Interview with Walter N. Ridley

2006 (Creation date: 1989-04-10)

Elwood, William A

Part one. Dr. Walter Ridley discusses his experience at Howard University, Virginia State University, and the University of Virginia. When he was admitted to the University of Virginia in 1950, Colgate Darden stated that Dr. Ridley would have access to all university facilities. Dr. Ridley said that he did not feel out of place at the university and if people did not want him there, he was not aware of it. He also mentions Mordecai Johnson at Howard University, Carter Woodson, Charlie Thompson and George Ferguson. Part two. Dr. Ridley discusses his part in the integration of the African American Teachers Association with the white National Education Association. He recalls how the janitors and custodians at U.Va. told him they would protect him while he was a student there. Ridley was the first African American person to get a doctorate from a southern university. He recounts stories from his career in education. Part three. Dr. Ridley discusses his family and educational history. He comments on his time spent at the University of Virginia, the non-violent approach to obtaining civil rights, and the achievement of excellence.

Ridley, Walter Nathaniel, 1910-1996 (Interviewee); Elwood, William A

African Americans -- Civil rights -- History; African Americans -- Education -- History; Discrimination in education -- Law and legislation -- United States; School integration -- United States -- History; Segregation in education -- United States -- History

William A. Elwood Civil Rights Lawyers Project

Robertson Media Center

English

Road to Brown : the untold story of "the man who killed Jim Crow."; William A. Elwood Civil Rights Lawyers Project

Source footage for the documentary, The road to Brown : the untold story of “the man who killed Jim Crow” (California Newsreel, 1990), about the life of Charles Hamilton Houston, his crusade for civil rights, and the events that led to Brown v. the Board of Education, the 1954 Supreme Court decision that declared the doctrine of separate but equal to be illegal.
Title supplied by cataloger.
Recorded at Charlottesville, Virginia.
Creation/Production Credits
Digitized by: Cincinnati, Ohio : The PPS Group, 2006.