CUNY DIGITAL HISTORY ARCHIVE

A participatory project to collect and preserve the histories of the City University of New York

Medgar Evers College - The Pursuit of a Community's Dream

In this short book, Medgar Evers College: The Pursuit of a Community's Dream, CUNY retired professors Florence Tager and Zala Highsmith-Taylor tell the story of the founding of the college. As an institution born largely out of 1960s community struggle, the book surveys the climate within New York City and CUNY that led to the confrontation between the Bedford-Stuyvesant community and the university at the time of the college's creation. In addition to the book's well-cited account of the institution's origins, it also includes photographs of faculty, staff, student life, community environment, and campus facilities (pages 35-49). 

The 122 page book is divided into three parts:

1. Acts of Courage: A Community Challenges a University 
2. Breaking Ground in the Racial Divide of New York City 
3. Medgar Evers College is Born

Much of research for the book was culled from primary sources found in the Bowker Files of the CUNY archives, Louise Glover's private collection and interviews with community residents and politicians. A selected number of these files comprise "The Founding of Medgar Evers College" collection here at the CUNY Digital History Archive.

Source | Tager, Florence
Creators | Tager, Florence ; Highsmith-Taylor, Zala
Date Created | 2008
Rights | Obtain From Caribbean Diaspora Press, Inc
Item Type | Text (Book (excerpt))
Cite This document | Tager, Florence and Highsmith-Taylor, Zala , “Medgar Evers College - The Pursuit of a Community's Dream,” CUNY Digital History Archive, accessed March 19, 2024, https://cdha.cuny.edu/items/show/2261.

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