Profiles: A Closer Look at Faces Shaping our Area

Dick Gregory:

Former Southern Illinois University Carbondale student Dick Gregory is and has been many things.  Athlete, military man, comedian, writer, activist, father of 10, and devoted husband, Dick Gregory has been a key figure in dealing with issues concerning race between white and black Americans.

Dick Gregory was born October 12, 1932 in St. Louis Missouri.  Starting early in his crusade toward racial equality, he led a march protesting segregated schools while he was a student at Sumner High School.  In 1951 Dick Gregory attended Southern Illinois University Carbondale on an athletic scholarship for track and cross country.  His studies were interrupted by a call to the military that left him a few credits shy of a business of administration degree.

Dick Gregory was an exceptional athlete at Southern Illinois University Carbondale.  He received the Outstanding Athlete of 1953 Award.  His athletic fame let him be known throughout Carbondale.  Despite his celebrity (status), he was denied many things, as were many people in Carbondale. 

Like many cities in America at that time, Carbondale was highly segregated while Dick Gregory was a student.  The Varsity Theater on the strip allowed black patrons under the condition that they sat upstairs in the balcony.  Trying to avoid one girl while he was on a date with another, Gregory started something which would become a crusade for him and fellow African American friends and athletes.  Dick Gregory tried to sit downstairs with his date and the white community.  Dick Gregory was escorted out.  From then on he accepted his mission to confront this issue, at not just the Varsity Theater, but within the entire community.

Dick Gregory found he was able to use satire to comment on social situations. A performance at Chicago’s Playboy Club in 1961 set the stage for much of the next few decades.  Three years at the Playboy Club helped to turn Dick Gregory into a headline performer with a following through national televised appearances, comedy albums, and various sold out appearances at nightclubs.

Dick Gregory was involved with many social and political affairs.  He went on hunger strikes to protest world hunger, the Vietnam War, and drug abuse.  He opposed Richard J. Daley in 1966 running in the Chicago mayoral election.  In 1968 he ran for president as a write-in candidate and received 1.5 million votes.

Since running for president Dick Gregory has tackled many issues ranging from vegetarianism and nutrition, to cancer, to his “Campaign for Human Dignity,” to releasing his own “State of the Union Address” for African Americans.

Delyte Morris:

Delyte Morris became the 8th president of Southern Illinois University Carbondale in 1948. He transformed the University from a small, rural teaching college to a full-fledged research institution throughout the duration of his presidency. 

He believed that Higher education should be available to all who seek it regardless of race, nationality, gender, economic circumstance or physical limitations.

Delyte Morris was actively involved with students.  He had them over for dinners and made an honest effort to be involved with multiple aspects of student life.  When presented with a list of businesses which prohibited African American clientele, he went before the Carbondale Chamber of Commerce and urged them to encourage local businesses to integrate.  Morris promoted “Southern Hospitality” in the Chicago area and made Carbondale more hospitable to all students.

Delyte Morris, the namesake of the Campus Library, was an integral part of the growth of the University.  He took a small school and made the campus into a powerful and resourceful entity in the educational system in the state of Illinois.  He stood up for students of all races and creeds, and turned Southern Illinois into a cultural crossroads for the Midwest.

Jerry E. Brown

Jerry E. Brown was the second black officer hired to the Carbondale city police 1962.  He is the first black sergeant of the SIUC police department.  He had to confront both individuals breaking the law and the discrimination at work in the application of the laws.  He was not supposed to arrest white people under the city, had to fight for raises, and had to deal with discrimination in both the police force and the community.

W.B. Lewis

W.B. Lewis was the first principal of Attucks School.  His first graduating class of the Attucks High School numbered only three, but he challenged his students to go out and show the community that they had achieved something that was believed impossible.

Archie Jones

William Archie Jones was the first black council man to serve in Carbondale.  He served for 16 years.  Mr. Jones served the African American Dunbar School as a teacher and principal until 1955.  He was also a principal at Attucks School.  In the northeast area of town there is a street which honors him and bears his name.

Hazel Scott

Hazel Scott was the first African American Homecoming Queen at SIUC in 1968.  She came to Carbondale with her family at the age of six and was among the first of African American students to integrate into Carbondale Community High School.  She was also the first black cashier at IGA.  She graduated from SIUC in 1968 with a bachelor’s degree in special education.

She received her masters’ degree in educational psychology at Wayne State University in Michigan. She also worked on post-graduate work at the University of Tennessee and received her mid-management certification at the University of Texas in Arlington.

John L. Thomas

The namesake of the elementary school which opened in Carbondale in 1955, John L. Thomas was a leader in the community.  In 1908 he enrolled in third grade at Attucks School.  His mother had a strong determination for her son to receive a college education and her will was reflected in Thomas’ own educational philosophies.  His insight was important to the integration of Carbondale School District 95.  When the new elementary school opened its doors in 1955, John L. Thomas was distinguished by members of the community when they selected him for principal and named the school after him.

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