Pursuing a Promise
A History of African Americans at Georgia Southern University
F. Erik Brooks
Chronicling the history of African Americans at Georgia Southern University
In Statesboro, Georgia, two schools coexisted: one white and the other black. Yet, these schools were intertwined by their geographical location and the traditions of the segregated South. There are many glaring similarities between the white students of Georgia Southern University's forerunner, the First District A&M School, and the black students of the Statesboro Industrial and High School. Yet as happened all too often in the South, as implementation of the federal court's desegregation orders took shape, "Negro" schools were downgraded or outright closed. Statesboro was no different. While, First District A&M became a regional university, Statesboro Industrial and High School was downgraded to a junior high school.
In 1961, integration on the higher-education level at Georgia's flagship university captured national attention. Few works if any have examined deseg-regation in the context of non-flagship universities. Likewise, there is a misguided mythology that desegregation occurred quietly at Georgia Southern University: it's clear that while there was not the violence and rioting seen elsewhere in Southern universities, blacks were marginalized and did not feel welcome at the college. A passive group after the initial integration, blacks adopted tactics of protest and confrontation to empower themselves. Taking a page from the Civil Rights Movement, black students and faculty established organizations to confront discrimination and gain access to campus leadership positions. This is a story about the defeats, victories, struggles, and develop-ments of blacks at Georgia Southern University.
F. ERIK BROOKS serves as an assistant professor of Political Science and director of the Master of Public Administration program at Georgia Southern University. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Journalism and Art and a Master of Science in Counseling and Human Development from Troy University. He also holds an Master of Public Administration from Auburn University, Montgomery and an Master of Education from Alabama State University. His doctorate is in Public Policy and Administration from the L. Douglas Wilder School of Government at Virginia Commonwealth University.
Titles of Related Interest
Undaunted by the Fight: Spelman College and the Civil Rights Movement, 1957–1967
Walking on the Grass: A White Woman in a Black World
The Orangeburg Massacre
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