Read more about the article The Wonders of Michigan State’s expanded worlds under President John Hannah’s leadership

The Wonders of Michigan State’s expanded worlds under President John Hannah’s leadership

PHOTO: Wonders Hall opened in 1963 as John Hannah's example of a progressive campus before the 1964 and 1965 Civil Rights Acts were signed. Visit my website homepage, TomShanahan.Report By TOM SHANAHAN Gene Washington escaped the segregated South 60 years ago, boarding Michigan State’s Underground Railroad from La Porte, Texas. His life-altering journey as a freshman football recruit for preseason practice was prior to September classes. The time frame, coincidentally, matched 250,000 Americans traveling to the nation’s capital…

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Read more about the article Part IV: College football integration lore, in the form of traffic, was steered down a fairy tale exit

Part IV: College football integration lore, in the form of traffic, was steered down a fairy tale exit

NOTE: As a Detroit Tigers and Mangum fan, this is my letter to Tom Selleck, admittedly a bit tongue in cheek. The facts vs. fiction I present, though, tell the true story of college football integration’s pioneers in the 1960s. College football integration was fait accompli by 1970, thanks to the price paid by true pioneers. They knocked down the door. Alabama coach Bear Bryant didn’t open the door. He was pointed to it after coaching segregated teams…

Continue ReadingPart IV: College football integration lore, in the form of traffic, was steered down a fairy tale exit
Read more about the article “I tell untold stories on college football integration”

“I tell untold stories on college football integration”

Visit my website homepage, TomShanahan.Report By TOM SHANAHAN I tell untold stories about college football integration. My quest is to lay down the facts of the true 1960s pioneers. The stories are focused on but not limited to Michigan State’s 1960s leadership under Duffy Daugherty. The College Football Hall of Fame coach assembled the sport’s first fully integrated rosters while his Underground Railroad teams tapped the segregated South. However, I learned from writing “Raye of Light” presenting the…

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