The first black student came to Pittsburg State University, then the Kansas State Manual Training School Auxiliary, in 1911, and at that time blacks were not allowed to stay in dorms or eat in the school cafeteria. This persisted for several decades.
But a group of alumni from Affiliates Pittsburg, who attended school here in the 1930s and 1940s had a warm welcome Friday in conjunction with the PSU Homecoming.
“We have a wonderful weekend planned for them,” said Jamie Schlichenmayer, a graduate assistant in the PSU Student Diversity Office. “They’ll have seats for the inauguration of the new president and be recognized at the Crimson and Gold Dinner. They’ll also be in the Homecoming parade, and go to our special tailgate party.”
Randy Roberts, PSU archivist, taped them Friday morning as several alumni shared campus memories, some of them painful.
“Students coming here today don’t know what it was like back then, and I’m glad they don’t,” said Audrey Scroggins, Pittsburg.
Dr. Inez Yeargan Kaiser, 91, Overland Park, said her time at PSU was quite an experience.
“I went through many interesting things, and learned a lot, including how to endure and persevere,” she said.
She couldn’t afford bus fare, so walked 16 blocks to campus, and 16 blocks back to the private home where she stayed.
“I was on a most limited income, but I was determined to get an education,” Dr. Kaiser said. “I didn’t have textbooks, I was always looking at somebody else’s books.”
She was interested in home economics, but found that black students weren’t welcomed there. She was one of two black students in a clothing construction class and remained in it despite being pressured to quit.
“The other black student, a young woman from Weir, dropped out,” Dr. Kaiser said. “In the cooking classes black students were only allowed to observe while the white students cooked.”
The 1939 PSU graduate added that, no matter how well black students did in their class work, they were not graded fairly.
“No matter what you did, you got a C because you were colored,” Dr. Kaiser said.
She later earned a master’s degree at another school and has done well in life. She taught 26 years, became the first woman of African American descent to open a public relations firm and has written several publications, including the book “Soul Food Cookery.”
Edwin R. Byrd, Kansas City, Mo., attended PSU from 1938 to 1942. He remembers scrubbing floors for 25 cents an hour at the Horace Mann Building, which was then an elementary school.
“We didn’t know much about the dorms or cafeterias, but the townspeople took us under their wing and nurtured us,” he said.
That continued even after black students were allowed to stay in dorms.
“Mrs. Audrey Scroggins’ house was our home away from home,” said Donna Campbell Brice.
She explained that women students had to be in the dorm by 10 p.m. every night except weekends, when they could stay out until 1 a.m. Those who missed that deadline couldn’t get back into the dorms until the next day, and some of them would take refuge at the Scroggins home.
“Mrs. Scroggins would wake up in the morning and there would be people sleeping all over her house, even in the bathtub,” Brice said.
Scroggins, Pittsburg, started at PSU in 1943, but was unable to major in her chosen field and left.
“I wanted to take bookkeeping and some courses like that, but the teacher said that there was no point in that because I would never be able to get a job,” she said. “The teacher told me about all I’d be able to do was teach or clean houses.”
Mattye Foxx, Pittsburg, her close childhood friend, didn’t let discrimination stand in her way.
“There was discrimination here, but that’s a no-no in my language,” she said. “I decided I would do whatever I wanted to do. You couldn’t tell me no, because I’d do the opposite. Pittsburg State taught me a lesson — not to be afraid of anything.”
She started as an elementary education major, but switched to social work, and was employed by SRS for many years. Foxx went on to receive the Ralf Thomas Distinguished Service Award from PSU, as well as other honors.
More recent graduates attending the gathering included Christopher Huff, who attended from 1965 to 1972, Josea Mitchell Tyler, who was at PSU from 1965 to 1969.
“I was the first African American cheerleader at PSU, and I can still kick my leg up,” Tyler said.
Despite hardships, the alumni feel their time at PSU helped prepare them for life.
“Pittsburg has made me the educator I am at this time in my life,” said Dr. Jessie Kirksey, longtime Kansas City area school principal.
“I enjoyed my time at Pittsburg, and met my wife, Ruth, here,” said William McCallop.
And Scroggins, a widow since 1961, is proud that she was able to help all four of her children get their educations. Her daughter, Arlecia Elkamil, has just completed her master’s degree at PSU.
John L. Battles, San Antonio, Texas, attended an Affiliates Pittsburg reunion at PSU in July, and was happy to come back for Homecoming.
“This is so wonderful,” he said. “It just feels so warm.”
PITTSBURG —
