APRIL 25, 2019

GIVING

WITHOUT THE GIFTS

OF ALUMNI AND
FRIENDS, N.C. A&T
WOULD NOT BE THE
EXCEPTIONAL
INSTITUTION IT IS
TODAY.

AGGIES IN THE NEWS

Fifty Years Later the Class of 1969

Reflects on the Greensboro
Uprising

The year 1969 marked the culmination of

an extremely racially tense decade. The
era required many in the African American
community to cooperate in an effort to
obtain equal rights all across the
southeastern United States. Many times,
peaceful protests gave way to hateful,
violent, and at times even fatal outcomes.
The North Carolina Agricultural and
Technical State University class of 1969
witnessed this tragic turn first-hand.

The unrest was initiated at James B.

Dudley High School, an all-black school,
located less than two miles away from
North Carolina A&T’s campus. Claude
Barnes, a student who was favored to win
the SGA race, was omitted from the ballot
a day before votes were cast. The decision
to exclude Barnes came from the Dudley
administration because of his advocacy for
black power.

Despite being withheld as a polling option,

Barnes received over 500 write-in votes.
The closest candidate received 400 fewer
votes but was declared the winner of the
election. The student body felt that their
voices fell on deaf ears, and that school
administration were traitors for favoring
with the district. In turn, students planned
picketing sessions and school walkouts
over an eight-day period.

The N.C. A&T Student Organization for

Black Unity supported Dudley students in
their plans to protest, also acting as
mediators by setting up community
gatherings. The students made contact
with Dudley administrators and even with
their efforts, there was no resolve.

As demonstrations began to grow in

quantity and frequency, they also grew in
fervency. A student protest on May 21,
near the high school was met with police in
riot gear. Rocks were thrown and tear gas
was used on Dudley and A&T students.
After the chaos subsided, 27 Dudley
students were suspended, and the crowd
dispersed, after a couple of hours.

Within a few hours, the crowd reformed,

throwing rocks at passing white motorists
near East Market Street and Benbow
Road. The police responded with tear gas
in an effort to break up the gathering
again, but this time was different. At
around 10:45 pm., reports of sniper fire
near Laurel Street coming from A&T’s
campus put police on high alert. They were
instructed by Major E. R. Wynn to return
fire and protect themselves if they felt
endangered, according to the Greensboro
Daily News newspaper.

On May 22, early in the morning, N.C. A&T

student Willie E. Grimes was fatally shot in
the head by a passing motorist near
Summit Avenue. The police were
instructed to remain silent on the matter by
Greensboro Mayor Jack Elam, but they did
reference the autopsy report, which
suggested he was killed by a bullet smaller
than standard issue police rounds,
according to the Greensboro Daily News.
Police later acknowledged that they did
have weapons that could’ve fired the
round, but after years of investigation,
there was no indication that an officer was
involved.
N.C. A&T students expressed their anger
and disapproval and they were met with
tactical opposition. North Carolina
Governor Robert Scott and Mayor Elam
made arrangements for the National Guard
to intervene that morning. That evening at
4 p.m., President Lewis C. Dowdy declared
that the university would close with
concern for the safety of the students.

The National Guard responded to the call

with over 500 national guardsmen, a tank,
and a helicopter. Before long, the land
grant campus was transformed into a war-
like zone, with guardsmen applying
suppressive fire into the side of Scott Hall,
closed roads, and barricaded the area.

On the morning of May 23, without

warning, male students who lived in Scott
and Cooper Halls were awakened to
guardsmen shooting their locks off and
ordering them to vacate their dorms.
Students were loaded on buses and taken
to the city and county jails, where some
were booked and processed as inmates.

Later that evening, the students were

released and returned to their dorms. The
university being closed two days prior left
final exams for underclassmen and the
graduation ceremony in an air of
uncertainty. The details about the
commencement were passed down through
word of mouth.

The class of 1969 had their graduation

ceremony on June 1, in Moore Gymnasium.
There were 530 graduates in attendance,
as the keynote speaker, District Court
Judge Elreta Alexander declared “a man is
free when he can see that his brother is
none other than he.”

The class of 1969’s courage and resilience

in the midst of a war-zone environment are
evident to their extraordinary strength and
determination. As they were forced to
endure tear gas canisters and crawling
under bullets flying overhead, their
contributions are forever weaved into the
fabric of North Carolina A&T State
University, standing as a testament to the
will-power of those who bleed blue and
gold.

Here are the stories from the members

of the Class of 1969:

Dr. Sandra Alexander ’69, Retired North

Carolina A&T English Professor
“I worked as a student counselor in Curtis
Hall, it was a freshman dorm for girls and
North Carolina A&T was in turmoil. I can
remember the night of May 21. I received
the order to lock down the dorm and to not
let anyone in. Outside of the dorm, all you
could hear was gunfire from students and
police. When I looked out the window, all I
could see was male students running back
and forth across Holland Bowl trying to
escape the gunfire and tear gas. They
eventually started banging on the doors
and the girls let the boys in and there was
nothing I could do. Some of the men were
able to escape Scott Hall during the
shooting and the black community around
A&T stepped up and united to house some
of the students.”

Allen Jennings ’69, Retired Agricultural

Teacher
“I lived in Cooper Hall and I remember
being on the first floor when the National
Guard came in that morning and shot the
locks off the doors. They ordered all of us
out and when we were outside we were
forced to crawl with bullets flying over our
heads to the buses from Cooper Hall to
U.S. 29. The guardsmen took us to the city
jail and we were released later that
evening. When we returned to campus they
informed us that we had to leave
immediately and we weren’t allowed to
gather our belongings.”

Phyllis Banks Fulton ’69, Retired Social

Worker
“I worked in Holland Hall as a student
counselor for freshmen girls and I was so
excited in May 1969 because I had just
received my letter that I was graduating.
On the evening of May 22, the lights went
out in the dorm and I heard the girls
scream. I went into the hallway and tear
gas was filling the halls, I told all of the
girls to wet towels and put them at the
bottom of the doors to keep the gas out.
The next morning I remember looking out
the window at the sun rise and when I
looked down, I saw the National Guards
pointing rifles at Holland Hall. It was a
complete war zone.”

Donald Jones ’69, Retired Educator and

Ordained Minister
“I lived in Cooper Hall my senior year on
the first floor and my room faced Scott
Hall. I saw the National Guard moving in
and the students taking positions at Scott
Hall and it was nonstop gunfire all night. I
was in my room on the floor when the
guardsmen shot tear gas into Cooper Hall.
My roommate and I put wet towels around
our faces. As we exited the dorm we were
immediately commanded to get on buses
to go to jail. When we arrived, we were
informed that the jails were too full and
that we had to leave campus immediately
without our belongings. I was able to
secure a ride to the bus station and when I
arrived home to Baltimore, Maryland,
Cooper Hall was on the front page of the
Baltimore Sun.”

Royall Mack ’69, Retired Gillette

Executive
“I played baseball during the time of the
riots and the invasion of the National
Guard. The A&T baseball team had won
the CIAA championship and I can
remember us celebrating our win and then
the coaches received the news about
campus. Our coaches shielded us and kept
us all together in order to protect the team.
While we were on the bus, we found out
that A&T was being shut down and that
graduation was canceled. When we arrived
on campus, we parked at Scott Hall and it
was complete chaos.”

Clarence Fisher ’69, Retired U.S. Army

and from Corporate Banking
“The Civil Rights Movement was in full
force during this time and riots were the
norm on campus. I can remember walking
to band practice and smelling tear gas in
the air like it was an ordinary day. When
tensions grew high on campus in May
1969, block boys and students started
throwing rocks at white passengers on
East Market Street. The police set up
roadblock on campus and students created
their own barricades. It looked like a
complete invasion when the National
Guard showed up, students went to jail,
and gunfire was heard nonstop from
different angles.”

Richard Newkirk ’69, Retired Air Force

Officer and Educator
“I lived in Scott Hall during my senior year
with my brother, Jimmy. We stayed in our
dorm when the shooting occurred and we
knew we couldn’t leave the building. The
lights outside were shot out and all I could
hear was gunfire. I spent most of the night
on the floor and around midnight tear gas
was shot into our room. We crawled out
into the hallway and went into the
basement until daybreak. I just remember
feeling so angry and I wasn’t sure if I was
going to live to see the next day. I made
the decision to leave campus because I
was tired of being shot at.”

During Alumni Reunion Weekend, the class

of 1969 will participate in a Brick
Dedication Ceremony at the Reflection
Pool on campus by Aggie Village (former
location of Scott Hall), be inducted into the
Society of Golden Aggies for their 50th
anniversary and be recognized during the
spring commencement.

Written by: Jadarius McCoy, junior,

journalism student and Alana V. Allen '07,
Director of Alumni Communications

Sources: F.D. Bluford Library Archives;

Greensboro Daily News clippings retrieved
from UNCG Walter Clinton Jackson
Library.

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