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Black Women and Resistance at Black Colleges, 1957-2018. BY Invincible, Not Invisible: Black Women and Resistance at Black Colleges, 1957-2018. BY JENNIFER ASH B.A., Western Carolina University, 2005 M.A., University of North Carolina at Greensboro, 2008 DISSERTATION Submitted as partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in History in the Graduate College of the University of Illinois at Chicago, 2019 Chicago, Illinois Defense Committee: Barbara Ransby, Chair and Advisor Elizabeth Todd-Breland Lynn Hudson Cynthia Blair Roderick Ferguson, African American Studies Martha Biondi, Northwestern University To all the freedom fighters past, present, and future. ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Though I wrote this dissertation over the last few years as a doctoral student, the project really began over ten years ago when I was hired to teach at Bennett College in Greensboro, North Carolina. When I began working there I was quickly introduced to the history of Bennett women’s activism in the civil rights movement. I was hooked from that moment on and have been ever since. Bennett students taught me more than I could ever teach them. Because of them and my time at Bennett in general, my political and historical lenses blossomed and matured. I am a better scholar, a better organizer, and a better person because of Bennett Belles who sat in my classes and talked with me in my office. Colleagues at Bennett were super supportive of my research and have continued to remain dear friends. Valerie Ann Johnson, affectionately known as Dr. VJ, Mia Mitchell, Steve Willis, Yvonne Welbon, and Tamara Jeffries have cheered me on through this journey. I owe a special acknowledgement of gratitude to Dr. VJ who saw something in me that I did not know existed myself. If it was not for Dr. VJ, this project would not exist. She introduced me to many feminist scholars who have supported this research, including Beverly Guy-Sheftall, whose remarkable body of work remains a source of inspiration and was key to the development of this dissertation. I am also grateful for other mentors who have supported my intellectual journey over the years. At Western Carolina University Elizabeth Gillespie McRae modeled for me what an anti- racist southern white woman scholar should be and do. At the University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG) Lisa Levenstein modeled the importance of scholar activism and showed me how to be thorough and precise in my work. Peter Carmichael and his family have been supportive and the source of many laughs when I needed them. I met Tiffany Packer at UNCG iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS (continued) and she has remained a dear friend, always offering words of support and encouragement. In Chicago I gained a family – an intellectual and political one. By agreeing to take me on as a student, Barbara Ransby altered my life forever. I will never forget the day she encouraged me to apply for Ph.D. programs after knowing me for less than a week. Like Dr. VJ, Barbara saw potential in me that I did not see myself and I am forever grateful. The steady support of Elizabeth Todd-Breland, Cynthia Blair, Jennie Brier, Lynn Hudson, Jane Rhodes, Rod Ferguson, Nadine Naber, Atef Said, Martha Biondi, and Kishonna Gray has been remarkable. The opportunity to learn from them and their messages of encouragement have kept me afloat. Several peers of mine have been especially supportive as well. Deana G. Lewis is a constant and there is nothing I could say to adequately thank her for her support. Marla McMackin and Sharaya Tindall have been especially supportive as well, offering feedback and encouragement when I needed it most. Chandni Desai, who was a Mellon fellow at the Social Justice Initiative has remained a source of support and a dear friend. Though she was not a student at UIC, I met Isis Ferguson there and we have grown to be dear friends. She has been a source of joy and support from day one. There are too many people to list but Jennifer Viets, Alice Kim, and so many others have been sources of support and collaboration. Also, thank you to the people who sat and wrote with me at writing retreats and work sessions. I am also indebted to the many archivists who helped me locate the source materials for this work. I especially want to thank Holly Smith and Ms. Kassandra Ware at Spelman College Archives, and the staff at the Women’s Research and Resource Center who welcomed me on numerous occasions. This project has benefitted from generous funding from several iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS (continued) institutions. I am grateful for financial support from the Department of History, the Department of Gender and Women’s Studies, and the Department of African American Studies at the University of Illinois at Chicago. In addition to these academic departments, the UIC Chancellor’s office, the Institute for Research on Race and Public Policy, and the Social Justice Initiative have generously provided financial support for my work. Outside of UIC, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the Black Metropolis Research Consortium at the University of Chicago, and the North Caroliniana Society also provided generous support. Finally, there are no words to describe how much I appreciate the support of my family. My maternal grandmother Judy Green drove me to the post office in our small town in 2001 to mail off my college applications. I was the first in her family to go to college and she saved every penny she could to pay for my applications and all the things I needed to attend. She has remained a constant in my life through many highs and lows including the passing of my mother, who I know would be glowing with pride if she were here to see me get this Ph.D. My partner’s parents, Alfred and Connie, have embraced me as their own child. Through them I have learned the kind of lessons only unconditional love teaches us. To my children Matty and Cheslynn, you are my most impressive accomplishments to date. You are the source of my joy every day and I hope I make you as proud as you make me. You are wise beyond your years and I cannot wait to see how you will change this world, because I know you will. Finally, to my partner Matthew, I love you more than I can put into words. Our journey together and our family histories are a book unto themselves. One day we can write it together. For now, lets relish in the fact that we have conquered this journey together, stronger than ever. From Kings Mountain to Chicago, peanut butter and jelly for life! JSA v TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE I. INTRODUCTION ………………………………………… 1 II. “I DIDN’T KNOW I WAS SENDING YOU TO A CONVENT”: INSTITUTIONAL CULTURES OF RESPECTABILITY AND STUDENT RESISTANCE TO IN LOCO PARENTIS AT HBCUS, LATE 1950s – EARLY 1960s……………………………… 30 III. “SEGREGATION…DIMINISHES OUR STATURE AS WOMEN”: BENNETT COLLEGE STUDENTS AND GREENSBORO’S BLACK FREEDOM STRUGGLE, 1957-1960…………………………………………………… 91 IV. “WE NO LONGER WANT TO BE ‘LILY-WHITE YOUNG LADIES,’ BUT WE WANT TO BE BLACK SOUL SISTERS”: BLACK WOMEN AND ACTIVISM AT HBCUS, 1965-1975…………………………………….. 117 V. “WE ARE WILLING TO GO TO THE LAST EXTREME”: SPELMAN COLLEGE AND THE FIGHT FOR A BLACK WOMAN PRESIDENT, 1975-1976………………. 162 VI. CONCLUSION……………………………………………… 204 BIBLIOGRAPHY …………………………………………... 226 VITA………………………………………………………… 241 vi LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AFDC Aid to Families with Dependent Children A&I Tennessee Agricultural and Industrial College APD Atlanta Police Department AUC Atlanta University Center BPP Black Panther Party ERA Equal Rights Amendment GCA Greensboro Citizens Association HBCUs Historically Black Colleges and Universities LGBTQ Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer NWRO National Welfare Rights Organization NC A&T North Carolina Agricultural and Technical PWIs Primarily White Institutions SCLC Southern Christian Leadership Conference SNCC Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee SOBU Student Organization for Black Unity SSGA Spelman Student Government Association UNCG University of North Carolina at Greensboro USNSA United States National Student Association WC Woman’s College at the University of North Carolina WHMS Women’s Home Missionary Society WRRC Women’s Research and Resource Center vii SUMMARY “Invincible, Not Invisible,” is a historical study of Black women’s activism at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) from the late 1950s through the early 2000s. The author uses historical records from institutional archives and oral history interviews to draw conclusions about how Black women students at HBCUs organized to challenge administrative oversight of their personal and social lives, and how they simultaneously participated in several social and political movements. Beginning with an examination of institutional cultures, the dissertation analyzes how Black women students resisted in loco parentis at Black colleges from the late 1950s through the early 1960s. Second, it focuses on the contributions of Black women students to the Greensboro sit-in movement and the broader civil rights movement during the late 1950s and early 1960s. From there, the dissertation focuses on how Black women students participated in student activism at Black colleges during the era of the Black student movement and the rise of the women’s liberation movement. Next, the dissertation tells the story of the 1976 Board of Trustees Lock-in at Spelman College, when Black women students and their faculty and staff allies demanded a Black woman president. Finally, “Invincible, Not Invisible,” concludes with an overview of the establishment of women’s studies and the Women’s Research and Resource Center (WRRC) at Spelman College in 1981, and student activism that was nurtured and supported within the WRRC through the recent past. viii 1 I. INTRODUCTON In 1980 Dee Adams1, a student at Bennett College, received several notices from Dean of Student Affairs Harold Bragg, informing her that she must leave the Greensboro, North Carolina, campus at once due to an unexpected pregnancy.
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