The 1972 Buccaneer opens with a pictorial history of ECU including iconic photos of the 1908 groundbreaking ceremony, the 1909 charter faculty, the original campus, and past presidents and chancellors. Another photo, appearing a few pages later in the “Campus Life” section, is, however, equally iconic and indeed one of the most significant in ECU history. Admittedly, it is also surprisingly ordinary: it shows a coed, presumably a freshman, accompanied by a man who appears to be her father, both with hands full of belongings en route to a new dorm room.
What’s historic about the photo is that the student – unidentified – is a black female. Nearly a decade earlier, the first African-American undergraduate, Laura Marie Leary (married name, Elliott), had enrolled at ECC. Her courageous pioneering role ensured that her name would become an indelible part of campus history. However, other than a few student portraits in the Buccaneer, there are no pictures of Leary on campus. Her presence was reportedly greeted with a certain coolness if not worse. Nevertheless, following in Leary’s footsteps, a small but steady flow of African-Americans enrolled at East Carolina, making desegregation more authentic, and gradually transforming the campus along the way.
By the late-1960s, some students felt the pace of change was too measured. As with many campuses, 1968-1969 became a pivotal year for social action at ECU as a largely African-American organization, the Society of United Liberal Students (SOULS) authored a list of ten demands and called on the administration to respond forthwith. The fourth demand was for “recruitment of more black students.” More specifically, SOULS called for the creation of “a special program” to “recruit Black Students under the same conditions as the present recruitment program for white students.”
Not long after, the Office of Minority Affairs was established and tasked with reaching out to African-American high school students. One OMA publication, entitled Black Students Ask!!! ECU (1973), addressed concerns that prospective students might not feel comfortable raising during orientation sessions or campus visits. These included, ““Is there much racial discrimination on campus?” “Is there a Black Studies Program?” “Is there much Black participation in the Student Government and other campus organizations?”
One of the most telling questions was “How many Black students are presently enrolled?” The terse response, without commentary or promise of improvement, was “approximately 200 Blacks” in a student body of “10,000.” While the brochure did not give a percentage, the estimated 200 enrolled amounted to 2% of the total student body. Two years prior, in the fall of 1971 when “move-in” pictures for the 1972 Buccaneer were taken, the percentage was even lower.
Nevertheless, the anonymous move-in photo is historic in that the young lady’s presence as a student had become commonplace, an ordinary occurrence that did not prompt racially specific captions, caricature, condescension, or other expressions of bigotry that too often marred past presentations of diversity at East Carolina. The very anonymity of the coed, and the mildly preoccupied look on her face and her father’s, perhaps reflecting concerns about their wait for an elevator, reveals the extent to which East Carolina had gone beyond the initial challenges of desegregation and was moving toward an era of integration as normal, ordinary, and commonplace.
Two years later, a section of the 1974 Buccaneer entitled, “Times Have Changed (and we ain’t whistling ‘Dixie’), reviewed the progress realized since the 1968-1969 year of confrontation. Unlike the 1972 Buccaneer, the 1974 edition gave more ample coverage to African-Americans enjoying life on campus, as individuals and in social organizations, doing research in Joyner Library, taking center stage in homecoming festivities, eating watermelon on the mall, and chatting outside the College Union. These quotidian photos were testimony that a social revolution had occurred on campus, one moving beyond the prejudice evident just a decade and a half prior and introducing increasingly unprecedented levels of acceptance, inclusion, and respect.
Sources
- "Black students ask." University Archives # CH1050.3.6.12.8. J. Y. Joyner Library. East Carolina University. Greenville, N.C. https://digital.lib.ecu.edu/10289
- Bridgeman, Phyllis. "Time versus tension." The East Carolinian. Vol. 44, no. 5. March 27, 1969. P. 1. https://digital.lib.ecu.edu/10275
- "Explanation of Demands." University Archives # 02.06.16.67.01. J. Y. Joyner Library. East Carolina University. Greenville, N.C. https://digital.lib.ecu.edu/10279
- "List of demands from black students of East Carolina University." University Archives # 02-06-16-26. J. Y. Joyner Library. East Carolina University. Greenville, N.C. https://digital.lib.ecu.edu/10280
- “Laura Marie Leary, Sophomore portrait.” 1964 Buccaneer. P. 416. University Archives # 50.01.1964. J. Y. Joyner Library. East Carolina University. Greenville, N.C. https://digital.lib.ecu.edu/15315
- “Laura Marie Leary, Junior portrait.” 1965 Buccaneer. P. 266. University Archives # 50.01.1965. J. Y. Joyner Library. East Carolina University. Greenville, N.C. https://digital.lib.ecu.edu/15316.42
- “Laura Marie Leary, Senior portrait.” 1966 Buccaneer. P. 370. University Archives # 50.01.1965. J. Y. Joyner Library. East Carolina University. Greenville, N.C. https://digital.lib.ecu.edu/15317
- “The Beginning … Civilized Madness.” 1972 Buccaneer. P. 26. University Archives # 50.01.1972. J. Y. Joyner Library. East Carolina University. Greenville, N.C. https://digital.lib.ecu.edu/15323.15
- "Student moving into dormitory.” 1971. University Archives # 50.01.1972.26. J. Y. Joyner Library. East Carolina University. Greenville, N.C. https://digital.lib.ecu.edu/11019
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"Times Have Changed (and we ain't whistlin' ‘Dixie!’"). 1974 Buccaneer. Pp. 256-259. https://digital.lib.ecu.edu/10290. University Archives # 50-01-1974-256,257,258,259. J. Y. Joyner Library. East Carolina University. Greenville, N.C. https://digital.lib.ecu.edu/10290.
Additional Related Material
Image Source: The Buccaneer, 1974
Citation Information
Title: Move-In Day
Author: John A. Tucker, PhD
Date of Publication: 2/19/2020