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 Duffy’s first Underground Railroad passenger on America through football and education

Duffy’s first Underground Railroad passenger on America through football and education

This story has been reposted from Dec. 9, 2014. Clifton Roaf passed away in 2017 at age 76. By TOM SHANAHAN Clifton Roaf's life spans the best and worst America has to offer. He grew up in the segregated South in Pine Bluff, Ark. He was a teenager at all-Black Merrill High when historic Civil Rights events unfolded in 1957 at nearby Little Rock. President Eisenhower sent U.S. Army troops to Central High to enforce desegregation, escorting for…

Continue ReadingDuffy’s first Underground Railroad passenger on America through football and education