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Photo display honors African American history at IU
January 28, 2004 | |||||
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KOKOMO, Ind.—Kokomo’s own Tavis Smiley, today a commentator for National Public Radio, is one of dozens of African Americans featured in a Indiana University photo exhibit, on display in IU Kokomo’s Alumni Hall February 2–13. “The Black Experience at Indiana University: Realizing the Dream 1816–2002,” highlights IU alumni, faculty and staff who have distinguished themselves both within the university and worldwide. Free and open to the public, the exhibit is sponsored by the IU and IU Kokomo alumni associations, the IU Office of Student Development and Diversity, and the North Central Chapter of the Neal-Marshall Alumni Club. Named for the first male and female African American graduates of Indiana University, Neal-Marshall is open to all African American members of the IU Alumni Association. Comprising a timeline and several tall columns covered with photo collages, the exhibit was created for the opening of IU Bloomington’s Neal-Marshall Black Culture Center in 2002. One of the co-founders of the Neal-Marshall Alumni Club, Betty Bridgwaters, culled the original photos and news clippings from IU archives. Now working for the IUB’s Recommendation Service in Health Professions, Bridgwaters said the images and text appearing in the display represent a tenth of the noteworthy material she uncovered, offering “just an insight into history.” The history starts in 1869, when Indiana decreed by law that “colored students” could be educated in public schools. Many African American students came to Indiana from surrounding states that still denied them an education, Bridgwaters said. It was a bold move for Indiana, according to Bridgwaters, because many Americans in the post-Civil War era disapproved of teaching blacks to read and write. The Indiana victory was not without conditions. Black students at IU paid the same college fees as white students, but were not allowed to use university facilities, such as campus housing and the student cafeteria. In 1925, both black and white students protested this discrimination. Newspaper accounts of the time—reproduced on one of the exhibit columns—reported that the demonstration surprised then-IU president William Bryan. He thought blacks should be satisfied just to be allowed to attend classes, Bridgwaters said. “He asked them, ‘Why are you complaining?’ ” IU Trustee Cora Breckenridge is depicted in the exhibit, recognizing her selection in 1997 as the first person of color to join the Board of Trustees. The exhibit’s section on former Chancellor Herman B Wells holds special meaning for Breckenridge because Wells mentored her as a student and trustee. Wells achieved the racial integration of IU dorms “without upheaval,” she said. “Working from a genuine love for all mankind, the chancellor laid great groundwork for the present.” For more information on “The Black Experience at Indiana University” or IU Kokomo’s involvement in the Neal-Marshall Alumni Club, call (765) 455-9411 or e-mail alumni@iuk.edu.
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