By Kyle Egan
In 1951,18-year-old Helen Thursby tried enrolling at Midwestern, but was denied entry because of the color of her skin.
Thursby was one of six students who was denied registration for classes because Midwestern informed them that their applications were not filed correctly.
Actually, Midwestern was not letting the students in because they were black.
On Friday, Phi Alpha Theta honored Thursby and other students to degregation at MSU.
“I filled out an application to enter Midwestern and they turned us away, we were rejected,” said Thursby. “I had to leave and attend school at Jackson School of Nursing in Dallas. It was unfortunate.”
The case Battle, et al v. Wichita Falls Junior College District, et al in the fall of 1951, provided the NAACP with a perfect scenario to challenge Texas segregation laws.
The NAACP never challenged segregation laws; instead they challenged Midwestern’s “separate but equal” laws claiming Midwestern was not giving equal treatment for black students.
They convinced Thurgood Marshall and U. Simpson to take the case after a fundraiser held in the eastside of Wichita Falls. On November 27, 1952 Judge William H. Atwell of the 5th district circuit court ordered Midwestern to desegregate. Atwell stated Midwestern had not fulfilled its obligation to provide a separate but equal standard.
On May 15, 1953 the appeal was denied and Midwestern appealed to the United Sates Supreme Court which was accepted on June 29, 1953.
Dorothy Terrance Nelson, age 76, enrolled at Midwestern in 1953.
She revealed there were some awkward times and had different emotions about her tenure.
“It was serious and funny, but at the same time there were some pranks,” Nelson said. “There were some things we couldn’t do like extracurricular activities.”
The retired Sheppard Air Force Base civilian worker said her sister and herself couldn’t help but feel left out.
“The experience was good and bad,” she said. “My sister and I would be the first ones into our math class. The other kids would place the chairs around us to make a circle around us. We didn’t make a big deal out of it, but our teacher would be real mad. It would be embarrassing.”
On May 17, 1954 Brown v. Board desegregated all forms of public education.
One week later on May 24, 1954 the United States Supreme Court denied Midwestern’s case with Battle.
In the following fall semester of 1954-55, 12 black students applied and were accepted to Midwestern.
Pastor at Greater St. Mark Baptist Church, Robert Hunter, said he had a different experience attending MSU after black students were allowed to attend.
When he enrolled to MSU in 1959, he explained how hard it was in the beginning.
“These people are sugar coating it, those people were rude,” said Hunter. “They said nasty things, ugly things, and ugly names. We would sit in the classrooms and the students and some teachers would refer to us as niggers. I dropped out in 1960 mostly because of the mistreatment.”
“Eventually I returned in 1978 and the atmosphere was completely different,” said Hunter. “I had an incredible time at that point. I believe now MSU is an outstanding school, where they welcome people now from all over the world. It’s great to see how far this school has come.”
The ceremony unveiled to the public the history of Midwestern during 1951-1954. Stewart and Thornton also revealed the framed dedication document that will be placed on MSU’s Wall of History in the Moffet Library.