"OUR RICH BLACK HERITAGE" : LELAND COLLEGE/ UNIVERSITY ( Part Two of A Two-Part Series )

Well, hopefully some of you all who read my last week's "OUR RICH BLACK HERITAGE" article went online and found out that Leland opened "in 1870," in New Orleans, Louisiana, as Leland University, and not Leland College. The main reason that I decided to write about Leland College is because the school wasn't just your average old, any old Black College! You see, Leland College pulled in students from all over the whole entire state of Louisiana, and surrounding states. As a matter of fact, the student body of Leland consisted of students from all parts of Louisiana, including Monroe, La., Ruston, La., Grambling, La., Jackson, La., Shreveport, LA., Baton Rouge, La., Opelusas, La., and New Orleans, Louisiana as well. Also, in addition to the school's on campus enrollment, Leland utilized a system that consisted of several upper elementary and secondary schools that served as preparatory "FEEDER" schools for Leland. Since these schools were considered Leland auxiliary schools, when it came time for the students of these schools to attend college, the students were accepted into Leland without having to take any examinations. In fact, many of the good students were awarded scholarships to attend Leland that helped pay their school tuition. Additionally, some of you all may be interested in knowing that between 1908 - 1910, there were more than 8 schools throughout the state of Louisiana listed as being a part of Leland's auxiliary school system. Five of the locations included New Iberia, New Orleans, Donaldsville, Monroe, and Ruston. As for the programs that the school offered, Leland School officials actually patterned some of the school's programs off of the programs of Booker T. Washington at Tuskegee, and from some of the principles that W.E.B. DUBOIS laid out in his essay,"The Talented Tenth." By the way, there's an interesting story about a certain young Black student-athlete from Jackson, La. who played football for Leland College in the late 1930s. As the story goes, after making the football team as a sophomore, he then won the "STARTING QUARTERBACK POSITION" for the Leland College Bulldogs. Well, this virtually unknown quarterback stepped in and surpassed all of his head coach's expectations of him. Surprisingly, this outstanding young quarterback took to his position like a fish takes to water, and in 1938 he led the Leland College Bulldogs to a South Central Athletic(SCAC) Conference Championship! Also, for the 1939 and 1940 football seasons, in addition to being the starting quarterback, he also served as an "assistant coach" for the Leland College football team. Well, in 1941, this former "Championship Quarterback" of Leland College had the audacity to apply for the head coaching position at Louisiana Negro Normal and Industrial Institute, which later became "Grambling State University"-- and as they say, the rest is History! Who was this young Black quarterback that led Leland College to a SCAC Conference Championship? Why, he was none other than 'The Legend himself... Eddie G. Robinson," better known as "COACH ROB!" Now where was I, oh yeah, let me tell you all about some of the other Black students who graduated from Leland College. Who remembers Joseph Samuel Clark, the first President of Southern University in Baton Rouge; Rev. Christopher Van Rodgers Sr. , the pastor of Zion Travelers Baptist Church in Monroe for more than 30 years; Benny Ausberry, who for years was on the Monroe Planning and Zoning Board, and led the fight for the Powell Avenue Recreational Center and many other improvements in the Booker T. Community ; and let's not forget John W. Joseph, the first Black Mayor of Opelousas, Louisiana. Although time does permit me to list the thousands of Black students that passed through the halls of Leland College, I will leave you all with a short list of some of the students who graduated from Leland College who were from the Monroe/Ouachita Parish area : Francis Marion Boley, William M. Pruitt, Loretta Harriett Dunn Pruitt, Madison J. Foster, Katie McEnery, Obadiah Barnes, Southard Pirlum Dunn, Brownlow Dunn,Charles Richard Gardner, Hettie Beatrice Gardner, William Ira Green, Mildred Olivia Hamilton, Della Annie Johnson, Solomon Long, Irene Marx, Irene Mickens, Lucinda Miller, Anna Lydia Mitchell, Annie Pitman, Loretta Amelia Richardson.