[Editors Note: Dr. R. L. Hall is a Professor of Sociology at Dartmouth College; he is also the Orvil E. Dryfoos Professor of Public Affairs there. In the fall of 1998, Dr. Hall was the first Ralph Steen Visiting Professor at SFA in the College of Liberal Arts.]

I entered Stephen F. Austin State College as a graduate student in the fall of 1966. When I received my master's degree in 1968, I was the second African American to graduate with an advanced degree from the institution. The first was Eugene Whittaker, one of the first black policemen in my hometown of Marshall, Texas, in the late 1950s. Eugene never (to this day) informed me of the obstacles he faced and overcame in his quest for admission to SFA in 1964. Had he done so, I might never have applied for admission.

I was planning graduate work in history at Texas Southern University in Houston during the summer of 1966. While admitted, however, an unanticipated delay postponed my entry until the fall. In the meantime, "Gene" learned of my intention and encouraged me to apply to SFA. He pointed out that SFA was closer and more convenient. While his reasoning was unassailable, I knew that Stephen F. Austin was a "white" school and, to my knowledge, had never admitted black people. He assured me the College was no longer racially segregated; he had just received his master's degree in education. Anticipating my misgivings, for he knew me well, he stated his opinion that I would have no academic difficulty at the institution. I took him at his word, and his encouragement was fortuitous. I applied, attended, and completed my course work at the end of the fall term in 1967, receiving the master's degree in 1968.

I entered SFA with the intention of studying for a master's degree in history. My first courses were indeed in the history department with professors Robert Maxwell, Claude Roberts, C. K. Chamberlain, and Allen Richman. In fact, the most memorable course I have ever had in my academic career was with Professor Allen Richman on the Renaissance. He was an impressive, dynamic young man with a freshly minted Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota. I had just completed service in the military in Germany and in Nigeria and, unlike other students, did not find his accent all that strange! In general, as Gene predicted, I did very well in my all courses, earning the highest grades in all of them.

I found the composition of the history department particularly interesting. In terms of age, the younger members–William Brophy, Allen Richman, Robert Mathis, and Bobby Johnson (for whom I worked as a grader)–were my contemporaries. I did my undergraduate degree at Wiley College before going into the military in 1962 to travel the world. Outside the classroom, I had a different, less formal relationship with these younger faculty members; they were all encountering dynamic changes themselves. It was after all the "Age of Aquarius," the heyday of movements for social change--civil rights, free speech, anti-war, women's liberation, among others. While neither they, nor I, had an abundance of time to participate vigorously and actively in these social change activities, we did lend our individual support to particular causes in the best way we could.

For example, Professor William Brophy, whom I came to know quite well, took a couple of us with him to Houston to hear Martin Luther King speak at a civil rights rally. Just after we were seated, a white hate group who had been picketing as we entered, set off a stink bomb and forced us to clear the auditorium. While it was difficult to dismiss their hateful jeers, we did, and I had one of the most moving experiences of my life. The countdown to the King speech featured a warm-up performance by Harry Belafonte, who sang as only he could. Aretha Franklin, the "Queen of Soul" (then and now!), was next. Martin Luther King’s message was simple--every American should be judged by the content of his character and not the color of his or her skin. King’s presence and delivery was, well, what can I say except CHARISMATIC. I can't define charisma, but I know it when I see it. As we made our way back to Nacogdoches late that night, I don't remember any of us saying a word. The King had spoken.

Something funny happen on my way to a masters degree in history at SFA. There was nothing less than a complete disconnect between the camaraderie I enjoyed with the younger members of the department, and the elements in the department who had a vested interest in maintaining a modicum of the status quo. That is, it was one thing to integrate the college and to have a black graduate student in the department. But it was something else again, I was later told, to have a black graduate student receive a graduate teaching assistantship--and actually teach. I learned that I was denied a teaching assistantship in history because a certain older member of the department objected. It was not that he was against it personally, but he felt that white parents would object to a black man teaching their daughters. Whether it was true or not, the fact is, I did not receive a graduate assistantship in the history department at that time, despite the fact that I had taught American history for the Armed Forces Institute in Illesheim, Germany in 1963-64.

While I was deeply hurt by that rejection and did not spend much energy lamenting it, all was not lost. I had taken courses in the sociology department and found the professors there as interesting and challenging as those in the history department. Word got to the sociology department that my request for a teaching assistantship in history had been denied. The department head, Dr. Marvin B. Wade, with the approval of the dean and the president, found me a graduate assistantship in his department, Since my undergraduate major was social science, the shift was natural enough. I shifted my interest to sociology while I maintained strong ties with the history department.

I quickly became immersed in sociology. As a teaching assistant, I became quite fond of both the professors and my fellow graduate students. Among the professors, I particularly liked George Mears, who was not at all shy about his activism. He was an excellent teacher and took great joy in interacting with graduate students. Dr. Wade, while rather conservative in his sociological outlook, was a thorough teacher, committed to making sure that students understood the basic theoretical and methodological aspects of the discipline. Young, brash, and energetic--Charles Vetter was an inspiration to both undergraduate and graduate students; he was easily the most popular teacher in the department at the time. Although he came to the College towards the end of my tenure, I remember Dr. Harold Clements quite vividly. I don't recall ever seeing him separated from his trusty pipe--in or outside class. What is most memorable, however, was the wonderful courses we had with him on fieldwork methodology. He strongly and ardently advocated the approach on population dynamics of his mentor, T. Lynn Smith at the University of Florida.

I was drawn to sociology not only because of the rebuff in history, but also because I had became much more interested in the social explanation the sociologists employ: the sociological "methods," the grand theorizing, and comparative approaches. As I look back on that time, it appears that I was convinced that sociology was best suited to help me understand the world beyond East Texas that I had experienced in Europe and Africa before entering graduate school at SFA. I continued graduate study in sociology at Syracuse University, where I received my Ph.D. in 1972.

Although a sociologist by terminal degree, I have reverted back to my graduate training at SFA. My teaching and research encompass historical and sociological approaches and materials. In fact, I am convinced more than ever that an inclusive social science approach is mandatory to teach about and do research in the global, interconnected world in which we now live. Slowly but inexorably, that realization is dawning upon more than a few scholars throughout the academy as we are about to enter the third millennium.

Beyond the academic challenges, what of the issue of race at SFA and Nacogdoches in those days? At the College, despite the fact that I was one of the first black students and only the second graduate student to receive a degree, I did not encounter any problems while here except for the incident in the history department mentioned above. In the Nacogdoches community, I do remember that the civil rights movement was just beginning to make itself known in the city. My impression was, Nacogdoches was similar to other East Texas towns when it came to racial integration. Jim Crow segregation was alive and well. I must confess, however, that I did not have much interaction with the residents of the city, except for the Leon and Birdie Wade family and one or two other black families. I was too busy keeping my head above water in the demands of graduate study. Things could have been better or worse. I do know they're much better today. Thank goodness.