acknowledgement of the milestone as a whole. A century of women at William & Mary has transformed this college campus, but without a focus on inclusion and acknowledgment in its future, the College will still face centuries more of disparity.

 ________________

[ii] Goldin, Claudia and Katz, Lawrence F. Putting the Co in Education: Timing, Reasons, and Consequences of College Coeducation from 1835 to the Present. NBER Working Paper No. 1628, August 2010. The National Bureau of Economic Research.

[iii] Hatch, Ruth F. A study of the history of the development of coeducation in Massachusetts. Masters Theses 1911 – February 2014. 1599., University of Massachusetts Amherst, 1933. ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst.

[iv] Clarke, Edward H. Sex in Education: Or, A Fair Chance for the Girls. New York: Ayer, 1884.

[v] Parrish, Laura. When Mary Entered with Her Brother William: Women Students at the College of William & Mary, 1918-1945. Master’s thesis, College of William & Mary, 1988. W&M Scholarworks.

[vi] “Historical Chronology of William & Mary.” William & Mary. Accessed January 14, 2019. https://www.wm.edu/about/history/chronology/index.php.

[vii] Parrish, When Mary Entered.

[viii] Tyler, Lyon G. “Farewell Address of Lyon Gardiner Tyler.” Speech, Virginia, Williamsburg, June 10, 1919.

[ix] William & Mary, “Historical Chronology.”

[x] Parrish, When Mary Entered.

[xi] “Mary-Cooke Branch Munford.” Virginia Museum of History & Culture. Accessed January 14, 2019. https://www.virginiahistory.org/collections-and-resources/virginia-history-explorer/mary-cooke-branch-munford.

[xii] Parrish, When Mary Entered.

[xiii] “Mary-Cooke Branch Munford.” William & Mary. Accessed January 14, 2019. https://www.wm.edu/sites/100yearsofwomen/anniversary-story/brief-history/munford-mary/index.php.

[xiv] Parrish, When Mary Entered.

[xv] Ibid.

[xvi] Barnard, Jayme. “100 Years of Women at William & Mary.” Lecture, Virginia, Williamsburg, January 13, 2019.