Facing A&M's Past

2 Turning the page Lessons from Texas A&M’s racist yearbook images

TOP LEFT: 1927 Longhorn, Pg. 109: This caricature appeared as part of a page introducing the religious activities section of the yearbook. TOP RIGHT: 1966 Aggieland, Pg. 36: The yearbook’s original caption reads “Dressed for the occasion, the band leads the Corps at midnight yell practice.” BOTTOM LEFT: 1912 Longhorn, Pg. 374: This photo of a minstrel performer in blackface was printed alongside a program for a show by the A&M Minstrels. BOTTOM RIGHT: 1970 Aggieland, Pg. 56: Students march past the Aggie Bonfire site with confederate flags. This image appeared as part of a section on Elephant Walk.

Courtesy of Cushing Memorial Library Archives Facing A&M’s past or performance overlooks the danger that it has caused. University history of blackface, other racist “Up until today, we can often think that this is not displays highlighted in yearbook’s archives deliberate and people don’t know about the history or the legacy of blackface,” Perry said. “But when you By Jordan Burnham look at something like Ralph Northam’s yearbook and @RJordanBurnham the man in blackface standing next to the man in KKK uniform, you know that they understand that connec- Blackface pictures and other racist images from Uni- tion, and that is a connection not to be overlooked or versity yearbooks have surfaced across the country, to be brushed away.” reminding the nation of its notably recent past. Texas Images of A&M students in blackface are not limited A&M is not exempt from this history, and the univer- to the early 1900s, and instances of the racist practice sity’s own yearbooks contain numerous racist images. have been documented as recently as 2006, when a The Aggieland, formerly known as The Olio and video was published on YouTube showing an A&M then The Longhorn, was founded in 1895 during a pe- student in blackface being whipped by another student. riod of racial segregation. Blackface had been popular Other instances of students dressed in blackface in- since the 1830s, when an actor named Thomas D. Rice clude the “jungle fever” party in 1992, which was host- created a character called Jim Crow, which essentially ed by the fraternity Sigma Alpha Epsilon. The party mocked and denigrated African-Americans, according included both blackface and “slave huts,” according to to associate professor of English and coordinator for the Cushing Library’s archival project “In Fulfillment of a Africana Studies Program Michael Collins. Dream.” The Interfraternity Council, backed by A&M “It helped to create these horrible stereotypes that administration, imposed sanctions on the fraternity for blacks were foolish and irresponsible and not really ca- the racist actions, according to a Battalion article from pable of complete citizenship,” Collins said. then. Collins said that while looking through yearbooks, “The key to all this is education; the sanctions are he discovered that E.J. Kyle — for whom A&M’s foot- only a part of the solution,” then-Vice President of Stu- ball stadium is named — suggested in 1910 that the dent Affairs John Koldus said. “A lot of the responsibil- school form a minstrel troupe. ity rests with the leaders of the institution. We simply “As a result of that, the A&M Minstrels were created, have to do more things to make people aware.” and some of the blackface images in the yearbooks are A&M’s yearbook is not the only student publica- of this A&M Minstrels troupe,” Collins said. tion that has printed racially charged images. A 2002 Instructional assistant professor of political science Battalion cartoon published by anonymous student Courtesy of Cushing Memorial Library Archives Brittany Perry, who specializes in race and ethnicity, “The Uncartoonist” faced criticism for its portrayal 1949 Longhorn, Pg. 15: A couple in blackface photographed at the said thinking of blackface as harmless, or just an art form HISTORY ON PG. 4 costumed Architectural Ball. Undoctored history Archivists discuss decision to fully represent a series of tweets by Rice University student Charlie Paul on his own school’s history of blackface and racist cartoons. A&M history in yearbook digitization process Paul’s tweets also included a 1922 photo labelled “The Ku Klux Klan of Rice Institute,” showing around 20 people By Savannah Mehrtens in white hoods and robes. @SJMehrtens A&M’s yearbooks — accessible online after a two-year digitization process completed in 2015 by Cushing Memo- As historical and modern photos of blackface make rial Library archivists — show similar content. headlines — sparked by the discovery of a racist photo During the digitization project, a brief task force com- of Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam in his college yearbook prised of Bruce Herbert, Stephanie Elmquist, Carmeli- — racism in college yearbooks has become a significant ta Pickett, Rebecca Hankins and Julie Mosbo made the topic of discussion. collective decision to publish the full yearbooks and made A university-wide email was sent on Feb. 14 by Texas suggestions for staff to respond to any questions or concerns A&M President Michael Young with the subject line “Ac- about the books’ contents. knowledging Parts of Our Past.” The message addressed the “The conversation started because there was an observa- fact that A&M’s yearbook has, throughout its history, pub- tion of what we were scanning in some of the images and FILE lished photos of “blackface, misogyny, and other shocking they were concerning,” said Mosbo, the clinical associate content,” which Young said the university disavows. His professor and interim director of Cushing Library. The Cushing Memorial Library and Archives created a digitized email followed reporting by multiple news outlets covering yearbook collection including every edition up to 2010. LIBRARY ON PG. 2 NEWS The Battalion | 2.28.19 2 Senior Boot Bag Price Includes Logo and Name (More logos available)

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For A&M Sterling Silver Jewelry: stores.ebay.com/charboeg979 Courtesy of Cushing Memorial Library Archives 1918 Longhorn, Pg. 250: A minstrel group called the “End Men” are featured in a program for a campus music show.

REPUBLIC OF TEXAS Exploring blackface in US history FESTIVAL A&M professors offer insight on litical science. ogy, stating that the costumes were COLLEGE STATION, TX “This was before the Civil War and “clearly racist and offensive.” Since minstrel shows’ lasting effects the emancipation of slaves, so most of this has come to light, many have urged these portrayals were used to justify him to resign from his position, but he JOSH ABBOTT BAND By Sanna Bhai slavery and then later after the emanci- refuses to do so, saying he has changed PARKER MCCOLUM @BhaiSanna pation, after the civil war, you see them since the photo was taken. being used to justify segregation,” Per- According to Feagin, a recent poll WADE BOWEN Performances featuring actors in ry said. showed that about 68 percent of Af- JOHN BAUMANN blackface were prevalent through- Following the Civil War, racist rican-Americans didn’t want Northam KAITLIN BUTTS out the U.S. for much of its history, and condemning views toward Afri- to resign. Feagin said if African-Amer- GRANT BILBERT and though it is not nearly as common can-Americans continued to influence icans in the modern U.S. are willing today, its effects remain pervasive. American society and policy. “Black to give him a chance, then Northam Blackface is a style of theatrical codes” were created in southern states should get one. makeup in which people paint their to restrict behavior of African-Ameri- Perry said that since the image MARCH 2, 2019 faces in burnt cork, greasepaint or WOLF PEN CREEK AMPHITHEATER cans and were called “Jim Crow” laws. holds symbolism that people might shoe polish. Often accompanied by At the turn of the 20th century, ra- find threatening, Northam’s ability to REPUBLICOFTEXASFEST.COM enlarged, painted-on lips and ripped dio and television provided a new av- govern those people can be negative- clothing, the practice was especially enue for minstrel shows to be available ly affected. Perry said that Northam popular before the Civil War and the to the public. This expansion created needs to ask himself how his constitu- GENERAL ADMISSION ADVANCED TICKETS - $27.50 emancipation of slaves. It was used in room for controversial cinema, a prime ents view him and whether or not they VIP TICKETS - $250 minstrel shows, similar to comedic mu- example being D.W. Griffith’s 1915 trust him. sicals, to mock African-Americans by film “The Birth of a Nation.” “Proposing positive changes for so- LIMITED QUANTITY OF VIP…BUY EARLY stereotyping their appearance, way of Perry said she shows the movie in ciety that enhance the role of under- PURCHASE ONLINE AT speaking and type of work. her race and politics class because it represented groups is a very good thing, The first minstrel shows were per- exemplifies the stereotypes of Afri- but can we find someone else who is a WWW.REPUBLICOFTEXASFEST.COM formed in the 1830s in the Northeast can-Americans that were used mock, better representative of the population and later spread to border states and demean and incite violence. Many of at large?” Perry said. “I have to believe other regions. One of the most pop- the characters were white performers that there are other options out there ular character names was Jim Crow, playing in blackface and the Klu Klux and there are people that exist that not which became a pejorative term for Klan was portrayed as heroic. only work for a community, but stand African-Americans. The popularity “One of the main threads of that film for a community.” THE TEXAS A&M STUDENT MEDIA BOARD of minstrel shows continued to grow was to recruit for the KKK,” Perry said. Many other universities, including INVITES APPLICATIONS FOR throughout the century until the early “To think that this is just harmless or Texas A&M, have students from the 1900s, attracting high profile individ- that it is just for an artform or perfor- past and present who have taken part Editor uals, from U.S. presidents like Abra- mance is very much overlooking the in displays of racism. However, just as ham Lincoln to prominent authors like danger that this has caused, historically the discovery of Northam’s yearbook Mark Twain, according to Joe Feagin, and today — thinking about how those photo launched a nation-wide discus- distinguished professor in the depart- stereotypes have perpetuated and how sion, the same could apply for parts of Aggieland 2020 ment of sociology. they feed or excite negative reaction A&M’s past. Qualifications for editor-in-chief of the Aggieland “It was about a lot more than stereo- yearbook are: from the rest of the population.” Amy Earhart, associate professor in types because they’re visual images and After the 1930s and into the Civil the department of English, said it is vital REQUIRED our whites are enjoying it and laugh- Rights movement, the popularity of to look at old documents and reflect • Be a Texas A&M student in good standing with the University ing,” Feagin said. blackface diminished. However, the upon them. Since the yearbooks have and enrolled in at least six credit hours (4 if a graduate student) during the term of office (unless fewer credits are required to These skits used stereotypes to mock, stereotypes surrounding African-Amer- been digitized, they are readily avail- graduate); racialize and attack African-Ameri- icans have been prevalent throughout able for anyone to view and analyze. • Have at least a 2.25 cumulative grade point ratio (3.25 if a cans. Showcased in these performances society from cinema to politics. “I do think that when we look at graduate student) and at least a 2.25 grade point ratio (3.25 if were stereotypical characters such as Recently, a photo of Virginia Gov- historical documents, we can reflect on a graduate student) in the semester immediately prior to the the “mammy” — represented as loud, ernor Ralph Northam from his 1984 those documents, to consider present, appointment, the semester of appointment and semester during the term of office. In order for this provision to be met, at least asexual black women happily working medical school yearbook surfaced, fea- ideas, and that’s important to have a six hours (4 if a graduate student) must have been taken for for a rich white family. Over the de- turing him and another student dressed historical record,” Earhart said. “A&M that semester; cades, these caricatures would become in blackface and a Ku Klux Klan robe. has a policy of transparency and open- PREFERRED a part of the nation’s larger media land- It is unclear which costume Northam ness with the materials that they collect, • Have completed JOUR 301 or COMM 307 (Mass Communication, scape. was wearing. and the library understands how im- Law, and Society); Minstrel shows became a way to Although he denied allegations at portant these materials are for current • Have demonstrated ability in writing, editing and graphic design justify segregation, said Brittany Perry, first, Northam recently confirmed that learning moments.” through university coursework or equivalent experience; instructional assistant professor of po- he is in the photo and issued an apol- • Have at least one year experience in a responsible position on the Aggieland or comparable college yearbook.

Application forms should be picked up from and returned to Douglas Pils, Student Media General Manager, in Suite L410 of the MSC. Deadline for submitting application: 5 p.m. Friday, March 22, 2018.

Meredith Seaver — THE BATTALION

Texas A&M’s yearbook began as the Olio, which was only published in 1895. In 1903, the publication changed its name to the Longhorn and began producing yearbooks annually. It became the Aggieland in 1949. Megan Rodriguez, Editor-in-Chief tions. We try to make them available to and welcoming to all students. LIBRARY CONTINUED anyone. The idea is to do research on “You have groups of people that are Luke Henkhaus, Managing Editor Angel Franco, Sports Editor them, to learn from the past, expand in this university now that were victims “We wanted to figure out a way of Jordan Burnham, News Editor Abigail Ochoa, Sports Editor your horizons, things like that, and see of this type of history, these types of addressing it; we knew that we should the good and the bad that could have actions, and that type of mindset,” Eu- Sanna Bhai, Asst. News Editor Cassie Stricker, Photo Chief address it in some manner.” Henry Mureithi, Asst. News Editor Meredith Seaver, Asst. Photo Chief gone on in the university’s history and banks said. “That history is important Additional steps taken included the try and strive to move forward with because this school hasn’t always been Kathryn Whitlock, Life & Arts Editor Daoud Qamar, Video Editor disclosure on the page of the digitized that.” what it is today. It’s a great institution, Hannah Falcon, Life & Arts Editor Kevin Christman, Video Editor yearbook website page, which states: In his university-wide email, Young but it still has work that needs to be Samantha Mahler, Life & Arts Editor Jane Turchi, Special Sections Editor “Through our website, the Libraries also said that when discrimination is done also.” offer public access to a wide range of in- seen, people have a duty to “call it out, Vice president and associate provost formation, including historical materi- to refute it and to stand for respect and for diversity Robin Means Coleman als that may contain offensive language love for all.” said in an interview in November of THE BATTALION is published Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays or negative stereotypes. Such materials during the 2019 spring semester (except Mosbo said part of the library’s mo- 2018 that there is still work to be done must be viewed in the context of the tivation for its decision was to allow at A&M to make it a better place for University holidays and exam periods) at Texas A&M University, College relevant time period. Texas A&M does Station, TX 77843. Offices are in Suite L400 of the Memorial Student Center. Aggies to learn from their history. diversity. not endorse the views expressed in such “I think we just all feel it’s important “So when we talk about when peo- materials.” News: The Battalion news department is managed by students at Texas A&M to learn from the past,” Mosbo said. “It ple say ‘I don’t know why people com- University archivist Greg Bailey said helps us better ourselves for the present plain…,’ it’s not about complaints, it’s University in Student Media, a unit of the Division of Student Affairs. Newsroom phone: the role of archivists is to preserve his- 979-845-3315; E-mail: [email protected]; website: http://www.thebatt.com. and for the future. … We looked at about making A&M better,” Means tory, regardless of its content. Although the Library of Congress, and they also Coleman said. “And to think that we Bailey was not on staff when the choice don’t try to shield their users from sim- can change a sense of belonging in Advertising: Publication of advertising does not imply sponsorship or was made to digitize the full content of endorsement by The Battalion. For campus, local, and national display ilar images, so we made note of that.” one short generation I think is foolish, the yearbooks, he said he agrees with Jarrett Eubanks, environmental sci- and I think that that’s where the work advertising call 979-845-2687. For classified advertising, call 979-845-0569. Office their final decision. hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. Email: [email protected]. ences senior and president of the A&M begins. [A&M’s integration] didn’t “The idea is to collect and preserve Collegiate Chapter of the NAACP, said change everything and suddenly every- the university’s history — all aspects of that although Young’s email was well body’s hearts and minds switched. No, Subscriptions: A part of the University Advancement Fee entitles each Texas A&M it — and then make it available to re- student to pick up a single copy of The Battalion. First copy free, additional copies $1. done, there is still work to be complet- that takes intentional work, and we’re searchers,” Bailey said. “Here at Cush- ed on campus to make it fully inclusive doing that intentional work here.” ing, we don’t try to close off our collec- OPINION The Battalion | 2.28.19 3 Speaking on blackface and past misbehavior Assistant news editor Henry Mureithi asks if we forget about forgiveness when talking about race

simple law of averages, one would expect Herring mentioned previously, it is the irony Henry Mureithi Northam-like revelations to be far more of ironies that some of the same Virginia law- ubiquitous. So you can imagine how un- makers condemning Northam and demand- @HenryMureithi5 derwhelmed I was when Virginia Attorney ing his resignation also recently paid tribute General Mark Herring announced that he in the Virginia Senate to the Confederate have to admit that I wasn’t all that too had donned blackface in college (after general Robert E. Lee, who fought to pro- surprised when news first emerged that initially rebuking Northam, but more on that tect the institution of slavery in the South. Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam and a later). These are the same racial attitudes that Ifriend had appeared in a racist blackface/ However, I was surprised by how incred- keep Lost Cause denialism alive and well. It KKK photo from his 1984 medical school ulous everyone, from Sen. Kamala Harris has become depressingly predictable for me yearbook. (It’s not clear who is in which (D-CA) to Virginia Republican Chair Jack to have a conversation with a fellow student costume.) My reaction wasn’t so much a Wilson, was to the whole controversy. To at A&M about racial issues and when the judgment on Northam’s character than a be exact, I was surprised by how muted my conservation touches on the original sin of clear-eyed recognition of Virginia’s and emotional response was in comparison. It slavery, for that student to go on some di- America’s history. wasn’t because I didn’t understand what was atribe about how the Civil War was about The fact is, for a significant portion of its objectionable or I didn’t find the photo dis- states’ rights — regardless of what was con- pre- and post-colonial history — starting in gusting. The problem was, in effect, being tained in the southern states’ declarations of Virginia in 1619 — American society was asked to judge a 59-year-old man by who he secession. structured with the legal trade and enslave- was when he was 25. It is not difficult to estimate why. Aggies, ment of other human beings as common- I have no hesitation saying that the both past and present, who rain holy hell on place. Moreover, after a costly and bloody 25-year-old man who appeared in that photo the A&M campus at even the slightest sug- Civil War, the de jure abolition of slavery was an unmistakable racist who probably did gestion of relocating the statue of Sul Ross in the United States gave way to a different so for no better reason than a cheap laugh. — who was a Confederate general — seem sort of subjugation in the dual form of Jim However, the photo tells me nothing oddly indifferent to the stalled effort to honor Crow — predominantly in the former Con- about the person he is today. Matthew Gaines, the former slave and Tex- federate South — and de facto racial, social This is what I know: in his time in the Vir- as state senator who was instrumental in the Creative Commons engineering even in the Union North. It was ginia Legislature and subsequently, as Lieu- establishment of A&M. not until the civil rights era of the 1950s and tenant Governor, Northam earned the re- Unfortunately, A&M also has not been 1960s that many of these explicit racial con- spect of his black colleagues. When Northam immune to some of the more egregious ra- structions began to be torn down. ran for governor, his running mate was Jus- cial incidents. Think about it: when Northam was born tin Fairfax, an African-American. Northam I realize that Northam’s subsequent deni- in 1959, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 still voiced his support for the relocation of als and the withdrawal of support from some seemed like a political impossibility and Confederate public monuments during the of the black legislators referenced above shifts Boynton v. Virginia — the landmark civil campaign. Furthermore, he also campaigned this analysis considerably, but not on the rights decision that prohibited segregation in admirably against the racist fear-mongering central question: is Ralph Northam a racist? public transportation — had yet to be decid- of his opponent during that election. I think For me, the answer is still no. Nothing that ed. By the time the somewhat more famous those people accusing Northam of being rac- I have seen reported since the first week has Loving v. Virginia case on interracial mar- ist have a higher burden of proof. changed this. riage reached the Supreme Court, Northam Moreover, the broader project on racial I’m not a mind-reader, and I can’t read was almost eight years old, and anti-misce- equality is premised on the notion that with what’s in his heart. I am sure this will act as genation was still the law of the land in his time and perseverance, it is possible to fun- fodder for those who have utterly convinced native Virginia. damentally reorient the views and ideas that themselves of Northam’s prejudice. What I Racism is not a light switch that snaps on undergird racism and discrimination. Central do believe is that Northam was able to over- and off depending on Supreme Court deci- to this is the ability to change people’s minds. come the racist indoctrination that he had sions and additions to the U.S. Code. The To reject this is to dismiss the enduring hope grown up with and subsequently became a same prejudice that guided the people in Vir- of the entire civil rights movement, turning genteel and honorable man who became an ginia to vote for and support politicians who it all into a cynical ploy. Ultimately, if you ally in the sometimes uneven path toward vigorously opposed these and other similar don’t believe people can change, society racial equity. efforts is kindred to the hostility that still can’t change. What’s the point of this whole I don’t know if Northam should resign or existed in Virginia and elsewhere afterwards endeavor in the first place? not, but I do know that he represents a small — no matter how meaningful the milestones You either believe that people can bending of the moral arc. The Northam of outlined above were. The state that Northam change, and therefore implicitly in the no- today is a good man, and this country and the grew up in was still grappling with its sordid tion of some measure of forgiveness for past State of Virginia are better for it. Luke Henkhaus — THE BATTALION racial history, and as a result, one has to ac- moral failings, or you don’t. Each’s situation For me, the story in Virginia isn’t about knowledge that Northam more than likely should be dealt with on a case-by-case basis a political scandal around racist behavior, TOP: Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam has been grew up with a less than admirable views of — a blanket zero tolerance response is coun- but more about the necessity of forgiveness under fire after a photo of him from his 1984 other races and the peoples of those races. terproductive. People need to know there is and how we sometimes inadvertently ignore medical school yearbook resurfaced. The photo In one regard, it is only by sheer luck that redemption after revelation, not retribution. much more problematic behavior. shows one student in blackface and another more incidents involving prominent public Far more concerning to me than what in a Ku Klux Klan robe, though it’s unclear figures in similarly inappropriate behavior someone did 30 or so years ago is the implicit which one is Northam. BOTTOM: In addition during their earlier years have not come to racial attitudes that we allow to fester and Henry Mureithi is a computer science to serving as governor of Texas and A&M’s prominence. Given the length and essential- spread. Apart from the hypocritical foibles of senior and news editor for The Battalion. president, Lawrence Sullivan Ross was a ism of America’s racial history, just by the Confederate general during the U.S. Civil War. classifiedssee ads at thebatt.com Place an ad When to call Private Party Want ads Phone 979.845.0569 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday $10 for 20 words running 5 days, if your merchandise is priced $1,000 or less (price must appear in ad). This rate applies only Suite L400, Insertion deadline: 1 p.m. prior business day to non-commercial advertisers offering personal possessions for sale. Guaranteed results or you get an additional 5 days at Memorial Student Center no charge. If item doesn’t sell, advertiser must call before 1 p.m. on the day the ad is scheduled to end to qualify for the 5

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THE TEXAS A&M STUDENT MEDIA BOARD INVITES APPLICATIONS FOR Editor-in-Chief THE

BATTheTAL IndependenT STudenT VoIce of TexaS a&M SInceION 1893 Summer 2019 & Fall 2019 –Spring 2020 Summer editor oversees print, digital and special editions from May 13, 2019, to Aug. 11, 2019. Fall editor oversees print, digital and special editions from Aug. 12, 2019, to Dec. 15, 2019. Fall and spring editor oversees print, digital and special editions from Aug. 12, 2019, to May 17, 2020. Qualifications for editor-in-chief of The Battalion are: REQUIRED • Be a Texas A&M student in good standing with the University and enrolled in at least six credit hours (4 if a graduate student) during the term of office (unless fewer credits are required to graduate); • Have at least a 2.25 cumulative grade point ratio (3.25 if a graduate student) and at least a 2.25 grade point ratio (3.25 if a graduate student) in the semester immediately prior to the appointment, the semester of appointment and semester during the term of office. In order for this provision to be met, at least six hours (4 if a graduate student) must have been taken for that semester. PREFERRED • Have completed JOUR 301 or COMM 307 (Mass Communication, Law, and Society) or equivalent; • Have at least one year experience in a responsible editorial position on The Battalion or comparable daily college newspaper, – OR – Have at least one year editorial experience on a commercial newspaper, – OR – Have completed at least 12 hours in journalism, including JOUR 203 (Media Writing I) and JOUR 303 (Media Writing II) or JOUR 304 (Editing for the Mass Media), or equivalent. Courtesy of the Cushing Memorial Library Archives

Application forms should be picked up from and returned to Douglas Pils, Student Media General Manager, in Suite L410 TOP: 1906 Longhorn, Pg. 198: This photo of students in Ku Klux Klan robes appeared in the clubs section of the of the MSC. Deadline for submitting application: yearbook, along with a list of group’s members. BOTTOM: 1990 Aggieland, Pg. 472: The yearbook’s original caption 5 p.m. Friday, March 22, 2019. reads “Members of Phi Kappa Sigma display Halloween spirit at a costume party held at their house.”

on why they came forward and said, ‘We’re HISTORY CONTINUED going to use this.’ People presented the ob- vious, but I don’t know.” of African-Americans. In an article from that An entry on the club’s page from the HULLABALOO, time, the Houston Chronicle described both 1956 Aggieland simply says “it is spelled the cartoon and the ensuing backlash. with all K’s because it was founded in the “[The cartoon] depicts a black mother days of the Ku Klux Klan.” CONNECT, CONNECT scolding her son for flunking a class,” the In 1993, the KKK planned to have a rally article reads. “Both the mother and the son in College Station, according to an article have big eyes and frowning, large lips — car- in The Battalion. A high-ranking Klansman icatures historically used to denigrate blacks. said members of the Klan who were enrolled “The overweight mother — holding at A&M suggested the rally be held at Oaks a spatula in her left hand and wearing an Park, though it’s unclear whether the gath- apron and curlers — points to her son with ering ever materialized. her right hand and says, ‘If you ain’t careful “Grand Dragon Michael Lowe said the you gonna end up doing airport security.’” KKK will appear on behalf of requests from The African-American Student Coalition members who are A&M students,” the arti- demanded that The Battalion apologize, say- cle read. “He said about a dozen A&M stu- ing the cartoon was “blatantly racist.” In a dents are members of the KKK.” letter published in The Battalion, then-Uni- University archivists strive to preserve versity President Ray Bowen wrote that the all records of the past, both good and bad cartoon “clearly played on stereotypes of so that individuals can see the full picture African-Americans.” of A&M’s history, Bailey said. However, Collins said an understanding of A&M’s sometimes parts of collections are removed past is essential for current students, especial- before they reach archivists for preservation. ly when examining more recent displays of “There’s always more of a story than it racial malice. might just be in the official records,” Bailey “I think it’s good to have a push for cur- said. “In archives, we don’t try to sanitize rent students to understand the A&M past things. But unfortunately in the past — and because otherwise, they can’t really under- it probably can still happen today — be- stand why, as some people basically don’t fore records are transferred to the archives, understand what’s wrong with blackface,” people sanitize records, possibly things that Collins said. might not reflect kindly on the past.” Yearbook history is not limited to imag- Patrick Zinn, director of marketing and es of blackface; pictures of students dressed communications for the library system, said in Ku Klux Klan robes can be found in at helping people understand the whole story least two instances — one group photo from through access to multiple sources is one of 1906 and a lone student at Midnight Yell the jobs of university libraries. pictured in the 1966 Aggieland. “You can’t look at any one piece of infor- Additionally, a club called the Kream and mation and discern everything about an in- Kow Klub emerged in the 1921 edition of stitution,” Zinn said. “Although there [are] The Longhorn. The group kept this name some abhorrent pictures, maybe even some for almost 40 years — occasionally switch- other information, it’s not the whole story, ing the spelling of Klub to Club — before and it’s never the whole story.” entirely changing its name to the Dairy According to Bill Page, library associate Science Club in 1959. University archivist for the Ask Us Services, the facts of the story Greg Bailey said that there had been spec- stay the same, but the story you choose to TEXAS HIGH-SPEED TRAIN ulation regarding the club’s name, but the tell can be very different. reality is ultimately unknown to him. “You can have affection for the univer- “I don’t have a good answer why the sity,” Page said. “You can be proud of the Kream and Kow Klub decided to use a K university and still be a willing advocate to Dallas to Houston in 90 Minutes for all of their things,” Bailey said. “I have change the university.” not been able to find good documentation With a stop in Aggieland LET’S BE FRIENDS

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