In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

Chapter 3 Gerry: The Young Adult, 1929–1933 College Days Since Fisk accepted only five hundred students annually, they were very selective of who was permitted to enroll. On the application, the parents’ section was filled with delicate questions such as “How many rooms are in your home? Do you own your home? Do you have electricity? How many bathrooms? Do you own an automobile?” and so forth. The reason for these questions was not clear, but perhaps it was to ensure that the parents could afford the school fees, travel costs, and needed items. On the other hand, maybe some of the early African American private schools were just blatantly snobbish and consciously sought and accepted students from “preferred social backgrounds.” Whatever the reasons were, Geraldine Pierce met the university’s criteria and was accepted.1 When Jello left for college at the end of the summer, she was looking forward to enjoying her future months of independence from her parents. She became totally immersed into the Fisk social culture by transforming her identity from that of a “high school kid” to that of a young college woman. First, she changed the spelling of her birth name from “Geraldine” to “Geraldyne” in order to distinguish herself from the other Geraldines on campus, and then she introduced herself as “Gerry.” Her childhood name Jello would now be used only by family and her closest friends back in Orangeburg. Her next independent action in her newfound freedom was to cut her long hair completely short. She finally had the stylish, short “boy bob [hair]cut” that she wanted, a hairstyle she knew would shock her parents once she returned home for the Gerry: The Young Adult, 1929–1933 38 first college break. For Gerry, cutting her hair was her first major mark of independent decision making without parental input.2 Fisk University was based on the “quarter” system as opposed to the usual “semester” calendar system. Gerry undertook a study of music during her first quarter but soon realized she had chosen a major that she had absolutely no interest in. She was not really a singer, and taking the various classes to learn to play musical notes was not appealing to her. After taking a freshman math class, she liked the course and the professor so much that she decided to change her major to mathematics, a field of study traditionally pursued by boys. Gerry’s decision to deviate from the female norm of majoring in music, domestic economy, or dressmaking was a mere continuation of her being an independent thinker and carving her own path.3 Aside from her busy schedule of classes at Fisk, Gerry was actively involved with extracurricular activities, including attendance at various campus political and social events. Sometimes campus clubs would invite celebrity intellectuals or performers, including literary writers Countee Cullen, Langston Hughes, and James Weldon Johnson and opera singer Marian Anderson. While Gerry certainly attended these events, meeting celebrities was not a novelty for her.4 Because her father taught at State A&M, Gerry frequently attended performances and lectures with her family held at the college. Since Jim Crow Orangeburg prohibited Blacks from staying in the White-owned hotels and State A&M’s president’s home was filled with his children, arrangements often were made for these celebrated guests to stay in homes in the Black community , including those of Mattie Stewart on Russell Street and Hazel Pierce on Treadwell Street. Hence, as a girl Gerry had the opportunity to see and personally meet the famous but controversial comedic character actor “Stepin Fetchit” (Lincoln Perry), who stayed in her home for a week, and opera singer Marian Anderson, who stayed with the family for two days.5 At Fisk, like other Black colleges in the Jim Crow South, guests also stayed for a few days if not the entire week on campus after their presentations or performances . At this time, they held further discussions or poetry sessions with interested students. They usually resided on campus since there were no hotel accommodations available for Black visitors in Jim Crow Nashville. At Fisk, Gerry had a chance to again see Marian Anderson perform. On this occasion, after her performance Anderson stayed in Gerry’s dormitory, and “every night after supper, [she and others] had a chance to talk with her.”6 Besides attending the intellectual and cultural functions, Gerry also joined campus clubs. When she initially enrolled at Fisk, she had every intention of joining the Delta Sigma Theta...

Share