Back to the Future
Format
Oral Presentation
Faculty Mentor Name
Mike Wurtz
Faculty Mentor Department
Head of Special Collections Library, Special Collections
Abstract/Artist Statement
During the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, enforced racial segregation was rife. The Jim Crow laws enacted in the southern states ensured the legalized disenfranchisement of African Americans. While these laws were not on the statute books of California, African Americans still endured systemic racism in all areas of their life. However, during this time, Pacific opened its doors at the San Jose campus to the first documented African American student William Wealthy Howard (class of 1911). Nine years later, Mildred E. Jones (class of 1924) became the first documented African American female student to attend the San Jose Campus. While sixteen years after, at the newly opened Stockton Campus (1924), the first African American student Milton Harvey (class of 1940), graduated.
Throughout their time on campus, there was evidence of racial discrimination with the use of Blackface, watermelon feeds, the flying of the confederacy flag, and more. How did Black and African American students navigate life on a campus that sometimes viewed such individuals with little to no value? Over the decades, African Americans faced many obstacles and rose to the occasion to fight for the right for recognition as students who bring value to the Stockton campus.
The Back to the Future project seeks to discuss the issues encountered over the decades and provide a centralized web-based record of the challenges faced and the contributions made by African Americans at Pacific.
Location
Information Commons, William Knox Holt Memorial Library and Learning Center
Start Date
29-4-2023 10:00 AM
End Date
29-4-2023 1:00 PM
Back to the Future
Information Commons, William Knox Holt Memorial Library and Learning Center
During the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, enforced racial segregation was rife. The Jim Crow laws enacted in the southern states ensured the legalized disenfranchisement of African Americans. While these laws were not on the statute books of California, African Americans still endured systemic racism in all areas of their life. However, during this time, Pacific opened its doors at the San Jose campus to the first documented African American student William Wealthy Howard (class of 1911). Nine years later, Mildred E. Jones (class of 1924) became the first documented African American female student to attend the San Jose Campus. While sixteen years after, at the newly opened Stockton Campus (1924), the first African American student Milton Harvey (class of 1940), graduated.
Throughout their time on campus, there was evidence of racial discrimination with the use of Blackface, watermelon feeds, the flying of the confederacy flag, and more. How did Black and African American students navigate life on a campus that sometimes viewed such individuals with little to no value? Over the decades, African Americans faced many obstacles and rose to the occasion to fight for the right for recognition as students who bring value to the Stockton campus.
The Back to the Future project seeks to discuss the issues encountered over the decades and provide a centralized web-based record of the challenges faced and the contributions made by African Americans at Pacific.