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An annual half-hour walking tour across UNCG’s campus on Juneteenth revealed the depth of African Americans’ contributions to the school, something that many community members say they had never fully realized.
Some of those on Monday’s tour read and listened for the first time to stories deeply embedded within the walls of 11 buildings they had spent time in as faculty, staff and alumni of the University.
UNCG, whose student population is 28% Black, has undergone a significant transformation from its status as a college for white women in the early 20th century. The change began when Elizabeth JoAnne Smart and Bettye Tillman, the first two African American students, enrolled in 1956.
The two were forced to room in Shaw Hall, in a wing that was segregated to house only Smart and Tillman. Monday’s tour guided visitors through the renovated building.
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“I never really knew about this history and how it’s in most of the buildings on campus,” said Faith Kirkpatrick, who graduated from UNCG in May.
Shay Bracewell, a training specialist with UNCG’s Human Resources department heard about the tour from her colleagues and decided that she should learn about many of the historical markers across the grounds.
Those on the tour were able to see historic pictures of the first African American workers on campus, the trumpet Miles Davis used to record “Kind of Blues”, the bestselling jazz album of all time. The trumpet was donated by Davis’ friend Buddy Gist to commemorate their friendship. Visitors also were able to see the lounge of the historic Neo Black Society, a student organization founded in 1968, and a display of the accomplishments of Olympian Paul Chelimo, a graduate of UNCG.
The 30-minute journey through history had a unique connection to public health and wellness that the organizers of the tour say is central in African American culture and the civil rights movement.
“We’ve seen the cultural significance of walking throughout African American history,” said Dr. DeAnne Brooks, an associate professor and graduate program director in the department of kinesiology. “During the (1960) sit-in protests, both students at the women’s college and local high schools walked to lunch counters. We know that physicality and being mobile was central to the importance of the Underground Railroad.”
The tour culminated in a presentation that encapsulated the African American contribution to UNCG. When Christina Yongue and the other members of the UNCG Juneteenth Committee stood before a full room of those willing to learn and commemorate the African American contribution to the school, there was a feeling of pride.
“I knew there was history there. It’s been hidden, and not talked about,” said Yongue, who is the director of undergraduate studies at UNCG’s department of Public Health Education. “This tour encourages our whole community to know Black history, and I want Black people specifically to know about what they’ve done and to take pride in it.”
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