Program Calendar

Amid the nationwide Black Campus Movement of the late-1960s, Black student activists at Springfield College (SC) demanded greater representation within the college and worked to make the institution more inclusive.  When their demands went unmet, they staged numerous protests on campus.  Community members supported their efforts, and the students themselves drew attention to problems of racial injustice in the greater community.  While the SC Black student protests of 1969-70 did not accomplish all or even most of the students’ aims, they imparted a legacy of activism to future generations of students.  This panel brings together veterans of the campus movement and present-day SC students who have followed in their footsteps both as activists on campus and as researchers and historians who are telling their stories.  Panelists will reflect on the history of SC’s Black student protests and discuss their significance to the college and community in the present.

Moderator: Martin Dobrow, Professor of Communications, Springfield College; and author

Panel: Teresa Burr (SC ‘70), former Dean of Liberal Arts, Springfield Technical Community College; Richard Griffin (SC ‘73), former Guidance Counselor, Boys’ Club, East Harlem Clubhouse; Sabrina Moore (SC ‘23), History major, Springfield College, and member of the Black Student Union; Sabrina Williams (SC ‘21) double major, English and Sociology, Springfield College, former student-trustee, and president, Women of Power club

Image: Dr. Jesse Parks leads Springfield College student activists and supportive community members on a march down Alden Street after a student takeover of the Administration Building on May 14, 1969.  Springfield College Archives and Special Collections.

Free admission to this program for nonmembers is provided courtesy of Springfield College

Free admission to the Museums a la Carte lectures for all museum members made possible by the National Endowment for the Humanities through the #SHARP program.