An African American in Ann Arbor, Michigan, does not experience discrimination
The color line in Ann Arbor, Michigan, was not particularly deep, Spaulding recalls. He did not experience discrimination, whether at movie theaters or white churches.
Citing this Excerpt
Oral History Interview with Asa T. Spaulding, April 13, 1979. Interview C-0013-1. Southern Oral History Program Collection (#4007) in the Southern Oral History Program Collection, Southern Historical Collection, Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Full Text of the Excerpt
- WALTER WEARE:
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Were you the only black student in the actuary program there, or in those
classes?
- ASA T. SPAULDING:
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There was an Indian student, an East Indian student in two of the
courses. There was a Korean student in one of my courses in mathematics.
And frankly, I don't remember any other black students in any
of those courses at Michigan.
- WALTER WEARE:
-
What about in the student body as a whole? Would you see blacks on
campus?
- ASA T. SPAULDING:
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There weren't many. Very few. And most of those who were
there were in the professional schools. Now, there
were a few women students from Detroit who were there. And I remember
the first woman to stay in the dormitory at Michigan was a daughter of a
physician in Detroit. He was a very prominent physician. And she applied
and was admitted. I don't know whether they knew beforehand
what her race or identity was or not. But I know that she was admitted
and stayed there. And, of course, it was very much a subject of
conversation, about her staying.
- WALTER WEARE:
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Now you didn't live on campus?
- ASA T. SPAULDING:
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No. I lived with a private family.
- WALTER WEARE:
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A black family?
- ASA T. SPAULDING:
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Yes.
- WALTER WEARE:
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How was that arranged? Do you recall?
- ASA T. SPAULDING:
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Well, they had certain available residences, approved residences, for the
students on campus. And this was one of them. It was a very nice home. A
nice arrangement, not too far from campus. I stayed there the whole two
years that I was there.
- WALTER WEARE:
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Did you feel more isolated though, in that area, than you had in New
York? By that I mean socially.
- ASA T. SPAULDING:
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No. Because on the campus, you see, it was only in the evenings. During
the day I was over on the campus. I took my meals in the Michigan Union
there.
- WALTER WEARE:
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Had you tried to go to, say, the theatre in Ann Arbor?
- ASA T. SPAULDING:
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Oh, we went to the theatre. That's what I say. This fellow
Roberts and I went to the theatre all the time together.
- WALTER WEARE:
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What about restaurants? Did you notice a color line being drawn?
- ASA T. SPAULDING:
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No. Because of the campus environment; any students who were students at
the University of Michigan. I attended a big white church right on the
campus. And the minister—oh, he became a bishop shortly
afterwards—but he was quite a speaker.
And they had a black church, too. I alternated between there and the
church that had a black minister. He was a very good speaker, too. Very
good.
- WALTER WEARE:
-
So there was a substantial enough black community in Ann Arbor to have a
church?
- ASA T. SPAULDING:
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Yes. Although I don't think he had more than a hundred
members, more or less. And a lot of the black families who were there,
so many of them worked at the University in some capacity.