DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker at Midwestern University has to say — and friends, this one matters. It starts in 1948. Two young men, Emzy Downing and James O.
Chandler, both graduates of Booker T. Washington High School — the African American high school right there in Wichita Falls — walked up and applied for admission to Hardin Junior College, a division of Midwestern University. The Board of Trustees denied their admission.
Just like that. Two years pass. It's 1950 now.
A local NAACP leader, Professor C. E. Jackson, encourages a woman named Willie Faye Battle to try.
She's an honor graduate. She applies by mail — by mail — to the two-year nursing school at Hardin Junior College. And she is accepted.
Let that settle for a second. She is accepted. But when Willie Faye Battle and Professor Jackson arrived at the school in person to complete the application process, she was denied admission.
Accepted on paper. Turned away at the door. She went on to Prairie View A&M University instead.
Then comes the fall of 1951, and the people of Wichita Falls with something to prove weren't done yet. Ms. Battle, this time alongside Maryland Virginia Menefee, Helen Muriel Davis, Golden E.
Mitchell White, Carl Lawrence McBride, and Wilma Jean Norris — six people, encouraged to apply in person. Each one of them received a rejection letter in the mail. What followed was a meeting between the University Board of Trustees and representatives of the Texas State Council.
They floated alternatives — a college at Booker T. Washington High School, or Midwestern paying tuition for African American students to attend African American colleges elsewhere. Both alternatives were rejected.
And so a suit was filed in United States District Court. The first of its type. The case was Battle, et al. v.
Wichita Falls Junior College District, et al. — and initially, it was decided in favor of the students. But appeals came, injunctions came, and the whole thing wound its way up until the final decision came through the Supreme Court in 1954, following Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka.
The first African American students were enrolled at Hardin Junior College in the summer of 1954. From 1948 to 1954 — that's what it took. An honor graduate accepted by letter and turned away face to face.
Six people opening their mailboxes to find rejection. A federal lawsuit, the first of its kind. And a group of people from Wichita Falls who simply would not stop applying.
That's the story the marker tells. And it ought to be told.
What the marker says
In 1948, Emzy Downing and James O. Chandler, both graduates from the African American high school in Wichita Falls, Booker T. Washington High School, applied for admission to Hardin Junior College, a division of Midwestern University. The Board of Trustees denied their admission. In 1950, with encouragement from local NAACP leader Professor C.E. Jackson, Willie Faye Battle, an honor graduate, applied by mail for admission to the two-year nursing school at Hardin Junior College. She was accepted. But when she and Professor Jackson went to the school to complete the application process, she was denied admission. Subsequently she was accepted to Prairie View A&M University. In the fall of 1951, MS. Battle along with Maryland Virginia Menefee, Helen Muriel Davis, Golden E. Mitchell White, Carl Lawrence McBride and Wilma Jean Norris were encouraged to apply in person. Each applicant received rejection letters in the mail. Following this incident, a meeting was held between the University Board of Trustees and Representatives of the Texas State Council. Alternative solutions were discussed such as a College at Booker T. Washington High School or Midwestern paying the tuition for African American students to attend African American colleges. These alternatives were rejected and a suit was filed in United States District Court, the first of its type. Initially, Battle, et al. V. Wichita Falls Junior College Dist., et al. was decided in favor of the students. But, with appeals and injunctions, the final decision came through the Supreme Court in 1954, following the Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka ruling. The first African American students were enrolled in the summer of 1954. (2015)