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This oral history interview with Dr. John Buckner ‘62, provides an overview of Dr. Buckner’s family life and upbringing in Jamaica, New York amidst the Civil Rights Movement and pushes to desegregate schools that were segregated in fact, if not by law. Dr. Buckner narrates his transition from New York’s foster care system to an undergraduate and graduate degree at Dartmouth College. He discusses his experience of loss in his early life as well as the people and opportunities that brought him to Hanover, NH.
Dr. Buckner entered college shortly after the Little Rock Nine and the federalization of the National Guard in 1957. Despite a country and campus in turmoil, Dr. Buckner remained steadfast in his commitment to academic excellence, often enrolling in extra courses to swiftly earn his degree. Balancing his dedication to studies with a strong inclination toward social connections, he joined the crew team in his freshman year and later founded his own fraternity. Additionally, he actively participated in the DCU (Dartmouth Christian Union) and AAm (Afro-American Society).
Before finishing his undergraduate degree, Dr. Buckner joined the Army, where he would actively serve for 3 years and spend 3 years in reserve. He ultimately returned to Hanover to finish his undergraduate degree and obtain a medical degree at the Geisel School of Medicine. After graduating from Geisel in 1967, he went on to graduate from Columbia’s Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons in 1969 with another medical degree.
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This oral history interview with Dr. Jandel Allen-Davis begins with her upbringing, when race was often “not talked about” but remained ever-present. The interview then explores how early experiences in both racially diverse and racially polarized settings shaped the way Allen-Davis approached Dartmouth and the world beyond it. The conversation next follows her years at Dartmouth, focusing on the Black student community and the Afro American Society as both emotional refuges and strategic bases for advocacy, while also acknowledging internal conflicts and the pressures of leadership. The interview also examines anti-apartheid activism and campus politics as vehicles through which Black students challenged broader racial conditions at Dartmouth and pushed the institution toward change. Finally, the interview moves into medicine, exploring how discrimination in medical education and practice operated in both overt and subtle ways. Allen-Davis uses the AIDS crisis to discuss stigma, neglect, and racism in healthcare. Across these themes, Dr. Allen-Davis’s story illustrates how leadership and community care became tools for survival, resistance, and advancement in spaces not built to support Black women.
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Dr. Judith A. Byfield '80 was born in Kingston, Jamaica, in 1959. In this interview for the Dartmouth Black Lives project, Dr. Byfield discusses her life centered around her experiences at Dartmouth as both a student and faculty member. She begins by discussing her early life in Kingston and the intense educational environment in which she was raised. Next, she discusses her family's decision to move to the United States as a result of political strife in Jamaica. Her parents, seeking both economic and educational opportunity for their children, eventually settled in Queens, New York. Later, Dr. Byfield discusses her experiences at the prestigious Stuyvesant High School in Manhattan and her decision to apply to and commit to Dartmouth. Throughout the interview, Dr. Byfield discusses how her experiences in education, both in Jamaica and at Dartmouth, have shaped her work as an academic. Additionally, Dr. Byfield discusses the role of her educational experiences as a youth and a Dartmouth student in the way she approaches her role as a professor.
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AbstractWallace Ford attended Dartmouth from 1966-1970. He recounts fond memories of living in Japan and Puerto Rico as child and completed part of his education overseas. Excelling academically, Wallace entered Dartmouth at sixteen-years old, an age that made him the youngest of his class. He led the Afro-American Society and authored articles for The Dartmouth. Ford emphasizes the camaraderie that formed between Black upperclassmen and underclassmen, and the importance of Black brotherhood. He recalls students’ efforts for institutional change to create space and opportunities for Black students, professors, and alumni. Mr. Ford protested the second visit of segregationist governor George Wallace to campus in 1967, which received national attention and heated letters from alums. A senior fellow, Wallace is one of the first Black students to give a commencement speech at Dartmouth. Towards the end of the interview, Mr. Ford speaks of the inspiration that led him to attend Harvard Law School and of his transition into teaching. Since leaving the college, he's joined the faculty of the Department of Public Administration in the School of Business at Medgar Evers College in the City University of New York.
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Born and raised in Brooklyn, NY, Eileen recalls her decision to attend Dartmouth at the age of 16 as part of the first class of coeducation. She describes her Dartmouth experience as a time of Black feminism and empowerment highlighted by her involvement in the all-Black cheerleading team and her role as the first woman president of the Afro-American Society (AAM). Cave recounts the political activism during this time, specifically the Anti-Apartheid Movement, and her efforts in working with administration to better support Black students. Cave emphasizes the crucial role of Black faculty and alumni in providing academic and emotional support for Black students, particularly her relationship with Errol Hill—Professor of Drama and advisor to the AAM—and his legacy on the Dartmouth community. Cave recounts co-writing the “Institutional Racism and Student Life at Dartmouth” report and the response by the trustee committee and campus community. She reflects on how the formalization of the Black Alumni of Dartmouth Association (BADA) was crucial to strengthening and supporting the Black community. Due to political climate locally, domestically, and internationally during this time, Cave spent her senior year entirely off campus. After graduating with a degree in visual arts, she worked in marketing and sales promotion in the airline and global travel management industries and later became a visual arts educator until retiring in 2022. At the end of the interview, Cave reflects on Dartmouth as a formative experience critical to her personal development. She encourages students to learn about the history of African Americans at Dartmouth that have shaped the institution’s modern development.
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Tyrone Byrd was interviewed by Stefan Bradley in front of an audience of Dartmouth students in fall 2021. Born in San Antonio, TX, Tyrone Byrd grew up in a multiracial neighborhood and attended predominantly Hispanic elementary and middle schools. Byrd was recruited by a Black alumnus to play football at Dartmouth, and began his studies in the fall of 1969. In a class with a total of 95 Black students, Byrd discusses finding community in the Afro-American Society (AAM), where he met Black classmates from various backgrounds and experiences. Byrd reflects on the political climate and student activism on campus in the late ‘60s, shaped by the Vietnam War and draft. He also recounts the social transition and campus attitudes shifting from an all-male institution to coeducation, and the impact of the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X on the Black community. During his time on the football team, Byrd was a three-time Ivy League champion, and won the Lambert Trophy, awarded to the best team in the East. Upon graduating with a history degree, Byrd transitioned into semi-professional football in Boston before playing briefly with the Green Bay Packers. Two years later, he attended University of Chicago Booth School of Business and earned a Masters of Business Administration in 1977. Byrd highlights his study abroad in Sierra Leone—through the Black Studies department—as an opportunity for dialogue between his classmates and the global community. Byrd also recalls participating in a student protest his freshman year against Professor William Shockley’s campus visit to discuss the genetic inferiority of Black people. At the end of the interview, Byrd reflects on finding support from Black alumni who supported the community, and encourages the art of networking and building relationships.
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Born in Greenville, Alabama, Willie Bogan moved to Albion, Michigan at the age of 2 during the “Second Great Migration” following World War 2. He reflects on his father’s work in the automobile industry, and how sports shaped his childhood and upbringing in a small town. Bogan describes his athletic recruiting process to Dartmouth, where he was part of the undefeated and nationally ranked 1970 football team. Outside of football, Bogan majored in Spanish, and studied abroad in Costa Rica and Spain. He recounts his involvement leading the protest against Professor William Shockley, who was invited onto campus to discuss his views on the genetic inferiority of Black people, and also recalls both personal and campus reactions to the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. Bogan was also involved in the Afro-American Society (AAM) and highlights the crucial community it fostered for Black students facing isolation on campus. During his senior year at Dartmouth, Bogan applied and was selected as 1 of 32 Rhodes scholarship recipients to study at Oxford for two years. He highlights the significance of being among the 5 Black Rhodes Scholars that year and how it shaped his place in the Rhodes tradition. At the end of the interview, Bogan underscores viewing Dartmouth as a foundation for future success.
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Robert Bennett was born in Columbus, GA, in 1947. He recounts understanding his place in American society at an early age through the limited interactions with white children, attending segregated schools, and his grandparents’ experiences as Black people in Columbus. From 1957 to 1962, Bennett lived in Cincinnati, OH, and then moved to Chicago, IL from 1962 to 1965. Upon graduating high school in Chicago, he began his studies at Dartmouth in the fall of 1965. Bennett joined the football team his freshman year and played until his senior year. He recalls a very limited social life as a Black student and emphasized the importance of a social community amongst Black students. He was involved in the founding of Shabazz Center for Intellectual Inquiry and creation of Blackout, a cultural magazine. As chairman of the Political Action Committee in the Afro-American Society, Bennett describes his involvements in protesting George Wallace’s second campus visit in 1967 and advocating for African American rights at Dartmouth. Upon graduating Dartmouth in 1969, Bennett attended Yale Law School and practiced law for many years until he combined it with consulting practice in Africa. He details his experience hitchhiking around Europe and North Africa, which inspired him to pursue activism work in Africa, combining his legal expertise with consulting practice.
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Nelson “Nels” Armstrong ‘71 was born on January 7, 1950 in Newport News, Virginia. He attended Booker T. Washington Elementary School and Huntington High School, both of which were co-ed public schools. Nels was introduced to Dartmouth through one of his high school teachers and matriculated in 1967. During his undergraduate career, Nels played football his freshman year, was involved in the Afro-American Society, became a student-recruiter through the William Jewett Tucker Center (the Tucker Foundation), and played the drums and sang for the student band, “Uncle Tom's Cabinet.” Nels was the only Black music major in the department and was involved in Black theater. Nels’ class, the class of 1971, had the highest number of Black students at the time. He was one of seventeen Black students in a class of around one thousand.
After graduating, Nels stayed at Dartmouth as an employee. He was an advisor for the Afro-American Society and a counselor for the Office of Student Counseling. During his time as a counselor, he created the Nels Lunch Program in an effort to provide students with the support he did not receive himself. Then, he left Dartmouth to assume the role of Associate Director of Admissions at MIT. Nels was in this position for about ten years before returning to Dartmouth as the Associate Director of the Alumni Fund. He was at Dartmouth for about three years before leaving again to take the job of Director of Alumni Relations at Case Western Reserve for about five years. Finally, he returned to Dartmouth again as Director of Alumni Relations. Nels stayed in this position for twelve years until his retirement in 2009 at 59 years old.
Nels mentioned several themes throughout the interview. These included isolation, building the Black community, and Nels' motivations for staying at Dartmouth.