"OUR RICH BLACK HERITAGE"" : DR. FELTON GRANDISON CLARK

"Underneath the different colors of our skin, People are far more alike than they are different" -Lisa Nichols Wouldn't It Be Nice If Race Didn't Matter? This question reminds me of a forgotten Louisiana court case that was filed in 1982, by a lady who had identified herself as being "A MARRIED WHITE FEMALE," but her birth certificate listed her as being "A BLACK FEMALE!" The lady's name is Susie Guillory Phipps of Sulphur, Louisiana. Back in 1982, after the case drew national attention, the Louisiana Congress, and then Governor David C. Treen decided to take a hard look at "the age old Louisiana Statute" that used a mathematical formula, similar to "THE ONE-DROP RULE," also known as "ONE DROP OF BLACK BLOOD RULE," that many of the southern states had used to determine if a person was deemed as being "Legally Black." You see, Mrs. Phipps birth certificate listed her as being the great, great, great,great grand-daughter of a "COLORED FEMALE SLAVE," and a French planter. You see, according to the "segregated laws" that were in place, during the time she was born, if the baby's mother was documented as being COLORED, then the baby was listed and considered COLORED too! Therefore, officials for the State of Louisiana refused to change Mrs. Phipps Race on her birth certificate, which led to her having to pay thousands of dollars to try and have her "RACE" Changed on her birth certificate! In the end, Governor David C. Treen and the State of Louisiana repealed the long-term Louisiana Statute, in 1983. Now, because of the repeal of that law, people in Louisiana are allowed to change their birth records by providing "a preponderance of evidence" to prove the record was wrong. Ok, let's get to this week's Black Pioneer. Felton Grandison Clark was born on October 13, 1903, in Baton Rouge, Louisiana to Joseph S. Clark and Octavia Head Clark. When it came time for Felton to attend college, there was no doubt that he would be attending Southern University! After graduating from Southern, Felton completed his undergraduate work at Beloit College. In 1922, he earned his bachelor's degree from Beloit, and then went on to earn his Master's degree & his PhD from Columbia University. Well, in 1938, Felton decided to take on the daunting task of following in his father's footsteps, and became the next President of Southern University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, the position that his father had held for more than 20 years! From 1938, up until 1969, Felton was President of Southern University. During his tenure, enrollment of students at Southern increased from about 1,500 to over 11,000. Many people have said that the enrollment would have been significantly larger had it not been for the incidents that took place during the Civil Rights Protests of the 1960s, especially the demonstration that took place at the doorsteps of the Louisiana State Capitol. In 1960, Felton and other school officials ended up giving in to pressure from Governor Earl Long," and expelled 18 of the Southern University students who had participated in the protests." On top of everything else, in 1962,"they actually had to shutdown Southern University for a short period of time," because students at Southern University held a large demonstration on the campus of Southern University. The students were determined to exercise their right to protest! So, about a year after retiring as President of Southern University, Dr. Felton Grandison Clark died on July 5, 1970. When it came time to bury him, there was no doubt that he would be buried next to his mother and father on the campus of Southern University!!! In 1975, officials at Southern University honored him by naming a newly built building in his honor, the F.G.Clark Center. Additionally, a dormitory on the Southern University campus named Felton Grandison Clark Hall, informally called Grandison Hall, is named in his honor.