University of Virginia Library

Black Students

A History Short, But Not Sweet

By RON CASS

The history of the Black
man at the University and in
the surrounding area is perhaps
most notable for its brevity, at
least in the academic field. For
many years the Black man has
been accepted in the University
community as slave at first
and later as janitor. But 131
years after Mr. Jefferson
founded this institution, 20
years ago this coming fall, the
Blackman was admitted, if not
accepted, as a student here. It
may be worthwhile to recall a
few episodes concerning the Black
man at this school and those
schools around us.

Admission Denied

In a speech given at the
University on Wednesday, February
4, 1914, J:H. Dillard, former Dean
of Tulane University and one of
the foremost authorities on the
Negro question applauded the
increasing reliability, efficiency and
co-operation of the Negro;
advocated "practical education and
segregation, saying that the latter
was a natural and instinctive
tendency of the Negroes
themselves." D.H. Ramsey spoke
along the same lines.

On Wednesday, November 4,
1914, Mr. Ramsey announced the
formation of a Negro study class,
the University's first Black studies
course with only whites studying.

September 21, 1935, the Board
of Visitors turned down the
application of a Negro for
admission to the graduate school.
The Board issued this statement,
"The education of white and
colored persons in the same schools
is contrary to the long established
and fixed policy of the
Commonwealth of Virginia.
Therefore, for this and other good
and sufficient reasons not necessary
to be herein enumerated the rector
and board of visitors of the
University of Virginia direct the
dean of the department of graduate
studies to refuse respectfully the
pending application of a colored
student." The student, daughter of
a Richmond druggist had begun
graduate work at Smith.

Decision Condemned

On October 10, 1935, College
Topics reported that the National
Students League of the University
of Virginia condemned the decision
of the board of visitors, "we
criticize the Board's stand because
it implies the desirability of
continuing educational inequality."
Of the board's statement the league
said, "We gather from this
statement that the student in
question was refused admittance
solely because of her race."

September 16, 1950, the word
"negro" was finally capitalized by
the University newspaper. "Gregory
H. Swanson, Martinsville attorney,
became the first Negro ever to be
admitted to the University when he
registered as a graduate student in
the department of law yesterday.
The way was cleared for his
registration after the Board of
Visitors heard a federal court order
his admission here. A second Negro
made application to the University
prior to the recent court ruling on
the Swanson case and was referred
to the Virginia State University for
Negroes in Petersburg, in line with
University policy."

"Swanson first applied to the
University in the spring, and there
were never any doubts about his
qualifications, which were approved
by a law school committee. But
because the state constitution
requires segregation in the Virginia
educational institutions, Swanson's
application was referred to the
Board of Visitors at their monthly
July meeting, when it was rejected
on the grounds that in spite of
recent supreme court decisions the
Board did not have authority to set
aside Virginia law.

The article concluded, "Other
Negroes have applied for entrance
to the University and other
institutions, but for more than a
decade the state has provided funds
for their education in schools
outside Virginia".

On September 28, 1950, a
second Negro was accepted. The
new student, a faculty member at
Virginia State College, was
admitted, pursuant to the recent
court decision to pursue the degree
of master of philosophy in
education. This was the same year
that Bernard Fontana became head
of University Food services, the
McCormack Road Dorms were
opened, and a referendum was
passed banning women from
Student Council.

Public Schools

Easy transition to integration
was not limited to the University.
On October 7, 1955, the parents of
local negro (the paper was back to
lower case n's) students petitioned
the Charlottesville-Albemarle
School Board to allow
Charlottesville children to attend
school on a non-segregated basis.
All public schools in Virginia are
now operated on a segregated
system in accordance with the
policies of the Governor and the
State Board of Education." The
article did not indicate the
petition's success.

Ivy Site

Other nearby areas also had
problems. The year-long dispute
over an Ivy site flared anew today
(November 18, 1959). White
residents of Ivy, complaining that
the site selected by the Albemarle
School Board is a predominantly
white section, announced that they
asked for an injunction... to stop
construction." The principal
objection was that the action taken
by the School Board and State
Board of Supervisors "under the
threat of integration of county
schools" would "lend itself to the
integration of a white section." The
article explained that white live on
one side of the tracks (C&O), and
Negroes on the other.

October 11, 1962, "In the wake
of yesterday's federal hearing on
the suit of Hazel R. Adams, who
claimed to have been discriminated
against as a Negro in her attempt to
enter the University's Patrick Henry
branch college, officials there have
said that they are disappointed and
disturbed that the University
presented no vigorous opposition at
court to her admittance." It was
time for the branch colleges to find
out what the Charlottesville group
knew you can't win with
in the courts. There
were Black undergraduates here by
then.

Adams Withdraws

On October, 17, 1962, The
Cavalier Daily reported that Miss
Adams withdrew after one day of
She was not spoken to by
any of her fellow students. The
Martinsvillie paper reported that
Miss Adams classmates couldn't
care less about her." On the same
page an article appears on the
meaning of University traditions.
One student, voicing opinions
typical of those interviewed, said,
"Tradition to me means all that the
University stands for...The
University wouldn't be as great as it
is now if we didn't have traditions
such as wearing coats and ties."

Two years ago there was much
activity in February and March and
April promoted by the Coalition, a
group of students concerned about
the tiny percentage of the student
body which was Black about the
atmosphere here which continued
to be indifferent when not hostile
to our token Blacks, and about the
startling lack of effort which the
University was expending to attract
Black students to the University
and to make the University
attractive to Blacks.

Recruiting

Rallies were held, students got
excited, administrative hairs greyed,
committees got appointed, and the
University began, perhaps for the
first time, seriously talking about
changing its attitudes and increasing
its efforts to recruit Black students.
A summer preparatory program was
inaugurated largely with
student-raised money. Things
started to happen.

Last year the enrollment of 92
Black students in the first year class
raised the percentage of Blacks in
the College from 0.7 per cent of
two years ago to 1.9 per cent. The
total Black enrollment at the
University role to a "peak" of 2.2
per cent.

But the reaction to the increased
Black enrolment was not good.
Blacks reported incidents of
harassment by city and University
police, students and University
employees. They charged that
police were indiscriminately
stopping Black students in checks
for student identification. Despite
these discouraging signs, Blacks
have established themselves at Mr.
Jefferson's University, but the
process has just begun.