Abstract
This oral history features three members of the class of the Pembroke College class of 1968: Marcia D. Lloyd, an artist and professor of Painting at the Massachusetts College of Art; Bernicestine E. McLeod, an information management consultant; and Sandra L. Richards, a professor of African American Studies and Theatre at Northwestern University.
Lloyd begins the interview discussing her work as an artist, her involvement with the Brown Corporation, her Philadelphia background, coming to Pembroke, and the school’s racial climate and the corresponding social life.
McLeod enters the conversation by discussing the Afro-American society, her background in Washington D.C., and transitioning from a predominantly black to predominantly white environment.
Richards then explains her background from Boston, the racial environment at Pembroke, and the impact on black students.
The alumnae also recount the social interactions that brought black students together, as well as Martin Luther King visiting Brown University and his later assassination. They also discuss the value of holding a degree from Brown, the Brown experience, and issues facing Brown in the early 1990s.
See also: Black Alumnae at their 50th Reunion, class of 1968
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Recorded on May 28, 1993 in Alumnae Hall, Brown University, Providence, RI.
Interviewed by Lydia L. English, Joyce P. Foster, Damali Patterson, and Karen Wyche
Suggested Chicago style citation: Black Alumnae at their 25th Reunion, class of 1968. Interview. By Lydia L. English, Joyce P. Foster, Damali Patterson, and Karen Wyche. Pembroke Center Oral History Project, Brown University. May 28, 1993.
Biography
Marcia D. Lloyd, Bernicestine McLeod, and Sandra L. Richards, Pembroke College class of 1968, entered campus in 1964, within weeks of the Civil Rights Act becoming law and within months of Martin Luther King Jr. earning the Nobel Peace Prize. The alumnae graduated under Brown University President Ray Heffner and Pembroke College Dean Rosemary Pierrel. Shortly before their graduation, Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated and the Civil Rights Act of 1968 demanded equal housing opportunities for all Americans. Despite the tumultuous political era in which these four women attended Brown, all four women thrived. Lloyd became an artist and professor at the Massachusetts College of Art, McLeod became an information management consultant, and Richards became a professor of African American Studies and Theatre at Northwestern University.