T. Harry
Williams Center for Oral History Collection
INTERVIEWEE
NAME:
Huel D. Perkins COLLECTION:
4700.0230
IDENTIFICATION: [1924- ] Former Assistant Vice-Chancellor for
Academic Affairs at LSU; Former Executive Assistant to the Chancellor at LSU
INTERVIEWER: Maxine Crump
PROJECT: LSU History
DATES:
3/16/93 FOCUS
DATES: 1951-1989, to present
ABSTRACT:
T
333, Side A
Perkins'
career in teaching; homes in Baton Rouge; changes in Baton Rouge, economically
and racially; schools for blacks before integration; importance of school, high
school and college; lifestyle of the Perkinses; son's (Alfred) education;
extracurricular educational experiences for Alfred; Thelma (wife and mother) as
a role model; Huel and Thelma as parental role models; the cause of black
students having low self-esteem in integrated classrooms; desegregation at LSU;
attitude at Southern over desegregation and the effects on Southern's ability
to draw the brightest students; demonstrations at Southern; complexity of civil
rights movement due to inability for one person or group to speak for the
entire black community; philosophical differences between the older and younger
generations over the civil rights movement; transitional time in the area of
race relations in the United States.
T
333, Side B
Transition
between segregation and integration; Perkins' experience on LSU's campus;
answering charges that he betrayed the African-American community by joining
LSU's faculty; personal response to awards he had received; anecdotes about the
ways he has influenced the lives of students; racism both black and
white; Proposition Forty-eight, higher standards for athletes entering
college, and its effect on black athletes; black control of black colleges;
moving from a black college to an integrated college; the future of black
academics; where will blacks get their cultural experiences if black colleges
shift to integrated colleges; influence or necessity of black awareness in everyday
life.
TAPES:
333 TOTAL
PLAYING TIME: 1 hour 15 minutes
#
PAGES TRANSCRIPT: 50 pages
OTHER
MATERIALS: Report
(Bio., etc.); Proper name lists (4 pgs.)
RESTRICTIONS: None