Progress in the Face of Racism: 1960s UO President Arthur Flemming
This is the fourth of a series of blog posts highlighting the ongoing work of the Documenting UO History Project within the University Archives. A major part of this project is researching and documenting the often untold and hidden histories of the university’s diverse and underrepresented communities. This year our focus will continue to focus on Black history on campus, specifically Black student activism from the 1960s to present. Prior posts can be seen here.
I began my current research on Black student activism on the University of Oregon campus by researching campus life in the 1960s, this led me to perhaps the campus’s most progressive president, Arthur S. Flemming. President Flemming was popular among students and less popular with conservative Oregonian’s and the university’s board of trustees. In my interview with Herman Brame, one of the University of Oregon’s founding Black Student Union members, he offered insight into what it was like working with President Flemming firsthand. Brame’s experience provided the perfect contrast for my analysis of Flemming’s tenure.
President Flemming arrived on the Oregon campus in 1961 after serving as the United States Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare under President Eisenhower from 1958-1961. Flemming quickly became popular on campus, particularly with students. He championed the rights of minority students and even defended the constitutional rights of the Communist Party, allowing representatives to speak on campus. Brame’s experience with working with UO President Flemming in the 1960s was incredibly positive. Brame, as well as many other activists, students and staff applauded President Flemming for being a progressive forward-thinker. In fact, President Flemming had an open door policy with the BSU, something that Brame confirmed in his interview.