Harlem vs. Columbia University: Black Student Power in the Late 1960s

273 Pages·2009·3.392 MB·English

by  Stefan M. Bradley

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Harlem vs. Columbia University
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Black Student Power
urbana and chicago
Columbia University
in the Late 1960s
Stefan M. Bradley
university of illinois press
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© 2009 by the Board of Trustees
of the University of Illinois
All rights reserved
Manufactured in the United States of America
c 5 4 3 2 1
∞ This book is printed on acid-free paper.
Portions of this book were first published as “Gym Crow Must
Go! The 1968 Student Rebellion at Columbia University in
the City of New York,” in “We Shall Independent Be”: African
American Place-Making and the Struggle to Claim Space in the
United States, ed. Angel David Nieves and Leslie M. Alexander
(Boulder: University Press of Colorado, 2008); “‘Gym Crow Must
Go!’ Black Student Activism at Columbia University, 1967–1968,”
Journal of African American History 88 (Spring 2003): 163–81;
and “‘This Is Harlem Heights’: Black Student Power and the 1968
Columbia University Rebellion,” Afro-Americans in New York
Life and History 32 (January 2008): 99–122, and are included here
with permission.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Bradley, Stefan M.
Harlem vs. Columbia University: Black student power in the late
1960s / Stefan M. Bradley.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
isbn 978-0-252-03452-7 (cloth: alk. paper)
1. Columbia University—Student strike, 1968.
2. African American student movements—New York (State)—
New York—History. 3. Black power—New York (State)—
New York—History. 4. Morningside Park (New York, N.Y.)—
History. I. Title.
ld1250.b73 2009
378.747'1—dc22 2008037938
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Contents
Prologue vii
Introduction 1
1. Why I Hate You: Community Resentment of Columbia 20
2. Gym Crow: Recreational Segregation in Morningside Park 39
3. Up against the Wall: Columbia’s Integrated Protest Effort 63
4. On Our Own: SAS’s Self-Imposed Separation 74
5. Supporting the Cause: SDS, Protest, and the “Bust” 93
6. Black Student Power: The Struggle for Black Studies 110
7. Striking Similarities: Columbia, the Ivy League,
and Black People 133
8. Is It Over Yet? The Results of Student and
Community Protest 155
Conclusion 187
Epilogue: Where Are They Now? 193
Notes 199
Bibliography 227
Index 239
Illustrations follow page 62
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Prologue
Years ago, an archivist asked me what attracted me to a topic that
was very much New York local history. She tactfully noted that I had not at-
tended an Ivy League university and that I certainly was not from New York
(I talked painfully slow for many of the New Yorkers I ran across). I explained
to her that what happened in New York City, which many considered the
capital of the world, had an impact on the rest of the nation and the world.
What was to New Yorkers a local controversy over a park became a national
news item and a symbol of the conflict that occurs between institutions and
minority communities to the rest of the country. That was enough of a reason
for an outsider like myself to take interest in what the archivist characterized
as local history.
I grew up the son of southerners in the Evergreen State of Washington. We
proudly breathe easy and enjoy our space. In Washington, trees are abundant
and it is truly green everywhere. I suppose we northwesterners sometimes
take for granted the fact that not everyone can enjoy these natural luxuries.
With that mindset, in 1997 I visited New York for the first time. I was amazed
at how fast-paced the Borough of Manhattan was, and I marveled at the
skyscrapers and bright lights on the buildings. I was somewhat unsettled,
however, that so many people were bumping into me and that I was bump-
ing into so many people.
I stayed with the son of one of my former professors in the basement of
an apartment building near 110th Street and Broadway. Living in that apart-
ment was my host, his wife, and a new baby. I found this to be very strange.
It was not strange that a young family would be living in an apartment, but
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viii . prologue
that this family was living in a one-bedroom apartment where the pipes
were exposed, there were no windows, and there was very little space at all.
For such cramped living quarters, I found out that my host family paid well
over $1,000 a month. That was mind-boggling; I could not fathom paying
so much for so little, but I suppose it was necessary to survive.
As I began my research at Columbia, I walked to the university. On the
way, I saw all types of people, which was exciting. I also did research at the
Schomburg Center on 135th and Lenox (Malcolm X Boulevard) in Harlem.
I had to walk there as well. While doing all of this walking, I noticed several
things. First I noticed that my feet hurt; New Yorkers walk a lot. Second, I
observed that, in that part of the city, everything seemed very gray, and it was
at times hard to see the sun. The most poignant image I took in was that of
children playing football on the sidewalk. As they were playing rather roughly,
I thought that maybe concrete was not the best venue for such a game.
Then it all occurred to me at once and I stopped walking. The 1968 con-
troversy at Columbia was connected to all of my observations. Space in New
York comes at a high price. There are skyscrapers because there is little hori-
zontal space left. Because there were so many different kinds of people in the
city, people were destined to bump into each other literally and figuratively
in search of space of their own. Finally, green space—places where children
could play tackle football—was rare and could be found almost exclusively
in parks. That was what made Morningside Park so important to both Co-
lumbia and the residents of Harlem. In a place where concrete reigns and
life moves so quickly, recreational space was as much a commodity as was
living space. Also, the impossibility of finding and keeping inexpensive living
arrangements was why bad blood ran between Columbia and the Harlem
community. The racial and economic disparities between those who lived
on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in the 1960s added to the recipe of
confrontation. In retrospect, the fact that this stew of city life boiled over in
1968 seemed almost predictable.
I must extend my deepest gratitude to those who made this work possible.
I received a great deal of financial support from the little school that could,
Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. Although I have since moved on,
the encouragement I received from friends like Shirley Portwood, Anthony
Cheeseboro, Rudy Wilson, Earleen Patterson, and Narbeth Emmanuel sus-
tained me. Thanks also to my new academic family at Saint Louis University
for recognizing the value of the project. My students have always been great
cheerleaders.
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prologue · ix
Thank you to all of the archivists at Columbia, Teachers College, Barnard,
and the Schomburg Center for their patience and assistance. Also, thanks to
the countless librarians who helped me access materials that I did not even
know existed. I am also thankful to those who allowed me to interview them.
Ray Brown, Bill Sales, Cicero Wilson, Thulani Davis, Arnim Johnson, Zach
Husser, Alford Dempsey, Cheryl Leggon, Christine Clark-Evans, the Rever-
end Samuel Brown, Daniel Douglas, Christiane Collins, Wm. Theodore de
Bary, Thomas Kennedy, Bob Feldman, Mark Rudd, and Eric Foner took the
time to help this aspiring historian along, and it meant so much.
I am also extremely grateful to those who read my work and provided
further sources. My good friend and personal editor Marquinez Savala did
well to go over my work sentence by sentence. I greatly appreciate the press
editors who were able to help my duckling become a swan. Both my advi-
sor, Carol Anderson, and my mentor, Robert Weems, offered commentary
as well as encouragement. Current colleagues and several other superstar
scholars have generously shared their thoughts on the work as well. Felix
Armfield (thanks for the hook-up), Paul Cronin (thanks for the images),
Kelton Edmonds, Monroe Fordham, V. P. Franklin, Robert Harris, Gerald
Horne, Robin Kelley, Manning Marable, Joi Moore, Leonard Moore, How-
ard Rambsy, Sonya Ramsey, Ronald Roach, Lee Ann Whites, and countless
others have done more than their share to move this project along.
Finally, from the deepest part of my heart, I give thanks for my mother and
father, my two older brothers and younger sister (and all their mischievous
children), my Weezie (a.k.a. Mrs. Bradley), and all of the family and friends
who provided me with moral support throughout this whole endeavor. Their
encouragement and love made this work a reality for me. This book is dedi-
cated to the family survivors, Annie Lee, Alphonso, and Timothy Bradley.
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