Summer 1968
Summer tutorial program held on campus for local black high school students
In the summer of 1968, 11 local college students lived with 24 black boys and girls from Springfield high schools on Smith campus for the first Summer Tutorial Program, with the boys on 150 Elm street and the girls in Tenney House. The program was funded by Smith’s Martin Luther King Jr. Fund, and featured morning literature courses by volunteer Smith and Umass faculty as well as afternoon math tutorials. On Wednesdays students were visited by guest lecturers including black nationalist John Wilson, former NES head Andy Griffin, and poet Charlie Cobb. The program was created as a means for the college to give back and get involved in the education of local black students by offering them a college experience chaperoned by black undergrads. An important aspect of the program was discussing the current state of blackness in America, and writing. Some of the writing done by the students was published in the Sophian.
September 19, 1968 – Summer Tutorial Participants Present Their Impressions And Original Works
[Last updated on October 13, 2018]