Gwendolyn E. Armstrong | |
|---|---|
| Education | Rowan High School |
| Alma mater | University of Southern Mississippi |
| Occupation(s) | Civil rights activist,jazz singer |
| Known for | Integrating theUniversity of Southern Mississippi atHattiesburg |
Gwendolyn Elaine Armstrong was a blackMississippi pioneer in theCivil Rights Movement. In September, 1965, she andRaylawni Branch, both local natives, integrated theUniversity of Southern Mississippi atHattiesburg. They thus completed the process of breaking thesegregation barriers at Mississippi's universities which had been begun byClyde Kennard at (then)Mississippi Southern College (1956–61) and carried forward byJames Meredith at theUniversity of Mississippi (September, 1962) andRichard Holmes atMississippi State University (July, 1965).
Armstrong was a 1965 graduate of Hattiesburg's Royal Street (then Rowan) High School. She wished to attend college but had to stay at home to care for her invalid mother. TheNAACP offered to support her entry into the local segregated white university, and recruited local civil rights activistRaylawni Branch to enter with her as moral support.
This required considerable physical courage for both, but especially the inexperienced 18-year-old Armstrong. Having grown up in the black community of Hattiesburg, she was well aware of the notorious miscarriage of justice in which the last black (Clyde Kennard) to attempt to enroll at the university had been falsely sent to prison and an early death.[1][2]
By this time (September, 1965) bothOle Miss andMississippi State University had been integrated – the former violently, the latter peacefully. TheMississippi State Sovereignty Commission and University of Southern Mississippi leaders, such as President Dr.William David McCain, had earlier fought vociferously and successfully to thwartClyde Kennard's attempts to enroll at (then)Mississippi Southern College. They had now come to realize that the battle to maintain segregation was lost. Therefore, McCain and his staff made extensive confidential plans for the admission and attendance of Armstrong and Branch. A faculty guardian and mentor was secretly appointed for each. The same campus police department which in 1959 had attempted to railroad Kennard to prison when he attempted to enroll, now had very strict orders to prevent or quickly stop any incident involving the two black students. Student athletic, social, and political leaders were recruited to keep the calm and protect the university from such bad publicity as Ole Miss had suffered from its reaction toJames Meredith.[3][4]
As a result, Armstrong had only very minor negative experiences. She studied music and singing, and helped the university choir win a championship. According to Branch, they were "treated just like everybody else.".[3][4] In 1968 Armstrong (as Elaine Armstrong) pursued a brief career as a jazz styled singer recording in Nashville for a release onKing Records.
The two women were accompanied by six bodyguards when on campus. The university administration appointed Dr. Geoffrey Fish, an oceanographer who taught biology as her guardian and tutor. Fish took a genuine interest in both women, gave them advice and jobs in work-study. He was very kind, listened to them, and was like a father figure to them.[3]
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)