The Cavalier daily :: Monday September 14, 1970 :: University of Virginia Library

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
black man 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.

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.

Admission Denied Black

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.

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
II. 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."

Constitutional Segregation

"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".

Second Black Accepted

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 the Bernard
Fontana became head of University
Food Services, the McCormack
Road Dorms were opened, and a
referendum was passed banning women
from Student Council.

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.

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.

Discrimination Suit

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 segregation
in the courts. There were black
undergraduates here by then.

Without Tradition?

On October 17, 1962, The Cavalier
Daily reported that Miss Adams
withdrew after one day of
classes. "She was not spoken to by
any of her fellow students. The
Martinsville 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."

Changing Attitude

Last year, 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.

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.