In this short history, alum Aja Beckham discusses the creation of the student organization "Being Black at Illinois," first campus memories, and the resources that the university provides. This oral history was recorded as part of the ongoing Oral History project and conducted in partnership with the University of Illinois Library Archives.
Albert Spurlock (1913-2015) graduated in 1938. He joined the Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity, majored in Industrial Education, and made the track team. Albert experienced discrimination as a black student in the towns and from other students. However, he had a good experience on the campus. Finally, Albert worked in Greek houses for his meals.
Carol Easton Lee (Safisha Madhubuti) first went off to college from the Chicago Public School System to Illinois Wesleyan University in 1962. She visited the University of Illinois for Homecoming freshman year and recalls that the 200 black students on campus, which far outpaced the 10 on the Wesleyan Campus, made her feel in heaven and she transferred to the U of I her sophomore year - 1963. When she met an Alpha Nu at her kitchen work-study job, she was introduced to the black sorority and fraternity social network from which she found ample social support. She credits her ties to Delta Sigma Theta, Alpha Nu and their socialization of her into a culture of academic excellence with her success as an undergrad and her impressive post-grad career which includes a Master's Degree, a PhD, founding multiple elementary schools, and an impressive social justice record.
Connie Penda-Eggelston was born in Chicago in 1948 to well-known musicians. Her older brother, a Project 500 Recruiter, convinced her to come back to the Illinois in 1968 after she withdrew from the University from her first term starting in 1966. She was a member of BSA and participated in the September 10, 1968 Union Demonstration. Participating in cultural programs and actively engaging with Champaign black youth were how she spent her time as a student.
Connie Rolison Corbett came to the University of Illinois as a transfer student in 1963, majoring in medical technology. She came to Illinois because she felt lonely at Ohio University, where she spent her freshman year, to join a high school friend who was pledging Delta Sigma Theta. Her pledging semester's 4.9 (out of 5) GPA earned her an appointment to the Office of the National Second Vice President which afforded her opportunities for travel. In one such opportunity she went to Los Angeles and was able to meet Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in the mid 1960s.
In the first of six interviews, Eisenman provides details of his educational experiences at Harvard and the University of Illinois, including his work reporting on the Illini Union protest on September 10, 1968. He also describes his work during the UI centennial and the creation of scholarship funds for students who could not otherwise afford the fees required to attend UIUC.
Audio recorded by David Eisenman, Assistant Dean of Students from 1968 to 1970, during the years of Project 500. It includes his assessments of the implementation of Project 500 as well as the resulting conflicts, and touches on his first-hand accounts of the protests by African American students against their placement in sub-standard housing in the first weeks of the program.
Erma Scott Bridgewater (1913-2013) was a member of the Class of 1937. She joined the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority. Erma said she experienced discrimination as an African-American student. Also, Erma said that she did not have a lot of financial difficulty during the Depression.
