Barrier breakers from the 1960s
FIRST ROW, left to right: Dr. Jacqueline Hill
Brown; Opal Jones; Billie Mohair; Gloria Frazier Evans. SECOND
ROW: Harve King; Dr. James Grey; Billy Harper; Dr. Maxwell C.
Scarlett; Joel Bennett.
1963, Billy Harper, first African American
member of NT’s One O’Clock Lab Band
1964, Dr. James Gray, first African American
to work for the Campus Chat student newspaper
1964, John Savage, first African American
Yucca Who’s Who
1964, Dr. Wayman T. Dever, first
African American to receive Ph.D. from NT (honored posthumously)
1964, Denton Christian Women’s Interracial
Fellowship, honored for their role in promoting race
relations in Denton
1968, Sheila Wheatley Clark, founding
president of Delta Sigma Theta sorority, the first African American
chartered Greek letter organization at NT
1968, Joel Bennett, founding president of
Omega Psi Phi, the first African American fraternity at NT
1968, Gloria Frazier Evans, first
NT Relay Queen
1968, Marva Bennett-Bland, first African
American cheerleader at NT
1969, Nicky Wilson Porter, first
African American Yucca beauty
1969, first African American NT Talons
- Dr. Mickey Burnim
- Robert Davis
- Bennie Edwards
- Jimmy Palmer
- Johnny Simpson
1969, first African American Green Jackets
- Rev. Sarah Taylor
Davis
- Dr. Carol Taylor
Mitchell
1969, Dr. Mickey Burnim, first African American
elected officer of NT Senate, president pro tem and vice president
1969, first African American NT students named
to national Who’s Who
- Dr. Jacqueline
Hill Brown
- Dr. Mickey Burnim
- Rev. Sarah Taylor
Davis
- Kathryn Haley
Flangin
1969, Dr. Wayman T. Dever, first
African American faculty member at NT (honored posthumously)
1969 (summer), Dr. Theodore Lee, Jr.,
first African American administrator, associate dean of students
1969 (fall) Harve King, first African American
NT associate dean of students for the long term
1969, Frank Wyman, founding president
of the Afro-American Student Union
1969, Janice Johnson, founding
president of the NT chapter of the NAACP
1969, Joyce Kyle, first African
American assistant dorm director
1969, representing all early administrative support
staff
