“Learn About” Questions
(informational)
- What was the relationship between Dunbar High School and Central High School during this time?
- What is Howard University known for?
- What is Southern University known for?
“Learn From” Questions
(transformational)
- What was my school experience like as far as access to resources goes?
- How did access or lack of access to the best facilities impact my learning?
- What kind of support did I have from my community to succeed in my life?
Transcript:
Physically, yes, again, because of the times and it’s almost difficult to articulate. We knew that Central physically was three times the size of my high school, even though they had been built about the same time. And on Friday nights, our football team, the Dunbar Bearcats, were allowed to play at Central’s stadium. So of course we had to walk by that humongous, gorgeous school and you really didn’t have to be a rocket scientist to figure that a building three times the size of yours had more going on in it. And, our experiences, school experiences, were rich. But again, physical resources were limited. So you didn’t dwell on what you didn’t have. That was, I think, the key. We knew that we had excellent support. In fact, one of the Dunbar alumni who became Dean of Education at Howard, did a study back in the late 1980s and the title of the study had to do with the success of Dunbar graduates and she interviewed over 200 people and of course, the success was due to the kind of educational reinforcement they had received from instructors. And I tell people often, my next-door neighbor who was my classmate, became Dean of Arts and Sciences at Southern University A neighbor around the corner was the first black vice president at Phillip Morris. The one across the street from him became the first black millionaire salesmen for Allstate Insurance. So you could just go around the neighborhood and count the successes of people who had received I think the kind of psychological support without some of the physical amenities.
