The Black Experience at Grinnell College Through Collected Oral History and Documents, 1863–1954

Note: The questionaire mentioned in this response can be viewed by opening this link in a new window.

Karen P. Smith: These are my responses to the Black Alumni study questions.

Question 1: Parents' occupation and educational background. My father was a mechanical engineer and my mother was an elementary school teacher at the time I started Grinnell. I lived in a middle-class integrated neighborhood in Chicago. My high school was still integrated at that time‚ about 85% black at that time‚ 15% divided between white and Asian. My religious affiliation is Episcopal. My parents political affiliations-I'd say they were politically liberal.

Question 2: I chose Grinnell because I wanted to go to a small‚ co-educational college‚ private college. I wanted to stay in the midwest- actually‚ my parents wanted me to stay in the midwest. I had known about Grinnell because numerous students from my high school had gone there over the years‚ and Grinnell was a school that typically came to ouE high school to recruit. My friends' reactions to my choice were positive‚ as were my parents'.

Question 3: I was not actively recruited by the College.

Question 4: At the time I went to Grinnell‚ I was hoping to become a clinical psychologist.

Question 5: My primary concerns as a student at Grinnell I would say academic first and social second.

Question 6: There were some difficulties in adjusting to the rural setting. The difficulties changed over time-I think there will be later questions where I can respond to some of that. I had only one experience-this is question 7.

Question 7: I had only one experience of being homesick at Grinnell‚ and that was my first Thanksgiving‚ being away from home. In general‚ I wasn't. In general‚ I enjoyed being there.

Question 8: The enrollment increased substantially du.ring the four years that I was there. I think when I came to Grinnell there were about 50 students‚ 50 black students‚ and when I left‚ I'm not sure how many there were. ”Please name as many black students as I can remember.” This could take a while. Well‚ from my class‚ there was Krystal Coleman‚ Hubert Farbes‚ Henry Wingate‚ Roy Walker‚ Jim Wheat‚ Diane Gray‚ Mattie Nelson‚ Terry Nelson‚ Erania Tecumseh‚ Stephanie Lewis‚ Brenda Thomas. Some from other classes: Marilyn Gray‚ Scottie Ray‚ Carl Gray‚ Frank Thomas‚ Sandra Bates‚ Ernest Weston... I think that's all I'm going to try and think of.

Question 10: Every roommate I ever had at Grinnell was white. The only difficult adjustment period I had was with my very first roommate. Most of these issues had to do with personality clash‚ but there was a racial element in it. My roommate had requested a black roommate and it was only after I'd arrived and we 0d been living together relatively unsuccessfully for a while‚ that I realized she had an awful lot of preconceived notions about black people which she was hoping to check out. Sge considered herself a form of liberal‚ and she felt that she had a lot of the answers already‚ and that created a certain amount of discomfort for me‚ as a living example of all kinds of things that she had never thought of. Obviously‚ she held a lot of racial stereotypes which she felt were appropriate opinions. That made it difficult. After that‚ I was able to choose my own roommates‚ and I was able to take the degree of their conscious and unconscious racism into account before deciding to live with them.

Question 11: At the time I came‚ I did not perceive a particular college housing policy for black students. At that time‚ there was no encouragement or discouragement from living with other black students or white students. However‚ as time went by‚ I began to hear stories from older students‚ one of whom I keep thinking of but I can't remember her name‚ of thee old policy in which black women students‚ at least‚ were always given singles so that no white woman student would have to be subjected to having a black roommate. I guess‚ when I had to think about it at that point‚ that it seemed to me a conscious shift from that policy to an opposi te one so that every black woman was paired with a white woman in the first year.

Question 12: I don't know how white students react generally to black students or know how specific white students reacted to me and to some black students that I would see or think in 1965‚ most of the white students that I encountered‚ the ones who were more friendly‚ more outgoing in general‚ were also doing their bit for integration and were as friendly to me as they were to anybody else. And from my recollection‚ hardly any of those white students hadhhad prior experiences with black people before coming to Grinnell.

Question 13: I don't recall having been confronted about being black in a predominantly white environmento Not by students. That-a question like that would tend to come up much more indirectly and in the context of somewhat closer realtions- you know‚ people that had been hanging out with in the dorm for a fairly long time a However‚ I did get questions like that once the whole move to establish CBS and to get some response from the College and from the town to the very serious problems that the white people there were having then with our presence on campus‚ and I got asked questions like that all the time from various white people a And I expected to get those questions because I had volunteered to go and talk with these people and share experiencesa

Question 14: No‚ Grinnell 0s predominantly white environment di d not cause problems with my own cultural identity‚ and before I got there‚ nor did not consider myself to have a separate cultural identity. However‚ discovering that I probably held certain stereotypes about white people that were either going to be disspelled or confirmed by living with them‚ that was an experience for meo This was‚ of course‚ not the first time that I had gone to school with white people‚ but it was the first time that I 0d ever lived among white peoplea Sor learned some things about them and they learned some things about me‚ and I guess through that‚ and through the creation of CBS‚ my cultural identity as a black was strengthened.

Question 15: That's another one of those general questions about black students and white students that I have a hard time answering. I think that for most of my four years at Grinnell‚ it was beginning to change by '68-69‚ for the most part black students had social interaction with both ' blacks and whiteso Most white students did not have much social interaction with blacks a I guess the nature of that social interaction varied according to the people involved; some people didn't like each other‚ some people did. So some of these interactions were friendly‚ some of them were less than that-maybe hostile a I would hear alot about what it was like for black male students wou were playing sports on Grinnell's teams‚ and I think that those interactions could sometimes be pretty tense‚ but sometimes they weren°t eithera Again‚ there was variation across individuals.

Question 16: Extra-curricular activities. Some student government‚ mostly within the dormitory. I was in Folk Dance Club for three out of four years that I was there. I was in the Anthropology Colloquium my last year. And‚ of course‚ Concerned Black Students.

Question 17: I never felt discoutaged from participation in anything because of my race. And‚ to my knowledge‚ there were no school activities from which black students were restricted. Let me take a second now-no‚ the only thing I'm recalling again is voluntary non-participation of some of the black men in team sport activities‚ and their discontinued participation‚ I know‚ was based on having felt discrimination in one form or another on team sports. But I don't know about any systematic exclusion. I know that probably the tennis team and swimming team were all white. Oh‚ I remember that the African and Carribbean black students‚ some of whom identified as black and some of whom didn't-again‚ there were cultural issues there‚ since they had not had the same black experienceeven though that's not one single experience-that the AfroAmerican black students had had. And I know that there were some sports in which they predominated‚ that American blacks didn't play. There again‚ I know that they experienced racism in one form or another‚ but again‚ I don't know about any systematic restrictions.

Question 18: Sure‚ I felt insulated and I sometimes felt isolated at Grinnell‚ but I didn't feel that that was negative most of the time. I had sought out Grinnell and other schools like it because of wanting to spend those four years in a relatively insulated environment. I didn't want to go to a big city school‚ I didn't want to go to a big school. I did want some aspects of the ”real world” kept out of my college experience because I did want to devote much of my time during the four yea:bs to academic and social development. I think the political happenings were thrust upon me in a way‚ at Grinnell‚ that I hadn't expected‚ but who had‚ in the late sixties?

Question 19: Sure‚ I was aware of national events taking place outside of Grinnell: that was unavoidable. We had radios‚ newspapers then. I mean‚ the slant of the news was not what I would have wished. I don't remember reading the Des Moines Register more than once or twice while I was there‚ but I had friends who got the Washington Post‚ New York Times‚ things like that. Easterners who felt really isolated. And so‚ I had access to what I needed. People were very politically aware at Grinnell‚ as I recall. Civil Rights activities included. These national events affected me differently at Grinnell than they would have affected me in Chicago‚ but interestingly‚ I think that if I had been in my home in Chicago‚ I probably would have been more isolated and would have felt less of a desire or compunction to get involved in political activities. The mood was just very favorable for that at Grinnell‚ and the fact that we did have enough time to engage in the intellectual debate that I think is so important in developing political consciousness-that was something that Grinnell had that I couldn't have gotten going to school in Chicago and living with my parents. I just feel certain of that.

Question 20: I viewed the activities of Martin Luther King somewhat differently than the way I viewed the activities of other leaders at the time‚ but I was heavily influenced by those activities. Of course‚ I viewed him as an extraordinarily admirable figure and a leader who operated more effectively than anybody else ever had to reach white people and to help them. And I think that for most fairly conservative blacks also‚ Dr. King was just a tBemendous leader. Other activis::ts‚ I think‚ were different‚ and thinking about Stokeley Carmichael as opposed to Dr‚ Martin Luther King‚ or Rap Brown or Malcolm X-I began to view Dr. King in a different light and I think that we needed and still need that full spectrum of approaches and‚ of course‚ as the sixties progressed‚ my thinking did too. So that by the time I was leaving Grinnell‚ I was as''much involved‚ at least in my thinking‚ in the black power movement‚ as I considered myself a part of the Civil Rights movement of the early sixties.

Question 21: Black authors-this could also take a long time to list. Of course‚ these authors influenced me a great deal. When I was there I had the tremendous opportunity to be in an Afro-American Lit course where we did nothing but read black authors‚ so that's one reason why it would be difficult to list all of the black authors that I read then. But one of the nice things that I want to put on this tape that I remember about Grinnell is that we were able to bring Charles Hamilton‚ the co-author of Black Power‚ to Grinnell‚ and that experience was a very important one. It's one thing to read black authors‚ and it's an essential thing-it's very much a part of what I do. But it's also very enriching to be able to meet real‚ live people. Same is true for Ralph Ellison‚ who also came to Grinnell and who I was able to meet‚ observe in just an ordinary social situation as well as view from the sudience while he was in the lecturing position. I think that was one of the best things about Grinnell‚ is that there was the ability to get the administration to respond in ways that made a lot of sense for those times.

Question 22: No‚ I didn't feel any obligation to participate in Civil Rights activities. Neither did I feel that obligation at home during vacations. Participating in activities was voluntary all the way. I don't remember feeling any pressure in either direction-it was something that I wanted to do and so I did it when I did it. And I didn't always.

Question 23: Okay‚ I think I've answered this question about being in black organizations or bi-racial organizations. In fact‚ the ”bi-racial”o:cganization” phrase reminds me that I was also one of the people who started the idea of having a house in which we were active in bringing about a cultural exchange. And we changed the idea of the name from Interracial house to Intercultural House after a while. And so‚ the year that I lived there‚ which was my senior year at Grinnell‚ I was actively involved in that all the time. I guess it was a more formalized way of doing some of what I'd been doing already‚ living in the dormitories‚ and it was an important experience and it was a cultural exchange-it wasn't just the black students there puoring out their so-called ”black experience” for white students to listen to.

Question 24: Again‚ I don't know about white students in general an.d their reaction to Civil Rights activities. I'm aware of some of the reactions of white students that I spent time around. Of course‚ by then‚ as I think I've indicated‚ I was pretty selective about the people that I spent most of my spare time with‚ and for the most part these were people who were actively or actively and visibly or at least committed on an intellectual/emotional level if they weren°t doing much about it‚ to some of the same issues that were important to me. An awful lot of white students‚ I 0m sure‚ couldn't have cared less about Civil Rights‚ but I didn't spend time with them. Many of the issues were discussed openly‚ and many students were actively involved. It's funny how often students were yelling and screaming about... the phrase ”the Grinnell Marshmallow'” and just how insulated and isolated we were‚ and yet it was all happening‚ whether it was Civil Rights or whether it was protesting the Vietnam War or even the very beginnings of the Women's Liberation Movement. It was happening.

Question 25: I had no idea there was a Grinnell Chapter of the NAACP. It probably was not active from 1 65 to '69. International Clubs-no‚ I wasn°t involved in any.

27: Name the most positive and most negative personal experience at Grinnell. I think the most negative was-well‚ there were two‚ they vie for each other. I'll report both the negative experiences. The first was being called ”Nigger” on the street‚ that had never happened to me before that time. The second was having a black instructor act in a way which·I think expressed an internalized oppression of the worst sort. This was a person who never told me directly but who spread a remark about me which I then had to go and check out with various members of the white faculty‚ since he had attributed this remark to them-that is‚ my white professors‚ and this same black instructor‚ and this was my senior year at Grinnell‚ told me‚ or told a friend of mine who then told me‚ that he would not be able to write a good recommendation for me to go to graduate school. I can't think of any more negative experience than to have another black person who should understand how difficult it is for any of us to get through and go on and far from putting obstacles in our path‚ those of us whoyd gotten a little farther should be doing the kind of reaching back‚ pulling up‚ encouraging‚ supporting. That I did not get from this person. I got just the opposite and it came as a total shock. I have had no experience since then to compare with that and its negative value. On the positive side of that was the experience that I had when I went to my white professors and I checked out this rumor with them and from them I got the support that I would have expected from this other person. From them I got the respect and the reassurance that it was‚ indeed‚ his problem. I think that there was enough of a mix of positive and negative experiences that had to do with race that the Grinnell experience was one which still stands out as very positive among all of the experiences that I've had in school‚ in work....

Question 28: I really don°t think I could pinpoint one person who had the most personal influence on my life at Grinnell. I could name a few. Among students I would say Frank Thomas. Among faculty I would say Al Jones‚ Ron Kurtzo Authors-there's too many--”And Why?” I guess these were the people who were both able to teach me the most about what they knew from a philosophical viewpoint which was consistent with mine‚ that which I came to Grinnell with‚ and also these were some of the people who were most accepting of me and were most eager and capable of learning from me what I had to teach them. I guess I can°t apply that latter description to the authors‚ but I think the former would count. I 0m now feeling sorry for the person who's transcribing this. Nonetheless...

Question 29: Yeah‚ I made long-lasting friendships at Grinnell with white students and with black studentso I think I've talked some about

Question 3O‚ the reaction of the town of Grinnell to the presence of black studentsthere was a mixed reaction and of course I did encounter difficulties in the town‚ but that was also at a time when people were-other people were shocked and outraged and disbelieving enough to try and act on it. And they were willing to listen to us and we were credible. A note that I reflect on among the three or four or five of us who were active right in the beginning in running around and talking to all these people and being diplomatic‚ and at the same time trying to get CBS going. I think all of us became lawyers. I think I 0m getting ahead of the questionnaire. Anyway‚ so there were‚ of course‚ red necks in the town‚ and there were very nice people who did not want to believe that there were rednecks in the town‚ and then there were people who were just very unaware of some of the erroneous beliefs that they held about black people. Some of them were well-meaning and some of them could not really be helped. But I also had some very good experiences in working with the ones who did care enough to try and to listen and to talk to other white people about how they could operate more effectivelyo

31: The only black family I knew of living in Grinnell was the one black faculty member‚ permanent black faculty member who was the orchestra conductor‚ I believe. His name escapes me at the moment. I had no relationship with them. I never had occasion to take a class from this professor. Only knew of him from a distanceo

32: The names of black alums: toward the end‚ yeah‚ because we began inviting them to come back and to learn about what was going on at the College then. The only name that comes to mind now is Jim Lowry‚ who's a very famous black alum at this point. Oh yeah‚ there's one more-Herbie Hancock‚ I believe.

Question 33: Yes‚ I was happy at Grinnell. Surprisingly so. And of course‚ with hindsight‚ it seems I was happier‚ but of course this questionnaire has called up a lot of the unhappy experiences. But‚ on balance‚ I was quite happy. It was the right college for me.

Question 34: ”Elaborate on my activities once leaving Grinnell.” When I left Grinnell‚ I was still under the influence of this instructor who had told me to forget about getting his recommendations to graduate school‚ and I think that was one of the factors that made it difficult for me to decide what I was going to do with myself after Grinnell because I'd always assumed I was going to graduate school‚ and given the other thing about Grinnell that was disappointing to me‚ namely that I turned out not to major in Psychology‚ because of the orientation of the program. I would up in Anthropology and I didn't really want to go on to graduate school in Anthropology. So what I did was take two years out when I worked in Chicago and those experiences aren't really worth talking about but ih the course of those two years I decided to go to law school. So I did that for three years-I went to the University of Chicago. Didn't have any particularly special achievements while I was there‚ but in the course of doing‚ what‚ four different jobs working as a lawyer‚ I did get to the Supreme Court one time. I have a hard time talking about this‚ especially on tape‚ but it was in my second job as a lawyer. I was given the opportunity to write a brief which would get a case into the Supreme Court‚ and I was successful in doing that‚ and the subsequent briefs that I wrote managed to win the case. I think that's the most special achievement for me since Grinnell. Currently‚ I have left the legal field‚ and finally am pursuing my original career goal of being a clinical psychologist. This‚ I feel very‚ very good about. It's a way of recapturing something that I gave up for reasons that had a lot to do with other people's influence and I feel that now‚ you know‚ over thirty‚ I 0m able to do what I want to do. I didn't enjoy being a lawyer‚ and while it's a very useful tool to have and it taught me all kinds of things including not being quite so frightened of using this tape recorder rather than writing out my comments‚ it's not something I enjoy‚ and I'm glad I'm not doing it anymore. Anyway‚ I'm now in a Ph.D. program here at Northwestern in Chicago. I'm in my second year and enjoying it‚ although the worlload is tremendous. I've chosen not to get married or to have children. I think that's largely because of my various career choices and the amount of time that I do have to put into my profession or professions‚ it's best for me to remain single. My current political and community involvements center around my work as chair of the board of the Ecumenical Women's Center here in Chicago. It's a non-profit organization established several years ago by women in the seminary and in the ministry and other women who were interested in bringing about political action within churches‚ particularly in the realm of women's issues. It's also an interracial‚ diverseculturally diverse-group and we address the issues of racism‚ classism‚ elitism‚ along with the more standard issues relating to women's liberationo And we do that with a focus of working with people in churches and women who perhaps have no connection at all with the church but are victims of racism‚ sexism-the other forms of oppression‚ namely women in prison and abused womeno I do not currently live in a predominantly black neighborhood; however‚ I did for just a very brief time between Grinnell and law school‚ a very short time-I lived with my father in a predominantly black neighborhood. Since then‚ I've lived in either pretty thoroughly mixed or predominantly white neighborhoods. I do not work in a predominantly black neighborhood. The job that I hold is at the Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago‚ and we serve several neighborhoods at least one of which is predominantly black‚ but our patientclient population is predominantly white. I don't intend for this to be my life-long experience‚ but I do expect that in order to be financially siccessful‚ that I probably won°t have a predominantly black practice when I'm finished with my schooling. I think that's a reality-not necessarily one that I'm excited about‚ although for me‚ cultural diversity is important. I guess I wouldn°t really want a totally black work group or a totally black clientele. I think that it's important for me to continue to be exposed to blacks and whites‚ Asians and Hispanics‚ etc.

Question 35: The extent to which my courses in various disciplines addressed the issue of race and the black experience varied depending on the substantive areao My Anthropology courses‚ of course‚ addressed the issues‚ but an ethnographical/ethnological perspective which was different from my courses in Sociology. I think the courses that I took in American Studies were most successful and I think that wasn't just because they were in American Studies‚ but because of the attitudes of the professors teaching those courses. I think those were the best arid it was-that was the department in which I took my AfroAmerican Literature course and in which I took a couple of other courses-American Civilization-in which a real effort was made to include and address in a fairly serious way‚ some of the racial issues which have been so much a part of this country's history.

Question 36: My only involvement in churches at Grinnell happened again during the big period of CBS's creation and the town trying-responsible citizens of the town trying to do something about the racial problemso I was not a member of a particular church‚ but I did attend the Episcopal Church a couple of times; I attended a service at one of the Baptist Churches because I was asked to do that as a member of DBS. So‚ my involvement was very‚ very limitedo I was just not into religion at that time.

37: ”What kind of impact did Grinnell have on my life?” I think for the most part I've talked about this throughout the other questions. Socially‚ I learned‚ I learned a number of social skills at Grinnell that I might not have learned at other places. I enjoyed living in the dormitory system. There was a lot to be gained from living in that forced intimacy kind of environment that I couldn't have learned any other place-well‚ at a very different type of place. I think also‚ as a kind of traditionalist‚ I enjoyed the experience of being at Grinnell at a time before campuses were integrated by sex and so the formal dining in Main Hall was something that I appreciated‚ because it meant that that was something I learned how to do which I can carry with me in later life. Socially‚ being at Grinnell was a very important kind of finishing experience. for anyone who's going to be pursuing a middle-class lifestyle in America. I don't much care how elitist that sounds at this point‚ because it was very‚ very helpful and even though I came out of a middle-class environment‚ and so there wasn't a whole lot to learn‚ that's why I think of it as a finishing or polishing experience. So most of my socializing with my family‚ where some of those formal rules would be most likely exercised‚ that was always a totally black social experience. But learning all of these things in the predominantly white atmosphere of Grinnell has equipped me very‚ very well for what I've had to do later. Educationally‚ I just can't say enough good about Grinnell and if you'll look at the freshman class you'll notiee that I talked my cousin into coming there this year. It was just a top-flight educational experience. I was never disappointed except in the one thing I mentioned about the Psychology Department with Grinnell academically. It was just the kind of experience that I was looking for. The challenge was always there‚ the availability of faculty‚ although it tool me a long time to develop the courage to use that-but that availability was great. Of course‚ I began to appreciate it as I was getting ready th leave-and I appreciate it that much more having been through law school‚ which is a totally different experience. The emotional impact that Grinnell had on me‚ I think I've also talked about a lot. It was definitely a place that allowed me to begin growing and to begin to know myself better. It was a place that did provide an environment-and I think I was talking about this some when I said insulation-in which growth and exploration of the self could occur with few negative repurcussions. For the most part‚ it was very‚ very much a growth experience for me. I was very happy that I had chosen to go to Grinnell‚ and would not change that decision-even now‚ when I'm now for the first time taking Statistics‚ which I've successfully avoided doing for so many years‚ and even though I could have had some of the courses then that would help me more in my field now‚ I still wouldn't change any of it‚ because of the breadth‚ the scope of my education‚ and I'm talking now about socially‚ educationally and emotionally all at the same time-I just can't imagine being exceeded at another institution. I feel so strongly about that‚ that Grinnell is the only institution‚ other than the one that I'm involved with as a board member now‚ that I ever give money to. I give what I can‚ which isn't that much-but I care that much about Grinnell. I'm kind of pleased I have the opportunity to say this for the archives‚ as it were. I also see that I've managed to do this in under an hour‚ which I wasn't sure I was going to be able to do. I'll be looking forward to learning the results of the whole project‚ and I wish the people doing it an awful lot of luck.