Regional Oral History Office University of California the Bancroft Library Berkeley, California
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Regional Oral History Office University of California The Bancroft Library Berkeley, California William Russell Ellis IN THE GOLDEN SANDBOX Interviews conducted by Leah McGarrigle and Nadine Wilmot In 2003 and 2004 Copyright © 2012 by The Regents of the University of California Since 1954 the Regional Oral History Office has been interviewing leading participants in or well-placed witnesses to major events in the development of Northern California, the West, and the nation. Oral History is a method of collecting historical information through tape-recorded interviews between a narrator with firsthand knowledge of historically significant events and a well-informed interviewer, with the goal of preserving substantive additions to the historical record. The tape recording is transcribed, lightly edited for continuity and clarity, and reviewed by the interviewee. The corrected manuscript is bound with photographs and illustrative materials and placed in The Bancroft Library at the University of California, Berkeley, and in other research collections for scholarly use. Because it is primary material, oral history is not intended to present the final, verified, or complete narrative of events. It is a spoken account, offered by the interviewee in response to questioning, and as such it is reflective, partisan, deeply involved, and irreplaceable. ********************************* All uses of this manuscript are covered by a legal agreement between The Regents of the University of California and William Russell Ellis, dated August 23, 2005. The manuscript is thereby made available for research purposes. All literary rights in the manuscript, including the right to publish, are reserved to The Bancroft Library of the University of California, Berkeley. Excerpts up to 1000 words from this interview may be quoted for publication without seeking permission as long as the use is non-commercial and properly cited. Requests for permission to quote for publication should be addressed to The Bancroft Library, Head of Public Services, Mail Code 6000, University of California, Berkeley, 94720-6000, and should follow instructions available online at http://bancroft.berkeley.edu/ROHO/collections/cite.html It is recommended that this oral history be cited as follows: William Russell Ellis, “In The Golden Sandbox,” interview conducted by Leah McGarrigle and Nadine Wilmot, 2003-2004, Regional Oral History Office, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley, 2012. William Russell Ellis, 1992 Photo courtesy Lew Watts v Interview History, Russell Ellis, Jr. Russell Ellis, Jr. was interviewed as part of the African American Faculty and Senior Staff Oral History Project. This series of interviews explores the experiences of African American faculty and senior staff at UC Berkeley as part of the broader history of the University of California. Professor Ellis was a leading proponent of the series and was involved in the early stages of planning and framing, in addition to fundraising for the project. Professor Ellis joined UC Berkeley’s Department of Architecture in 1970, where he taught, researched, and innovated in the intersection of sociology and architecture. He subsequently played a significant role in university administration, serving as Vice Chancellor of Undergraduate Affairs and Faculty Equity Associate, a position for which he emerged temporarily from retirement. Ellis was raised in Los Angeles and educated at Compton High School and UCLA where he gained significant recognition as an athlete before going on to become a scholar and professor of sociology. Ellis emphasized over the course of his interview that his is a California story that reflects this state’s social history and diverse population. At Berkeley, he has worked to support and grow a student population that reflects this state’s diversity. In this interview Professor Ellis reflects on UC Berkeley and the life and times that led him here. Significant themes include: a perspective on the University of California’s institutional history from the vantage point of someone who worked for change from within the administration, a perspective on how and why affirmative action policies and programs were built and dismantled, gender and racial discrimination and academic culture, and curricular transformation catalyzed by the social movements of the 1960’s. Professor Ellis’ trajectory reflects that of a generation of African American scholars and professionals. For many in this cohort, athletic excellence and/or military service were the mechanics of mobility that allowed them to circumvent structural racism and gain access to formerly segregated institutions of higher education. Against the changing backdrop of America’s racial landscape during the ‘60s and ‘70s, Ellis and his peers leapt far beyond what had been possible for their parents and previous generations and were central in efforts to create mechanisms to increase access for minorities and women who followed them in the academy. The fourteen sessions that comprise this interview took place over the course of nine months, from May of 2003 through January of 2004. Ellis was jointly interviewed by myself and Leah McGarrigle. The first six interviews and final interview took place at Ellis’ Berkeley home. Interviews seven through thirteen took place at conference rooms reserved at The Bancroft Library on UC Berkeley’s campus. All interviews were recorded on minidisc and video, with the exception of the final interview which was recorded on minidisc only. The interviews were transcribed and audited and then reviewed by Professor Ellis. Significant edits incorporated into the interview upon his review are noted in the transcript with [brackets]. This series is grounded in the premise that higher education is one of the primary strategies for gaining social equality—access to employment and income—for historically disadvantaged communities. Moreover, the University, comprised of its students and faculty and administration, with all of its intellectual and financial resources operates as a critical touchstone in processes of systemic social change. Therefore the university functions not simply as an educational vi institution, but also as a significant site of past, present, and future potential for imagining and crafting opportunity for ethnic and racial groups formerly excluded from higher education. This project recognizes that the University of California, as California’s premier public educational institution, has historically played a significant role in the socio-economic mobility of California’s residents. The story that we hope will emerge from this project is a story of California – its people and one of its most important public institutions. This interview was conducted under the auspices of the Regional Oral History Office. The Regional Oral History Office was established in 1954 to augment through recorded oral memoirs the Library’s materials on the history of California and the West. Copies of all interviews are available for research use in the Bancroft Library and in the UCLA Department of Special Collections. The office is under the direction of Richard Cándida Smith, Director and the administrative direction of Elaine C. Tennant, James D. Hart Director of the Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley. Nadine Wilmot, Editor/Interviewer Regional Oral History Office Berkeley, California October, 2011 vii Table of Contents—William Russell Ellis Interview One, May, 13, 2003 .....................................................................................................................1 [audio file 1, 59 minutes] Birth certificate and discussion of ethnicity—family background, grandparents and other relatives—Uncle Jimmy and father, Russell, Sr. [audio file 2, 35 minutes] Discrimination and the mosaic of race—high school and UCLA. Interview Two, May 30, 2003....................................................................................................................29 [audio file 3, 63 minutes] Raising children Zoë and David, linear versus circular communication, how they were named— more on family background—mother, father, and family, living circumstances. [audio file 4, 55 minutes] Moving to Fontana from Los Angeles—a childhood summer in L.A.—Joiner farm in Fontana, elementary school, farm life. Interview Three, June 3, 2003....................................................................................................................60 [audio file 5, 62 minutes] Living in the country, farm life—returning to Los Angeles, the geography of L.A.—junior high: the social world, nicknames, parties and dances. [audio file 6, 60 minutes] Adolescent social life, parties and dances, ethnic differentiation, church—adolescent sexuality— intellectual development. Interview Four, June 10, 2003 ...................................................................................................................93 [audio file 7, 62 minutes] Dominance of sports in his young life—coaches at Compton High School and UCLA—running the half-mile—track at UCLA—encountering segregation and racism as an an athlete in high school when traveling for meets. [audio file 8, 64 minutes] Sports and race—how racism is experienced across different generations—being an African American athlete at UCLA, comparisons with UC Berkeley—campus culture and social life, traveling between campus culture and Compton culture—high school friends—teamwork and teammates. viii Interview Five, June 20, 200....................................................................................................................131