Page 143 - From the Outhouse 4 -21

143 | P A T R I C I A R A E M E R R I T T W H A T L E Y

Freedom Rides and Freedom Courtships During My College Years

I attended Talladega College from 1960 to 1965, which were the early years of the Civil Rights Movement. I participated in a civil rights

march and sit-in along with our college president Dr. Herman Long, some of the college faculty, my classmates, and actually the majority
of the student body. The movement was very significant to our college because one of our students, Arthur Bacon, upon returning to

campus from a vacation, sat in the “Whites Only” waiting room at the train station in Anniston, Alabama. As a result, Arthur was insulted

and brutally beaten. This news hit our campus like a ton of bricks, making us keenly aware of the racially charged state of Alabama and our
country. We felt that we had to do something! Our campus became totally involved to the point that the Civil Rights leaders would come

to speak at our Chapel Services. Among them were Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Reverend Ralph Abernathy, Dr. Hope Franklin, and

others.

Workshops were held at midnight in the basement of the girls’ dormitory detailing how we were to fall when attacked by police dogs,
Klansmen, other hostile whites, and fire hoses. The sessions were actually re-enactments that prepared us for name calling, being spit on,

and where on our bodies we might be hit. I remember the training vividly because we all were so eager to learn and do what we could in

support of the movement.

The day came when the school closed for the day so that students and faculty could gather to go to downtown Talladega to sit-in at a lunch
counter. Calls were coming in from parents pleading with their children not to participate in this demonstration. My mom called, as well,

but many of us were not listening to our parents’ advice…me included. Most of the Historically Black Colleges and Universities, called

HBCUs, had been participating in marches and sit-ins across the country.

I had already tried to integrate a church with other students, our Dean of students, and several faculty members…although, to no avail. We

were met at the front steps by the Pastor, Deacons (we think), and other members to deny us entrance. We were told that no “Nigras” (a