Albany State University is looking to celebrate and graduate more 41 students who were punished or expelled by the university for their roles in protesting and organizing Civil Rights activity in the early 1960′s. ASU Assistant Professor Dr. Racquel L. Henry has identified and attempted contact with the former students of Albany State College, and the university has pledged its support to honor and confer honorary degrees upon all who were sanctioned.
“This is about healing. All of the students deserve honor and respect, and we’re planning things that will do just that,” says Dr. Henry.”
Dr. Henry shares the story of five ASU and local high school students who became symbols of the Albany Civil Rights movement. Bertha Gober and Blanton Hall (now deceased) Evelyn Toney, Eddie Wilson, Julian Carswell were arrested in November of 1961 while trying to desegregate the Albany Trailways Bus Station. The five were charged by Albany Police with disorderly conduct. Gober and Hall, who elected to remain in jail while Toney, Wilson and Carswell were bailed out.
Their decision to stay sparked additional protests and demonstrations from area high school and college students.
“They are among the ones who were tired of waiting on what the school thought should be a careful, slow process to achieve rights for African-Americans,” says Dr. Henry. “But there were many students that secretly helped with the movement. Some were afraid of losing scholarships or being kicked out, so all of them didn’t end up going to jail, and managed to finish at Albany State. But they deserve recognition too.”
The celebration of the students will begin during homecoming week, with several events to honor and highlight former Miss Albany State College Annette White, who was stripped of her crown and scholarship for participating in the movement. White will conduct an open talk and poetry reading on October 5 beginning at 7:00 p.m. in Orene Hall, and will be the keynote speaker at the ASU Homecoming Convocation on October 8.
In March, Albany State will begin a celebration of the 50th anniversary of the university’s student presence in the Albany Civil Rights movement.
Dr. Henry is still actively seeking papers – suspension letters, arrest summary, and editions of the Southwest Georgian from the Civil Rights movement in Albany from 1960-1963. Anyone with any information on students participants or their whereabouts can email her at racquel.henry@asurams.edu.
