Casting Shadows: How Rural Northeast Texas Dimmed the Light of Progress

• In Event: 75.061 - Roundtable Session 34
  In Roundtable Session: 75.061-1 - Critical Issues in the Education of Minorities in the United States

Abstract

This paper will examine the story of Barbara Smith Conrad, a member of the first integrated class at the University of Texas at Austin, who was removed from the lead role in the opera Dido and Aneas. The analysis will focus on this event as a snapshot that reveals the impact of rural communities in Northeast Texas on the legal, political, and social strategies used to halt the progress of integration in Texas. The study will also look at current issues associated with racial equity in education and how this historical analysis may shed light on how attitudes in rural communities may continue to impact these issues today and in the future.

Author

• Ashley N. Stone, The University of Texas at Austin