Being White at Langston University: An Oral History, 1969–1972

• In Event: 51.031 - Contested Histories, Contested Spaces: Education in Oklahoma

Abstract

In the fall of 1969, a handful of White students walked on to Langston University with a minority scholarship. There had been many changes in Oklahoma since the previous two decades, when in 1948, the University of Oklahoma (OU) President Cross, denied access for six Black students from Langston due to the Oklahoma’s segregation laws. Now the tables were turned, and White people were attending a Langston University, a Historically Black College and University (HBCU).

Langston University was founded as a land grant college through the Morrill Act of 1890, and officially established by House Bill 151 on March 12, 1897, as the Colored Agricultural and Normal University. The University was established prior to Oklahoma Statehood in 1907 and at that time, many Black people had migrated to Oklahoma Territory in search of better opportunity. The University did not bill itself as a Black University at inception, but it was built in an area – in a hopeful place, where there would one day be an all-Black community, in an all-Black State. However, their hope was halted when in 1907, when White men were elected into office and the first Senate Bill passed, starting the Jim Crow oppression that had been a prominent practice in the American South. Oklahoma legislature soon adopted separate school policy, amongst other forms of segregation. Yet, in 1969, it was the first-time Langston University had reached out to the White community in such a manner by offering minority scholarships and hoping to grow a more diverse student population.

For this project, a personal interview was conducted with a 72-year-old White female, at her home in April 2018. An interview protocol to focus on her experience at Langston University during her program, from 1969 – 1972. She was in the first group of White students that attended on minority scholarship, calling it a “very positive experience”. During the two-hour interview, she shares personal stories of her interaction with faculty, staff, and students, and particularly the White student’s interactions with students of color.

To comply with the Institutional Review Board (IRB) requirements, this oral history project does not make inference to inform policy or generalize findings. The interview was transcribed and a portion of her comments and stories are provided verbatim with timestamp issued to each piece as a reference. The purpose of this oral history project is to create a historical record of personal experience and events during her time at Langston University. With that, this record will add to the literature and historical context of what it was like at a HBCU, from a White person’s perspective in the early 1970’s.

Author

• Kim Lorraine Smith, University of Oklahoma