1.8.246-01 |
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Talk to Student Assembly
Chancellor Gordon W. Blackwell
Woman's College
February 9, I960
Two years ago in the fall I talked to Student Assembly just before the
Asian Flu epidemic. Last winter my talk came just before first semester
examinations. This year, although the date was set several months ago, my
talk comes just after a critical, nerve-racking week for the City of Greensboro,
the week of the sit-down at the five and ten. My talks to you seem to be closely
associated with crises! In the future I hope to be able to talk to you in a different atmosphere.
If this morning I did not talk on the events of last week, you would
probably be surprised. Also I believe I would be shirking my responsibility.
I shall talk, then, about the rights and responsibilities of college students in relation to the larger implications of the sit-down demonstration at
the five and ten. The action taken by students -- reportedly from five local
colleges -- must be weighed in the light of several major concerns upon which
I shall comment briefly. No one individual, perhaps, would agree that these
are the concerns of real significance. Yet I believe a rational analysis of the
situation requires recognition of each of them.
(1) Concern for the feelings of discrimination and injustice which
are deeply experienced by some of the people involved. It
is never good in American democracy for people to have these
feelings.
(2) Concern for the danger of physical violence and destruction
of property which faced the students and institutions involved.
(3) Concern that recent progress in race relations may be set
back many years unless the impasse is resolved on a basis
acceptable to all responsible elements in the community,
(4) Concern for the economic welfare of thousands of Kress,
Woolworth and other stores and their employees across the
country.
(5) Concern for the reputation of Greensboro and North Carolina
at a time when forward progress in all areas is a reality.
Object Description
| Title | [Chancellor Blackwell's speech to WCUNC students regarding the Greensboro sit-ins] |
| Date | 1960-02-09 |
| Creator | Blackwell, Gordon Williams |
| Biographical/historical note |
Gordon Williams Blackwell, son of a Baptist minister, was born on April 27, 1911 in Timmonsville, South Carolina, but grew up in Spartanburg, South Carolina. He graduated from Furman University in 1932 and went on to receive a master's degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1933 and a master's and doctorate from Harvard University. From 1937 to 1941, he was head of the Department of Sociology at Furman University and a member of the Greenville County Council for Community Development. In 1941, he moved to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill as a professor of sociology and research associate at the Institute for Research in Social Science. In 1942, he became research professor and director of the institute. Blackwell continued in these positions until he was appointed chancellor of Woman’s College of the University of North Carolina (now The University of North Carolina at Greensboro) in 1957. During Blackwell's three-year tenure at Woman's College, the state and the national governments had begun to place more demands upon colleges and universities. Increases in college enrollment, the expanded American role in world affairs, and the challenge of Russian science and technology forced a reassessment of the role of higher education and a sustained effort to provide quality education for greater numbers. Even more important for the Woman's College, the increased opportunities for women after World War II and the postwar commitment to improved community services made it especially urgent to expand and improve programs at the college. Blackwell devoted most of his time to finding the means and methods for fulfilling this expanded mission for a Southern woman's college during a period of limited resources, both financial and professional. In 1960, after three years at Woman’s College, Blackwell became president of Florida State University. He ended his career as president of Furman University from 1965 to 1976. Blackwell was also a voluminous author in the fields of community life and development, sociology of the South, and higher education. Blackwell wrote or collaborated on nearly a dozen books, and edited Studies of Southern Resources and Southern Forces, in addition to his activities in numerous professional and regional organizations. Gordon Blackwell died on January 26, 2004. |
| Subject headings | Greensboro Sit-ins, Greensboro, N.C., 1960;University of North Carolina at Greensboro |
| Topics | Business desegregation and sit-ins, 1960;Race relations at UNCG |
| Place | Greensboro (N.C.) |
| Description | This four-page speech by Chancellor Gordon William Blackwell was delivered on February 9, 1960 and addresses Blackwell's concerns about WCUNC student involvement in the sit-ins that began the previous week. Blackwell states that the sit-ins were a bad idea and that student participation resulted in a negative perception of the university by some members of the community. He also mentions the "threat of violence" and suggests that student participation may have inflamed the issue. Blackwell closes by encouraging students not to participate in any public demonstration over the issue. |
| Type | text |
| Original format | speeches |
| Original dimensions | 8.5" x 11" |
| Original publisher | [Place of publication not identified] : [publisher not identified] |
| Language | en |
| Contributing institution | Martha Blakeney Hodges Special Collections and University Archives, UNCG University Libraries |
| Source collection | UA2.6 Gordon Williams Blackwell Records |
| Finding aid link | http://libapps.uncg.edu/archon/index.php?p=collections/controlcard&id=445 |
| Rights statement | http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NoC-US/1.0/ |
| Additional rights information | NO COPYRIGHT - UNITED STATES. This item has been determined to be free of copyright restrictions in the United States. The user is responsible for determining actual copyright status for any reuse of the material. |
| Object ID | UA002.006.0246 |
| Digital publisher | The University of North Carolina at Greensboro, University Libraries, PO Box 26170, Greensboro NC 27402-6170, 336.334.5305 -- http://library.uncg.edu/ |
| Sponsor | LSTA grant administered by the North Carolina State Library -- http://statelibrary.ncdcr.gov/ld/grants/lsta.html |
| OCLC number | 884368304 |
Page/Item Description
| Title | 1.8.246-01 |
| Full text | Talk to Student Assembly Chancellor Gordon W. Blackwell Woman's College February 9, I960 Two years ago in the fall I talked to Student Assembly just before the Asian Flu epidemic. Last winter my talk came just before first semester examinations. This year, although the date was set several months ago, my talk comes just after a critical, nerve-racking week for the City of Greensboro, the week of the sit-down at the five and ten. My talks to you seem to be closely associated with crises! In the future I hope to be able to talk to you in a different atmosphere. If this morning I did not talk on the events of last week, you would probably be surprised. Also I believe I would be shirking my responsibility. I shall talk, then, about the rights and responsibilities of college students in relation to the larger implications of the sit-down demonstration at the five and ten. The action taken by students -- reportedly from five local colleges -- must be weighed in the light of several major concerns upon which I shall comment briefly. No one individual, perhaps, would agree that these are the concerns of real significance. Yet I believe a rational analysis of the situation requires recognition of each of them. (1) Concern for the feelings of discrimination and injustice which are deeply experienced by some of the people involved. It is never good in American democracy for people to have these feelings. (2) Concern for the danger of physical violence and destruction of property which faced the students and institutions involved. (3) Concern that recent progress in race relations may be set back many years unless the impasse is resolved on a basis acceptable to all responsible elements in the community, (4) Concern for the economic welfare of thousands of Kress, Woolworth and other stores and their employees across the country. (5) Concern for the reputation of Greensboro and North Carolina at a time when forward progress in all areas is a reality. |
