W when Nicholas Gerren graduated from the all-Black Summer High School in Kansas City, Kan., he looked forward
Story by Heather Kirkwood
from rigorous classes to an active social life.
But when Gerren came to the University of Kansas, he found it was difficult for an African American to fit in.
That was 66 years ago, when the University and Lawrence, like most of the country, were segregated, and Minority Affairs or Affirmative Action offices were unheard of.
"It was pretty rough for a Black undergrad
ren, a retired music professor who lives in Xena, Ohio.
Because of his color, Gerren was not allowed to live in a campus house. So as a freshman, Gerren lived at 111 Mississippi St. with a
"It was pretty rough for a Black undergrad in the '30s."
Nicholas Gerren Sr.
to take him in. He pledged Alpha Phi Alpha, a Black fraternity.
When Gerren and his friends went to a movie theater at Eighth and Massachusetts streets, they had to sit in a balcony removed from white customers. And when they wanted to kick back and go out for a beer, their choices were further limited.
"There was really only Muzzy's Cafe on Main Street," he said. "They had very good chili."
The only other options would have been an African-American-owned business called Blues Bucket Shop, the segregated cafeteria at the Kansas Union or the one booth at the Kansas Union Soda Fountain
Afather
allotted for African-American students.
"There was very little social interaction between whites and Blacks," Gerren remembered.
Although white students had a dance at the Union every week, African-American students were not allowed to participate. Several African-American students complained to the Dean of Men in 1932 until he agreed to hold one dance in the Union for African-American students. To this day, Gerren remembers the舞.
"The band was Andy Kirk and his Twelve Clouds of Joy," Gerren said. "That was the only thing that was provided for us in terms of a cultural outlet."
After his freshman year, Gerren moved into a basement room in the Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority house, where he had been working as a waiter for $1.50 a week. The
women were cordial, and the room and board were a great help to him. So was a $36 scholarship he received from the department of music, which paid for half his tuition.
Gerren loved his classes at the University. Because he was studying to play the violin, one of his class requirements was to play in the normally all-white orchestra.
"That was a first. I think." Gerren said.
That was a first, I think, Gerren. In 1934 Gerren performed his senior recital, and the girls from the Kappa Kappa Gamma house came to support him. Later that year he graduated with a bachelor's degree in music, and in 1935 he completed a second major in music education.
After World War II Gerren returned to the University to pursue a master's degree in music education and found that the environment had improved.
"The teachers were different," he said.
This time Gerren was a teaching assistant for a psychology of music class and was inducted into Phi Mu Alpha, a music fraternity he had not been allowed to belong to as an undergraduate.
But when the fraternity's sponsor tried to arrange a dinner for the new inductees at a downtown restaurant, he was refused because some of the inductees were African Americans. The event had to be held elsewhere.
Gerren finished his masters in music education in 1948 and went on to complete a doctorate in music education in 1953.
Although things were difficult for Gerren, he is a proud KU alumns.
"I want the University to be understood for what it is today, not for what it used to be," he said. "I would like to empirize that KU has developed tremendously in regard to how it has made opportunities available to Black students."
Things had changed quite bit when Gerren's son, Nicholas Gerren Jr., arrived at the University in 1965 to begin his undergraduate work.
However, Geremer Jr., who is now a lawyer in Dayton, Ohio, still set about his studies with vigor in order to prove something.
"Even in my generation it was necessary to prove that Black folk could handle the challenge of the academic grate at one of the best institutions in the country," he said.
While his father live on campus, Casian roommate
"We got in a
seen allowed to
bive with a Caul-
uolum Hall.
time because he
Ason
called me 'boy,' Gerren Jr. remembered.
"We tossed each other around for a while, and a 30-year friendship out of it."
While his father's social participation had been very limited, Gerren Jr. was not excluded from any part of the Union and became involved in Student Union Activities.
"I ran for SUA with a specific mantel or objective to expose the University to us," Gerren Jr. said.
During his time at the Universi
Jr. and SUA were able to get the Temptations to perform at Allen Field House and Bill Cosby to
perform at Hoch Auditorium.
"There were Motown hits all over the place, but no Motown act had performed at KU," he said.
But Cosby's performance was cut short because of the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.
"I found out and told his stage manager while he was performing." Gerren Jr. remembered.
Between the first and the second show Cosby's stage manager told him the news. Cosby canceled the second show, asking the audience why people could not get along.
Gerren Jr. didn't remember much tension between African Americans and Caucasians during his time at KU between 1965 and 1969, although he doesn't remember much interaction.
"They just didn't recognize you," he said. "It was like you were invisible."
"We weren't necessarily excluded, but we weren't invited to participate, either," Gerren Jr. said.
As for his classes, Gerren Jr. felt good about them in general, although he encountered some problems.
Caucasian students didn't go out of their way to make African-American students feel uncomfortable, he said.
"Sometimes I got the impression that no matter how hard you wrote, you weren't going to get above a certain grade in some classes," he said. But then laughing, Gerren Jr. noted he did get several A's while at the University.
Gerren Jr. remembered his fellow African-American students as being com
"We got in a fight one time because he called me 'boy.' We tossed each other around for a while, and a 30-year friendship grew out of it."
Nicholas Gerren Jr.
mitted to being successful at college.
"We were trying to achieve and make a difference," Gerren Jr. said. "There was very little attrition. Sometimes students had to quit for financial reasons, but all and all they were dedicated to graduating."
Reflecting on the
changes that had taken place from when his father first set foot on the Hill in 1934 and when he graduated in 1969, Gerren Jr. was somber.
"We ought not take anything for granted in terms of the gains we have made in civil and human rights," he said. "It would appear that there is a movement to reverse that now. I'm not real happy about that at all."
Time line: African-American
ry at the University of Kansas
Graphic by Matt Hood
ABOVE: Sherman Harvey, class of 1889
FAR LEFT: Blanch Bruce, class of 1885
BELOW: Gale Sayers, class of 1965
4