Important figures in history aren’t always who or what you expect. For every big name there are scores of people who slip through the cracks.
Thanks to Chuck Yarborough and some of his Mississippi School for Mathematics and Science history students, at least some of those unsung historical figures are now getting their due.
Mississippi University for Women unveiled a new historic marker Thursday afternoon dedicated to the small group of African-American women who integrated its campus in 1966: undergraduate students Diane Hardy, Barbara Turner and Laverne Greene-Leech, and graduate students Jacqueline Edwards, Mary Flowers and Eula Houser.
Edwards would go on to become the first African-American graduate in 1968.
“Since 1949, the Mississippi Department of Archives and History has sponsored state historical markers,” Yarborough said. “More than a thousand have been installed. They are often the only glimpse tourists get of our rich history.”
Too many of the markers emphasize a limited set of events or individuals, Yarborough said.
“The W is the state’s first college for women, and no women are named on (the W’s historic marker),” Yarborough said. “… Of the 35 state markers in Lowndes County, only four named women and only six named African Americans.”
MSMS students participating in the MoreStory program through history class gravitated toward the integration of The W as something worth shining a light on.
“My students and I are very grateful to the women whose actions are reflected on this marker,” Yarborough said. “Their actions inspired the MSMS students’ work, but it also exemplified the need for more markers such as this.”
The students work built on a foundation laid by W history professor Erin Kempker and her students, who researched integration. There was almost no trace of the women in spite of their impact.
“In the years leading up to the 50th anniversary of integration in 2016, students began working to understand the experience of the women who desegregated the university,” Kempker said. “Their stories and their experiences were not known. Nothing on campus told us their names.”
The women’s stories are important to students today, Kempker said.
“Students have a deep appreciation for the women who did the work of desegregation,” Kempker said. “They care about the sacrifices all the desegregation pioneers made to make the university a place of learning for all.”
Today the university is remarkably diverse, said President Nora Miller.
“We are representative of the state, with about 38% of our student body being African American, which mirrors what the state is,” Miller said. “Diversity is very important in a university because it’s best to learn that people have had different experiences and have different perspectives.”
Greene-Leech said she was overwhelmed by the honor.
“I don’t even have the words,” Greene-Leech said. “This is just beyond anything I could even think of. Never in my life did I think this would happen, and I’m so thankful that it did. I’m happy, and I’m proud of this university and all that it is doing.”
Brian Jones is the local government reporter for Columbus and Lowndes County.
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