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Frances E. Walker-Slocum, class of 1945, returned to Oberlin to become the 0rst black female full professor in the Conservatory of Music, 1975–91. “I had no choice —Oberlin was the only college where a black performer could earn a music degree before World War II.” Courtesy of Oberlin College Archives Composer, pianist, and choral conductor R. Nathaniel Dett (1882–1943) earned the Bachelor of Music degree in 1908 and received the honorary Doctor of Music degree in 1926 at Oberlin College. An inluential and talented African American musician and educator before World War II, Dett composed music based on black spirituals. Prominent Graduates of the Conservatory of Music Courtesy of Oberlin College Archives Carl T. Rowan (center, second row), class of 1947, is seated with his McClelland Hall classmates at Oberlin College, 1946–47. At age nineteen, Rowan was one of the 0rst twenty black U.S. Navy o2cers. In the 0eld of journalism, he also broke the color line by becoming an award-winning syndicated columnist and a Washington insider. Courtesy of Oberlin College Archives A third-generation Oberlin graduate (1943), Jewel C. Stradford (Rogers) was the 0rst black woman to receive the Juris Doctor degree from the University of Chicago, in 1947. Appointed U.S. Deputy Solicitor General in 1972 and con0rmed by the U.S. Senate in 1973, she was the 0rst woman and African American to hold this position. She is pictured (second from left) with other delegates to the Forty-third Annual NAACP Convention in Oklahoma City in June 1952. Courtesy of Oberlin College Archives Prominent Black Graduates of the 1940s Who Broke the Color Line Advancing Racial and Cultural Minority Sensitivities in the Classroom During the fall of 1947, guest lecturer Richard I. McKinney (left) of Storer College, Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, spoke to George E. Simpson’s (2nd from left) sociology and anthropology class, Racial and Cultural Minorities. A dedicated teacher and a renowned scholar, Simpson also gave of his time outside the academy by serving as president of the City of Oberlin NAACP chapter. Courtesy of Oberlin College Archives J. Milton Yinger, Oberlin professor of sociology and anthropology from 1947 to 1987, was an authority on multi-ethnicity. In his course Race Relations, taken by hundreds of black and white students over four decades, he introduced theories about the basis of racial disharmony in American society. Courtesy of Oberlin College Archives Dr. Kenneth B. Clark (1914–2005), honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree recipient in 1970, gave a fall semester assembly talk to the Oberlin community titled “Black Awareness and American Awareness.” A national authority on integration, his research and writings challenged the separatebut -equal doctrine in public education in the United States Courtesy of Oberlin College Archives Distinguished African American Leaders Receive Oberlin Honorary Degrees In 1949, scholar, diplomat, and United Nations mediator Dr. Ralph J. Bunche (1903– 1971) delivered the commencement address and received an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from Oberlin College. In 1950, he was the 0rst black American named to the board of trustees, and he served until 1969. He was a 1950 Nobel Peace Prize winner. Courtesy of Oberlin College Archives Oberlin College students frequented places in town like Glenn’s Tower Lunch, Kenny’s, and the Pool Hall, all of which were of-limits to black students. In response to a racial discrimination incident, students formed a campus chapter of the NAACP in the fall of 1948. Source: 1953 Hi-O-Hi (Oberlin College yearbook) Oberlin Students Challenge Racial Discrimination on Campus and in the Community after World War II Gerald Scott, nicknamed “Scotty,” was the second barber to work in an interracial barbershop and shoeshine parlor on Oberlin’s South Main Street in the late 1940s. Source: 1948 Hi-O-Hi (Oberlin College yearbook) Anne C. Cartmell (Elder) ’53 supervised learning disabilities and behavior programs in the Lorain City School District (Ohio), 1976– 91. Presently at the Kendal Oberlin community she has continued to volunteer as a CASA —a courtappointed special advocate for children. Courtesy of Oberlin College Alumni O2ce Allan H. Spear ’58 served in the Minnesota State Senate from 1972 to 2000. In the realm of civil politics , this openly gay state legislator championed all forms of civil rights. He earned a Ph.D. at Yale University in African American history. Courtesy of Oberlin College Alumni O2ce Student Participants in the Black College Exchange Program, 1946–70 Oberlin College Students Who Attended Fisk University for One Semester Fisk University Students...

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