Southern University: Celebrating 140 Years

Celebrating 140 Years

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[ SOUTHERN UNIVERSITY ] THE FIRST 50 YEARS: 1880 TO 1930

Hope, opportunity and a thirst for knowledge A five-campus network that is the country’s only historically black college system. Nationally recognized academic programs that have launched the careers of odds-defying students. A renowned marching band known worldwide for its musical talents and unique style. An alumni network comprised of men and women proud to call this institution their alma mater.

Powerful traditions that run deep, and a timeline that spans 140 years.

1880

1880 An early Southern University cottage overlooks the Mississippi River.

SOUTHERN UNIVERSITY’S MOVING story isn’t just one of an evolving academic institution. Its history is America’s history.

When Southern first opened in New Orleans in 1880, the world looked a lot different. The Thirteenth Amendment, which ended slavery, had passed just 15 years earlier, followed by the Fourteenth Amendment in 1868, guaranteeing African Americans the right to citizenship. Freed people across the country had gone to work, were holding public office and were seeking the opportunity for the formal education they had so long been denied. Schools serving all ages of black students cropped up in large numbers, including institutions of higher education.

Fisk University opened its doors in 1866 in Nashville, and Howard University launched in Washington, DC in 1867. These institutions would lay the groundwork for a new network of colleges that created opportunities for African Americans. We know them today as Historically Black Colleges and Universities, or HBCUs. As it did elsewhere in the South, a burning desire for educational advancement was being felt by African Americans in Louisiana. Black politicians P.B.S. Pinchback, Theophile T. Allain and Henry Demas petitioned the Louisiana State Constitutional Convention in the late 1870s about the importance of establishing an institution of higher learning for “per-

1890

1881 Mary A. Craig DeLong was Southern University’s first student.

Slavery had ended just 16 years earlier.

sons of color,” says Charles Vincent, PhD, Southern University Professor of History and the author of A Centennial History of Southern University and A&M College.

“At that time, there was a massive movement of black people to improve themselves with formal education,” Vincent says. “They were so passionate about it, because they knew that as slaves they would have been whipped for even opening a book. There was a wide belief in public education in the African American community at that time.”

Pinchback and his colleagues fostered the establishment of Southern University’s first charter and its opening in New Orleans. Southern’s first

1900

1885 A group of women students in the interior design and art studio.

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FROM THE PRESIDENTCHANCELLOR We have much to celebrate at Southern University as we observe the 140th anniversary of the founding of what is now the only historically black university system in the country—when Southern first opened its doors in New Orleans in 1880.

(Opposite page, far left) Young men at work in the mechanical department, which was initiated in 1893. (Left) Located near Magazine Street, this was one of the university’s early buildings in New Orleans. (Above) Educator and author Booker T. Washington and other dignitaries visited the Southern University campus in 1915.

campus on Calliope Street was a disciplined environment, says Vincent, that included chapel services and religious activities and a curriculum focused on pre-college “manual training.” But the seeds of a strong student community were beginning to take root. Southern’s campus, which later moved to uptown New Orleans, evolved to include higher level vocational industrial education and some traditional liberal arts, including a “Literary” department and a music program. Curriculum aimed at younger students was dropped as the institution sharpened its focus as a college.

The move to Scotlandville In 1890, an important change took place nationally when the second Morrill Act passed in the U.S. Congress.

It gave black institutions the opportunity to become land grant colleges—the same opportunity then-white colleges had been assigned in 1862. Land grant colleges were given access to land so that students could hone their agricultural, science and engineering skills.

That, along with interest in situating

Southern in a location accessible to students outside of New Orleans, prompted the move.

It took some time to find the right spot, says Vincent.

“A committee looked at 27 locations, Vincent says. “But in Scotlandville, they found a budding black community and the Mississippi River. And Standard Oil had just moved in. The area known then as Scotland Heights had begun to boom.”

The new campus was situated on nearly 900 acres on Scott’s Bluff overlooking the Mississippi River, where it still sits today. Southern, then renamed Southern University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, flourished in Scotlandville. Joseph Samuel “J.S.” Clark, Southern’s first president on its new campus, would become one of its most influential leaders. Clark’s tenure as Southern’s president spanned 1913 to 1938, a period of growth and promise.

Southern takes off Clark would help expand Southern’s enrollment from 47 students when the Baton Rouge campus opened, to 500

when he retired. He fortified Southern’s agricultural programs, and led the expansion of its four-year degree programs. Under Clark’s direction, the university added a College of Arts and Sciences and a College of Education.

Early on, Clark built relationships with other black educational leaders, including Booker T. Washington, who had founded Tuskegee Institute, and George Washington Carver, one of the college’s high profile agricultural scientists. Washington visited Southern in 1915, and Carver was a frequent lecturer throughout the1920s at Southern’s annual farmers’ conferences, where agricultural innovations in farming were presented to black farmers in the state.

In 1916, Southern saw its first football team take the field, growing to become a powerhouse among its peers within three years. Students participated in a wide variety of activities on the growing campus, including athletics, a school newspaper, religious activities and student clubs. Clark was not only a beloved figure on campus but a frequent lecturer around the region and country on the importance of education for African Americans.

We pay tribute to those legends who stood up and fostered the establishment of Southern University despite facing many odds. And we acknowledge and pay homage to the pioneering leaders through the years who shaped and molded us into this storied institution of higher learning.

From its early beginning in New Orleans, and later relocation to Scott’s Bluff in Baton Rouge in 1914, Southern University has broadly surpassed the dreams of its early founders. In this special publication, you will see some highlights of our history—our tremendous evolution and our growth in enrollment, academic programs, campuses, research, facilities, athletics, faculty and student achievements, alumni engagement, and philanthropy.

You’re invited to the party. Stay tuned as we commemorate our rich history and tradition of 140 Years of Excellence and Impact.

Happy 140 SU!

RAY L. BELTON, PH.D. President-Chancellor Southern University System

Photos courtesy of ©Archives, Manuscripts and Rare Books Department, John B. Cade Library, Southern University and A&M College.

1910

1903 Men and women students studied agriculture at Southern. These students are taking a dairy class at the Southern University farm.

1920

1918 SU President Dr. Joseph Samuel Clark (right) poses with the Southern University baseball team.

1930

1922 The interior of the President’s office in the Administration Building. Dr. Joseph Samuel Clark, president, is at his desk in the back corner.

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In 1960, a group of Southern University students participated in a historic sit-in at the Kress lunch counter in downtown Baton Rouge. Several students were eventually expelled for their involvement, but received honorary degrees from the university in 2004.

THE NEXT 50 YEARS: 1930 TO 1980

War, civil rights, activism and social change OVER ITS NEXT 50 years, Southern would continue to adapt and grow amid tumultuous global events and social changes. The effects of the Second World War, the Civil Rights Movement and other pivotal happenings would be felt acutely on Southern’s campus. The Jaguar Nation, however, continued to press forward, fulfilling its mission of providing an equitable education for people of color.

In 1938, President J.S. Clark retired, and his son, Felton Grandison “F.G.” Clark, was appointed president. F.G. Clark earned a Ph.D. in education from Columbia University and spent the first part of his career working at Howard University, and later, as Southern’s “Dean of the College and Director of

Instruction.” Felton Clark would serve as Southern’s longest running president and would set a course for growth and excellence still evident today.

As dean, Felton Clark made recruiting top-notch faculty a priority. Among his hires was head football coach Arnett William “Ace” Mumford, who coached Southern’s football team from 1931 to 1961. Mumford remains one of the winningest coaches in college football.

War, segregation and legal battles Soon after Felton Clark took over as president, the U.S. entered World War II. Many Southern students were

1930

called to duty, and industrial shops on campus were used to support the war effort. At the same time, President Clark continued to expand academic programs, athletics and enrichment activities. He also introduced a sweeping building program that included a new library, dormitories and a school for the blind and deaf.

In 1947, a watershed event led to the establishment of the Southern University Law Center. A student named Charles J. Hatfield wanted to become a lawyer, but was denied entry to Louisiana State University on the basis of race. Hatfield’s friend and mentor, A.P. Tureaud, along with attorneys Louis Berry and Thurgood Marshall, filed suit in district court, leading to

1940 1931 Southern’s male quartet toured Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Florida and South Carolina during the summer, entertaining audiences with their heartfelt songs.

1939 First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt stands in front of the Martin L. Harvey Chapel at Southern.

Behind her is Dr. Felton G. Clark.

the authorization of a law school on Southern’s campus. The Southern University Law Center opened that same year.

Throughout the 1950s, life on Southern’s campus continued to flourish. Athletic teams developed a national reputation for success, and students were held to high academic standards.

Campus traditions like the Founders’ Day celebration and the Miss Southern beauty pageant created a strong sense of community. A $10 million building program took place between 1954 and 1956. By 1957, Southern students represented all 64 Louisiana parishes.

Meanwhile, calls for racial equality and the end of segregation were stirring across the country. A bus boy-

1950

1948 Two students from the “Teachers in Service” program work in the Negro branch of the Louisiana State Library.

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As the country experienced social change and civil unrest during the 1960s, Southern students were inspired to get involved—from marches to sit-ins to boycotts—at the local and national level.

cott had taken place in Baton Rouge in 1953. The next year, the Supreme Court ruled racial segregation in public schools unconstitutional in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka. And in Montgomery in 1955, Rosa Parks refused to give up her bus seat to a white rider, triggering a major boycott of that city’s bus system.

The winds of social change Southern students also felt the winds of social change, and were inspired to get involved. After students in Greensboro, North Carolina organized a lunch counter sit-in in February 1960, seven Southern students organized a similar sit-in on March 28 at the Kress lunch counter in downtown Baton

Rouge. The next day, students organized two more sit-ins, and on March 30, about 2,000 of them marched from the campus to the State Capitol and back again to protest segregation.

Clark faced one of the most difficult decisions of his presidency. While he personally opposed segregation, he had to answer to Louisiana’s then governing board of higher education, which influenced Southern’s finances. Clark called for the expulsion of 16 of the students, who were also prohibited from attending other universities in the state.

Expansion and national recognition In 1962, American sculptor Frank Hayden joined the Southern faculty.

1960

1956 Southern’s “Marching 100” would evolve to become one of the most talented and renowned college marching bands in the world.

Hayden taught sculpture and drawing for 27 years until his untimely death, and is known worldwide for abstracted, stylized sculptural forms, many of which are on display on the Southern campus and throughout Baton Rouge.

In 1964, the University celebrated its 50th anniversary at its Scott’s Bluff location. Southern’s enrollment at the time had swelled to 5,000. There were 300 faculty members and 100 buildings on the main campus, along with a 372-acre research farm north of the university.

Also in 1964, Southern University at New Orleans (SUNO) opened, returning the school’s presence to the Crescent City. And in 1967, Southern University opened a campus in Shreveport.

Felton Clark retired in 1968 and died in

1970

1963 The first graduating class from Southern University at New Orleans (SUNO).

1970. He is buried, along with his father, on a picturesque spot on campus overlooking the Mississippi River. G. Leon Netterville took over as Southern’s president, and served until 1974.

Tragedy struck Southern in 1972 when students, frustrated over an imbalance in public funding for black and white colleges, staged a series of protests on campus. Governor Edwin W. Edwards sent 300 law enforcement officers and an armored personnel carrier to quell the disturbance. Tear gas was used to break up the crowd, but one officer fired a round of live ammunition into the crowd. Student Leonard Brown died on the spot and Denver Smith succumbed to his wounds later at a local hospital.

1980 1975 The F.G. Clark Activity Center, also known as the ‘MiniDome,’ opened in 1975 on the Baton Rouge campus. The construction of this multi-purpose facility marked an era of construction of modern stateof-the-art facilities throughout the SU System.

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THE LAST 40 YEARS: 1980 TO 2020

Expansion, distinction and a look to the future OVER THE LAST 40 years, Southern University has continued to expand both academic programs and applied research to prepare graduates for the global workforce. In cyber security, aerospace technology, law, engineering, healthcare, forensic science and many other fields, Southern graduates are bringing a thoughtful worldview and an enduring commitment to achievement to their personal and professional lives.

Under the leadership of PresidentChancellor Ray L. Belton, a bright future lies ahead for the Southern University System. The flagship campus in Baton Rouge has a current enrollment of more than 7,000, a 10 percent increase since 2016. At both Southern University at New Orleans (SUNO)

and Southern University Shreveport (SUSLA), new academic programs that dovetail with workplace demand give graduates the skills to compete for 21st century jobs. Southern’s Law Center remains a highly relevant option for diverse men and women eager to earn a degree in law. The Southern University Agricultural Research and Extension Center has become a state

leader in the study of medicinal plants and other farming innovations.

Excelling in the classroom From the study to jazz and public policy, to the study of engineering and computer science, the pursuit of excellence is palpable in the halls of Southern University. Its College of

The flagship campus in Baton Rouge has an enrollment of more than 7,000.

Counting the Shreveport and New Orleans campuses brings the total to 12,000.

1980

1990 1980s The top-ranked Southern University School of Nursing was granted initial approval by the Louisiana State Board of Nursing in 1985 and admitted the first baccalaureate level students to upper division courses in the fall of 1986.

Nursing and Allied Health, launched in 1986, is a standout unit that has earned national acclaim. The college, which offers four degrees, has been named Nursing School of the Year four times by the Louisiana Nursing Foundation. It is the only college in Louisiana to offer a doctorate in nursing practice (DNP), the highest level degree achievable in the nurse practitioner field. Southern trains more African-American nurse practitioners than any other academic institution in the country, and its graduates pass national boards at an average rate of 95 percent, higher than the national average.

In 1988, mathematician Delores Margaret Richard Spikes was named Southern’s first female president. She

2000 1990 Between 1970 and 1990, the university routinely enrolled more than 10,000 students and was the largest HBCU in the country. Today’s enrollment is over 12,000 across all campuses with students from 46 states and 40 countries.

2000 South African anti-apartheid leader Nelson Mandela gave the commencement address at Southern University in 2000.

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was also the first female chancellor of any Louisiana land grant university.

Southern’s Honors College, which creates opportunities for increased rigor and global learning, is named in Spikes’ honor.

…and on the field One of Southern’s best known modern traditions is its longstanding football rivalry with Grambling State University, which was formalized as an annual face-off named the Bayou Classic in 1974. First played in New Orleans at Tulane University, the game was later moved to the Mercedes-Benz Superdome, where it is held every Thanksgiving weekend. The event attracts an estimated 200,000 attendees and delivers a $50 million economic impact to the Crescent City.

The Battle of the Bands is one of the Bayou Classic’s most celebrated components. Southern’s Human Jukebox and the Grambling State Tiger Marching Band compete in a nationally televised halftime show demonstrating musical prowess, precision and athleticism. The Human Jukebox, and its accompanying Fabulous Dancing Dolls, have performed in numerous high-profile events, including several Super Bowl halftime shows, the Rose Parade (twice), the inaugural parade of President Bill Clinton and in a music

2010

2010 Southern University’s Army and Navy ROTC programs are nationally recognized.

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Historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) such as Southern University hold an important place in American and black history. Generations of African American students have earned an education, realized dreams, and built a future here. video with recording artist Lizzo. Items belonging to longtime band director Isaac Greggs are on display at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C., and reflect Southern’s historic commitment to the study of music.

Returning with distinction In 2004, Southern issued an apology to the 16 men and women who were expelled after staging lunch counter sit-ins in Baton Rouge protesting segregation in 1960. They returned to the University for spring commencement that year, where they were given honorary degrees.

SUNO fights back After Hurricane Katrina led to massive flooding in New Orleans in 2005, Southern University New Orleans saw a sharp drop in enrollment. This, along with state budget cuts, created significant challenges for SUNO. But after troubled times, the campus is blazing a promising trail forward. FEMA funds helped erect a series of new structures, including the Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences Building, the Millie M. Charles School of Social Work, the Natural Sciences Building and the forthcoming College of Education and Human Development.

SUNO is the only university in the state to offer a graduate degree in museum studies and an undergraduate degree in forensic science.

2015 2015 The SU System, during its 2015 Founders’ Day celebration, dedicated a building in honor of former longtime Alumni Director Donald Carlyle Wade. The Donald C. Wade House served as the on-campus residence of former presidents of Southern University Baton Rouge.

Embracing the future In 2018, the Valdry Center for Philanthropy opened at Southern’s flagship campus in Baton Rouge. The Valdry Center is one of just a few academically based research centers for philanthropic studies and nonprofit management in the country and the only one in Louisiana. Its mission is to expand the understanding of how nonprofits can move the needle on social issues more responsibly and effectively.

Southern’s Law Center has continued to thrive, now claiming 2,700 alumni nationwide. It is one of the most racially diverse law schools in the United States, and is one of few across the country to offer a part-time option.

It stands out for its law clinic, which functions as a living laboratory, and for offering training in Native American tribal law. Many high-profile regional elected officials got their start with a law degree from Southern.

In 2019, Southern became the only HBCU in the country to cultivate and research medical marijuana. Its Institute for Medicinal Plants, part of the Southern University Agricultural Research and Extension Center, is actively researching how cannabis can ease the impacts of diseases like cancer, Alzheimer’s Disease and Multiple Sclerosis, as well as chronic pain..

2020 2020 Along with Ilera Holistic Healthcare, Southern unveiled its hemp-derived CBD product line Alafia.

OUR

MISSION The Southern University System Foundation is a private, nonprofit corporation established to secure financial support for each of the five campuses of the Southern University System. The Foundation is a voluntary institute of business and professional leaders, proudly incorporated to provide broader educational advantages to our students, encourage research among our faculty, and advance the University's role in helping to build an increasingly functional Louisiana.

JUNE 28

1968 In 1944, Rockefeller Foundation officials visited Southern University to tour the campus and to discuss General Education Board fellowships. Pictured left to right: Dr. Felton G. Clark, president of Southern University; Dr. H. M. Miller, Rockefeller Foundation; Dr. R. R. Ewerz, Director of Higher Education of Louisiana; Dr. Robert Calkins, Former Head of Business Education, Columbia, and at Rockefeller Foundation; and Mr. J. E. Williams, Supervisor of Negro Education in Louisiana. Clark and local business leaders established the Southern University System Foundation in 1968.

OCTOBER 3

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The Valdry Center for Philanthropy was established on the Southern University Baton Rouge campus as the first center of philanthropy at a Historically Black College and University in 2019.

For more information on the Southern University System Foundation and its programming, please visit our website at foundation.sus.edu. Please scan the barcode below to GIVE TODAY!

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